Germaine Johnson odia il martedì

by Katherine Collette, Stefano Beretta (Translator)

Tutto deve essere in ordine. Detesto gli imprevisti. Ma è il momento di cambiare idea.

Germaine Johnson è una persona razionale. Ogni elemento della sua vita è analizzato ed espresso in grafici e tabelle, nessun dettaglio è lasciato al caso, tutto è sicuro e certo. Ha una vera passione per il sudoku, in cui è bravissima, ma proprio non le riesce di inserire in uno schema le persone. Motivo per cui Germaine ne fa volentieri a meno. La sua vita è così, e la rende felice. Fino al giorno in cui qualcosa rimette tutto in discussione: viene licenziata. Una variabile che non aveva preso in considerazione. Deve al più presto trovare un altro impiego, ma mai si sarebbe aspettata di accettare un lavoro al Telefono amico per la terza età. Lì passa le sue giornate rispondendo a mille e più improbabili richieste di anziani che alzano la cornetta per un nonnulla: niente di più irritante per una persona come lei, abituata a non sprecare neanche un attimo del proprio tempo. Ma la cosa che Germaine odia di più è il martedì. Perché è il giorno in cui i colleghi si riuniscono in sala mensa per i biscotti. Perché è il giorno in cui è costretta ad andare al centro anziani e stare in compagnia di chi la tartassa con inutili telefonate. Eppure, più passano i mesi, più Germaine comincia a provare qualcosa che aveva dimenticato da tempo. Qualcosa a cui non sa dare un nome ma che assomiglia molto al sentirsi utile. Di fronte alla minaccia del comune di trasformare il centro in un parcheggio, tutti gli anziani contano sul suo aiuto. Germaine, però, sa che non esiste la formula matematica della fiducia e, per la prima volta, è in preda alla confusione. I suoi amici numeri non sanno esserle di alcun aiuto. Ma ormai non è più sola, e sta per scoprire che, se vissuti insieme, le emozioni e i sentimenti fanno meno paura.

Un romanzo che, dopo agguerrite aste alla Fiera di Londra, è stato venduto in 25 paesi. Accolto con ammirazione dalla critica, ha conquistato i lettori. Perché Germaine Johnson siamo tutti noi quando ci barrichiamo dietro le nostre certezze per non rischiare. Ma basta un piccolo passo oltre per scoprire chi siamo davvero. E che gli imprevisti ci rendono migliori.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Australia, Humor, Adult, Book Club, Romance

300 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Katherine Collette is a writer and environmental engineer. She lives in Melbourne with her husband and two children.

'The Helpline' is her first novel.

Reviews

[Phrynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so divided over this one. It’s another book about someone with some kind of condition, maybe Aspergers Syndrome.
On the good side it is very humorous. Germaine understands herself to a degree and her comments can be wonderfully astute. Many of the situations she finds herself in are entertaining without being uncomfortable.
On the bad side some of the situations she finds herself in made me cringe. Events came very close to making people laugh at her, not with her. I wanted to take her home and protect her from evil bosses and duplicitous men.
Overall I am going for three stars. It is an enjoyable book, frequently very funny, just sometimes a little too close to the bone.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5, as I make a beeline for this Helpline!

You don’t need to call the help line to pick your next book—this quirky, witty debut by an Australian writer is a feel-good summer read. Seriously, this one is a keeper. If you liked Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine or The Rosie Project, I’m pretty sure you’ll go nuts over this one. Like the main characters in those books, the star here is a person who seems to be on the autism spectrum (Asperger’s, I’m guessing).

The quirk factor is high. Germaine is awkward and weird. She’s a math whiz and a Sudoku champ whose preoccupation with numbers gets her in trouble. She wants to figure out the probability of everything. Even though she acts like a robot, her emotions, of course, do pop up, and usually she doesn’t know what to do with them. Half the time she’s downright obnoxious, but in a quiet way.

Germaine’s job is to answer the questions of old farts who call in on the help line. She’s not too crazy about their mundane and often whiny questions—about their pension checks, for example. The book is about office politics, mostly, and it’s funny, folks. People who weren’t friends get tight, things that couldn’t change just might. Germaine is always at the center of the kerfuffles, but then, the story is being told in first person, so it figures. There’s a villain or two, a love interest, delusion, even suspense. I don’t want to say anything more about the plot. I’ll just say that I laughed, in between admiring how witty and often insightful the author is.

Favorite quotes (oh, so hard to pick just a few):

“…[I] consumed them in an office so quiet I could hear the saliva form in my mouth as I chewed.”

“It’s not your fault,” said Gladys a total of nine times, all the while dabbing her eyes. Nine is a lot of times to say the same thing.”

“Don and I had a bout of quiet thinking time. Then he said he should ‘let me go,’ when I hadn’t even realized he was holding me up.”

“’Relationships between numbers are much simpler than relationships between people,’ I told her.”

“And just like that he was gone. Disappeared, leaving me feeling like the remainder in a long-division equation.”

My very favorite quote (maybe of the whole year):

“My lowest ebb was the day I looked into the eyes of a butcher, elbow deep in pigs’ tails, and winked.”

Complaint Board (seriously, these are minor complaints)

-Would anyone be able to stand her? Face it, Germaine is pretty much a jerk. Yet she has friends who really seem to like her. Is this realistic? She does some really nasty things, sometimes affecting people’s jobs. I don’t think she’d be popular or be easily forgiven in real life. Her fellow characters don’t like her right away; they warm up to her slowly as she starts inadvertently redeeming herself (the warming up happened to this reader, too). So maybe it’s not so far-fetched. And she isn’t being nasty on purpose; she just has OCD and things must be efficient—she doesn’t really consider whether her actions will hurt people. And she doesn’t know when she is being manipulated; she can’t read people. (There! I almost talked myself out of this complaint—that’s how endearing Germaine is!)

-More calls, please! I wish we could have seen Germaine talking to more Helpline callers. She is a real riot in the few calls we do get to witness. Her view of the world is so strange, it would be a kick to hear how she went about trying to help people. But I guess that would be a different book.

-Nah, a kid wouldn’t say that! There’s a 6-year-old who talks about dumbing down his explanations so that everyone can understand. He also comments on the correct use of “literally.” Come on! I don’t care how precocious he is, this isn’t how a kid talks. Luckily, he has a miniscule role in the book, and those were the only two problems.

-Drawings aren’t readable on the Kindle. I had a review copy, though, so the problem might have been fixed by publication date. There are maybe a dozen charts that Germaine draws, and even though I squinted hard, I just couldn’t make them out. Yes, I tried using a larger font, but it didn’t work. Mostly the graphs weren’t dark enough. I really wanted to see them! This isn’t the author’s fault, of course, so she doesn’t get a point subtracted for this one. (Did I just talk about subtracting points? Is Germaine rubbing off on me?)

I struggled with my rating. It’s the old “this is sort of lightweight so does it really deserve a 5?” dilemma. But what do I mean by lightweight exactly? It isn’t full of important themes or big words or complex sentences and ideas, but it’s well written, and it’s a rich character study of an oddball, analytical woman whom your grow to love. And damn, this book was witty and wise and most of all FUNNY. Funny carries a lot of weight; funny will make me dole out a 5. So after much twitching, I decided to round up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I realize that a Complaint Board usually doesn’t appear when there are 5 shining stars, but really, the complaints don’t bother me much. And anyway, it’s only because I’m somewhat OCD that I had to list them in the first place. Bottom line: if I totally love a book, if I’m excited to pick it up every single time, if I don’t want it to end, shouldn’t I give it the highest rating?

I completely loved the About the Author blurb at the end of the book. It says Collette is a writer and a SEWAGE engineer! Wow, now that’s a coveted job!! Wonder what she does exactly. I looked on the author page on Goodreads; there, it says she’s an environmental engineer. I like the title “sewage engineer” way better. Anyone who has the guts and the humor to call herself a sewage engineer is pretty damn cool!

Needless to say, Collette is now on my radar. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. Check out this secret gem!

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.

P.S. Germaine fantasizes automating the Help line for efficiency—press 1 for this, press 2 for that, and on and on (until you flip out). In my head I was screaming, NO, please please, NO! Like the rest of the world, when I get caught in the infuriating automated phone-system loop, I get loopy. I question whether I’ll be able to hold on to my sanity after my fights with the phone robots run their course. Phone automation PTSD?

Coincidental with my reading the book (or was it the universe playing with me?), a friend was telling me the story of her latest phone experience with a cable company. After calling the company many times and never being able to reach a real person, she Googled how to do it! (The irony of going to an unreal place to learn how to get to a real person just tickles me!) One thing she read that we should do, which I think we’ve all done, is to clobber the “zero” button as fast as you can and as many times as you can. Sometimes it works, and then, ah, the cool-down can begin.

But she also read that you can reach a real person if you cough! COUGH? Are you kidding me? Does that mean the phone gods sense there’s a feeble senior, in fits of coughing, unable to press buttons or follow instructions? I want to know whether it’s just coughing that works. Does sneezing qualify? What about burping? Hell, let’s try less annoying sounds and whistle a tune! (I know for a fact that yelling obscenities doesn’t work.) Anyway, I sort of want to call my cable company’s help line and cough. Will the phone system cough up a human? What would Germaine have to say about this one?

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

“You’re not a serial killer, are you? Because I’ve often wondered.”

When the insurance company Germaine worked for “gave her the flick” she opted for – well, pretty much the only job available to her – answering calls at the Senior Citizens Helpline. Germaine’s dream is to fully automate the system, streamlining the requests so only the ones that should truly be handled by her department make it in. That’s because . . . .



It’s been that way her entire life. At one point the teacher even had her tested because it was believed she might be gifted. But – nope – turns out she was just . . . .



Like most of these stories, it can be concluded that Germaine is perhaps on the spectrum, or perhaps just really eccentric. It’s a given that by the end of the story she will learn to interact with other humans, at least on some level . . . .

“Relationships between numbers are much simpler than relationships between people. People are unpredictable; you never know what they’re going to do, you never know what they’re going to say. But numbers? Numbers are reliable.”

This one didn’t quite knock my socks off, which had me a little concerned these stories might be becoming “the next Gone Girl” for me . . . .



But I think it was simply a case of me not connecting with Germaine. I pretty much had this reaction to her . . . .



She was just so OBTUSE! Oh, it was infuriating to me. Also . . . .



Unfortunately for Katherine Collette, my Grinch heart most likely had already grown too many sizes for Eleanor and Don and Nina and Andrew in order to fully embrace the quirks of Sudoku-obsessed Germaine. I did fall in love with her mother a bit, though . . .

“She’s your only cousin. Family’s important, no matter how unlikeable they are. Plus, I already said you’d go. It’s okay, you don’t have to buy a present. I’m getting them a Ugandan goat. Well, not them. I’m getting a Ugandan village a goat, and I’ll give Kimberly the certificate.”

“Sure you’re not just printing a certificate and pocketing the money?”

“Shut up, Germaine. That was a one-off thing.”

[Victoria]

Germaine Johnson is no Eleanor Oliphant, don’t let them tell you differently. The latter’s awkwardness rose from a wounded heart, the former’s seems to be self aggrandizement. Thanks, but I know enough of those people. No need to call the helpline, at 50% I’ll help myself to a different book.

[Amanda - Mrs B's Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
It is with delight that I introduce you to Katherine Collette, a fresh new voice in Australian contemporary fiction. The Helpline is Katherine Collette’s amusing, offbeat and dynamic debut novel, featuring a larger than life lead, Germaine Johnson. The Helpline is a comical and lively rendition to a mathematician who finds herself cast as an unlikely heroine, in a bid to save a local senior citizens centre. The results are both hilarious and endearing.

Meet Germaine Johnson, a woman with a passion for anything mathematics related. She loves pie charts, algorithms and the like. What she doesn’t do too well is people. However, when she finds herself unemployed, Germaine takes up a new position on a senior citizens helpline. In this new position, Germaine crosses paths with the local mayor. Germaine is thrust into a top secret project involving the local senior citizens centre. Through this role, Germaine meets Don Thomas, a handsome man who runs the local golf club. What follows is a push-pull story of the struggle to save the senior citizens centre, along with Germaine’s personal journey of self discovery.

The Helpline is a story that has an array of positive elements. The overall concept, which is a fish out of water tale of a senior mathematician who finds herself at the forefront of a senior citizens centre scandal, is very entertaining. The lead character, Germaine, is quirky and loveable. Germaine is a character that will soon grow on you. The setting is fantastic and well rendered. While the plot provides plenty of amusement, as well as distraction from everyday life.

I turned to The Helpline during a mid-week slump. It was the perfect pick me up. Although it is light and funny, there are insightful, as well as compelling moments. What I also appreciated most about this tale was the opportunity to discover a debut Australian writer and I loved Katherine Collette’s approach. I’m keen to delve into more of her writing in the near future!

Collette’s characterisation is warm and genuine. The players in The Helpline, both major and minor, are carefully constructed. I really enjoyed their interactions, reactions and dialogue. It is impossible not to let Germaine into your heart, she may take a little time to warm to, but I enjoyed being a part of Germaine’s pathway to self realisation. This was a special journey and the characters touched by Germaine’s presence were well worth getting to know.

What I reaped from my reading of The Helpline was a sense of benevolence, a better understanding of those on the fringes of society and the power of connection. I loved how the book was told from the first person perspective of Germaine Johnson, a woman who in some instances may be viewed as unusual, but Katherine Collette gives this character a chance to shine. I loved the extra touch of the mathematical based diagrams and charts included in the text, which gives us a better appreciation for Germaine’s mode of thinking.

As the sticker states on the back of The Helpline, this is a guaranteed great read. Make sure you seek this one out if you need a personal pick me up. Guaranteed laughs all round and a touching character story to match.

*I wish to thank Text Publishing for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.

The Helpline, is book #117 of the Australian Women Writers Challenge

[Berit☀️✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky and fun, a little reminiscent of Eleanor. Germaine is obsessed with all things numbers and stats. So when she takes a job working on a helpline she approaches it from a mathematical Point of view. As you can imagine this does not always go over well, especially when some of the city politicians are interested in more than the bottom line. Germaine was witty, introverted, and blunt. It was amusing watching her navigate the calls on this helpline. The helpline was for seniors and Jermaine was definitely easily frazzled and frustrated. When Jermaine ended up visiting the senior center you really saw a more human side of her, I really found her quite endearing. A delightful story about a charming character with a lot of quirk and a big heart. Cannot wait to see what is next from Katherine Collette, what a well-done debut.

This book in emojis 📲 🧮 💁🏻‍♀️

*** Big thanks to atria for my copy of this book ***

[h o l l i s · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around THE HELPLINE.

At first blush it seems like it’s supposed to be a humourous take on a woman who is brought in to oust troublemakers for the local city council, troublemakers who happen to be senior citizens, and in the end.. she ends up switching sides and teaming up with said senior citizens. And.. it’s sorta that? But also a lot of not.

It’s never stated in the book if Germaine has Aspergers, or is on the spectrum, but at the very least she’s socially inept and very fact-oriented. She’s also incredibly focused, driven to succeed, and preoccupied with looking good to the higher ups. As a result she’s not given much opportunity to be likeable because the higher ups are shady and manipulative and as a result so is Germaine. She’s also awkward with a neighbour, for no reason but she is, and there’s a lot of judgey hypocrisy in some interactions with other people, too. Most notably women.

The cast of seniors are a delight and.. well, that’s honestly all I can say to recommend it. The best parts of this book were when Germaine is navigating the random requests and conversations from the seniors calling in to the helpline. I wish the book had actually spent more time on that.

I didn’t find the humour in this I was promised, I wish the representation had been identified, and the ending just kind of baffles me. I’m sure it’s meant to be endearing but honestly I’m just really confused by the whole experience.


** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **

---

This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Helpline is the first novel by Australian author, Katherine Collette. After four months of unemployment (it’s proving a challenge to keep busy all day), Germaine Johnson is somewhat relieved to take the job that her cousin Kimberley lined up with the Deepdene City Council. While, as a senior mathematician, she considers her position on the Senior Citizens Helpline as well below her qualifications, she’s already collecting data with a view to minimising inefficiencies and streamlining the process.

Then Mayor Verity Bainbridge singles her out for a special project: Germaine is sent to the Senior Citizens Centre to settle an ongoing parking dispute with the nearby Fitzsimmons Golf Club. When she discovers just who the owner of the golf club is, she’s eager to resolve the issue, but it turns out not to be a simple matter to sort out. And perhaps some of the parties have hidden agendas?

The complication in all of this is that Collette’s protagonist is great with numbers but less so with people. Germaine night be somewhere “on the spectrum”; she certainly has a touch of OCD; she’s often oblivious to social cues; she manages to rationalise poor decisions, allows her infatuation to cloud her judgement, and is sometimes incredibly naïve. But eventually, she does find out what’s truly important in life (and it’s not status, career, money or personal connections).

What a wonderfully diverse support cast Collette gives Germaine: a cheating sudoku champion, a manipulative mayor, a grumpy club president, a CWA-prize-winning cook; an activist mother; a very smart six-year-old boy; a creative helpline operator; a manager with a conscience; a persistently friendly neighbour; and a casually clad IT expert.

Collette includes plenty of laugh-out-loud humour, but also a few poignant moments. It should come as no surprise to readers that this excellent novel is published by Text Publishing: Germaine Johnson could easily be the cousin of Grace Lisa Vandenberg (Toni Jordan’s “Addition”) and Don Tillman (Graeme Simsion’s “Rosie” series), both also products of Text. Funny and heart-warming, this is a brilliant debut novel and Collette’s further works will be eagerly anticipated.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for a digital galley in exchange for an honest review

This Australian debut from 2018 was a cute read. Germaine Johnson finds herself cut loose from her job at an insurance company, but her cousin manages to find her a job in the mayoral office. Now manning a phone line, Germaine comes into contact daily with senior citizens and the many difficulties they encounter in their daily lives. When the mayor asks Germaine for a favour, she is determined that she'll get the job done. However, Germaine is a lot better with numerical data than she is in navigating human relationships. Be prepared for some cringeworthy moments at both her work and in her personal life.

It did take about 27% before I began to pick up a comfortable rhythm with the plot. With strong vibes that are reminiscent of The Rosie Project and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine , The Helpline offers a glimpse into the life of a straightforward woman who is about to learn a whole lot about herself and others.


I find myself at a 3 rating once again because although I enjoyed the story I felt there were quite a few serious issues Germaine faced that were more on the dramatic side than the comedic side.


Goodreads review 15/06/19
Publication Date. 23/07/19

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Germaine Johnson loses her job as a mathematician, she ends up finding work on the council’s Senior Citizen Helpline. It’s not what she wants but she tries to make the best of it. The trouble is while Germaine is good with Sudoku and numbers. She is not so good with people. Still, she tries her best and comes up with ideas which will, in her view, improve the site and make it more efficient. Her ideas cause a bit of trouble but also draw the attention of the Mayor Verity Bainbridge. The mayor gives Germaine a secret project to resolve the trouble between the senior citizens centre president, Celia Brown and the golf club next door. How can Germaine resolve the issues? And what can she do about her neighbour Jin-Jin and her work colleague Jack Bowe who seem, despite brush offs, to want to be friends?
I am often not the best sort of reader for humorous books and it took me a little while to get into the swing of this one. The further I got into this book the more I enjoyed it. Though for me it was not hilarious, it is amusing. There may not have been laughs but there were definitely many smiles. Germaine manages to be both aggravating and yet somehow so clueless particularly, but not exclusively, in people skills that I couldn’t help but grow attached to her.
The book is light, it’s amusing and yet still manages to cover some thought provoking topics. Anyone who enjoys humour, quirky characters and a feel good read, should enjoy this one. My thanks go to the Text Publishing Company for my copy which I won in their competition. An enjoyable book that I was glad I had the opportunity to read and review. A good fun read.
It is also Katherine Collette’s debut novel so it will be interesting to see what she writes next.

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Helpline is the kind of novel that I enjoy a great deal - contemporary, with outlier main characters; people finding each other, overcoming prejudice, misunderstandings and becoming good friends to form a community etc. This novel had all those elements. In some ways, it was similar to Eleonor Oliphant Is Completely Fine or the The Rosie Project novels which I loved. So I can't quite explain why I'm not in love with it. The writing was decent. The characters and situations were believable. The novel was very easy to read. Despite all these positives, I never really warmed up to it.

I'll guess I'll put it in the "it's not you, it's me" category.

This goes towards my Aussie Author Challenge on www. bookloverbookreviews.com

[Brooke - Brooke's Reading Life · Rating 4 out of 5]

*www.onewomansbbr.wordpress.com
*www.facebook.com/onewomansbbr

**3.5 stars**

The Helpline by Katherine Collette. (2018).

Germaine loses her job as a senior mathematician and eventually gets work on a council's Senior Citizens Helpline which isn't ideal; people aren't exactly Germaine's best skill. Then the Mayor offers Germaine a secret interesting project - dealing with the problematic senior citizens centre and their feud with the golf club next door (owned by the attractive Don). Don and the Mayor want the seniors shut down and so does Germaine until she actually gets to know the seniors...

This was an enjoyable book. Germaine was an interesting lead character. She appeared to have characteristics which some would refer to "being on the spectrum" - she could be blunt to the point of being insensitive and rude, didn't seem to pick up on some social clues, and so on. If you have read 'Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine' and 'The Rosie Project', Germaine had a similar feel to Eleanor and Don. There were moments where I laughed (particularly at the very end) and moments where I cringed. Overall this was an entertaining story where Germaine had personal growth after being taken advantage of (which wasn't the first time) and the ending had a 'feel-good' heartwarming feel about it - lovely!

[Text Publishing]

‘Delightful feelgood fun.’
Toni Jordan

‘Wonderfully quirky.’
Good Reading

‘Many readers today are searching for light but clever comic writing with a bit of a punch; they will happily find it in Katherine Collette’s debut.’
Books + Publishing

‘An endearing story about power, ambition, greed and friendship.’
Readings

[Sonja Arlow · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up

The main character definitely displayed some Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine vibes.

Germaine Johnson loves math and sudoku and firmly believes there is a rational path to every problem. When she is “let go” from her position at an insurance firm she reluctantly takes a job at her local council Helpline for the elderly.

There were some funny moments with Germaine, her colleagues and of course the calls to the helpline but the reason for my middle of the road rating is that the plot was just too predictable and some of the math charts in the book was distracting and not as quirky as I suspect it was intended.

[Sheree | Keeping Up With The Penguins · Rating 5 out of 5]

My full review of The Helpline is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.

The Helpline is a charming, heart-warming story for anyone who loves a good oddball protagonist: think The Rosie Project, or A Man Called Ove. Germaine’s quirky narration (complete with helpful figures and graphs to illustrate her story: anticipated career trajectory, persons at fault for The Incident, and so on) is immediately endearing. In other hands, The Helpline could have been sad or confusing or (worst of all) dull, but Collette nails the voice that allows us to engage and empathise and laugh with (instead of at) Germaine.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book reviews on www.snazzybooks.com

I didn't know what to expect from this but it's quickly rocketed high up on my list of 2018 reads. It's a fun mix of humour, emotion and great characters.

I know everyone is probably going to be comparing it to Eleanor Oliphant, but this really struck me as a book with many similarities - and Eleanor Oliphant was one of my favourite books of last year! I'd say this is a much lighter read, though.

The main character, Germaine, is what many would class as an 'odd' character - she's awkward around other people and often says exactly what she's thinking, regardless of someone's feelings or consequences. The more I read about her, the more I began warming to her, and by the end I wished the book was double the legnth so I could continue the journey with Germaine! The first person narrative means the reader gets an insight into her thoughts, and her take on - well, just about everything!

The storyline is funny and mostly light-hearted, and though there are quite predictable parts, that just illustrates the way that poor Germaine often doesn't pick up on what many people would see as 'obvious'; you can see what's coming a mile off but often Germaine just doesn't see it.

Overall I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a sweet and humourous read, with engaging characters and a (mostly) uplifting storyline.

* Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review. *

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately I think The Helpline is a cheap copy of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. The characters had little depth and even though it was meant to be humourous , I found the humour trite.
However this book did receive some very positive reviews .....

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

A warm fuzzy read with a quirky main character and a bunch of feisty senior citizens.

[Berit☀️✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky! A little bit of an Eleanor vibe, just a little. RTC

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

I haven’t heard much about this book before I picked it up so I wasn’t sure what to expect at all, but I’m all about a debut author and the bold, bright cover kept calling my name from my nightstand! I’m so glad I did grab it because it was something totally different from the kind of books I’ve been reading lately and I ended up enjoying it.

This will most definitely get compared to Eleanor Oliphant in every single review, but honestly, it’s a dead on comparison, so what can you do? I actually liked this more that EO anyway, there was something both unique and distinct about the authors writing style that just worked really well for me and Germaine has such a strong, unique and quirky voice that I couldn’t helped but be charmed by her. She’s definitely eccentric but the woman is so confident in her beliefs that she never wavers and I’m all about a strong female protagonist. The supporting cast also consists of some unusual, albeit lovable characters so this really had it all in terms of characterization for me.

If you like dry humor an endearing cast of characters, and stories full of heart give this a try. It was a quick read as well and just really unique, sure to make you smile!

The Helpline in three words: Quirky, Endearing and Hopeful

[Lisa (Remarkablylisa) · Rating 4 out of 5]

MY RATING: 4/5 STARS

I received an ARC from Simon Schuster Canada in exchange for a honest review.

This one definitely took a long time for me to finish and it'll probably take a long time for you too if you're not a fan of a robust character like Germaine. Similar to Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Germaine very much likes routines and hard data and numbers. She doesn't believe she belongs in the life she's currently living in. For example, she believes her biological father was a prestigious professor in a big university because that was what her mother made her to believe and it can be the only logical explanation as to why she's so logical while her mother is..not. 

It's fun to read about a quirky character like Germaine who doesn't understand human emotions or why what she does is important to the neighborhood around her. She doesn't understand why her job needs to even exist at one point. Instead of answering phonelines, repeating the same answers over and over again, she believes in technology and having a formula to help people as fast as possible without human interaction or connection. 

It can also be really frustrating to read. I admit halfway through, I was dragging my feet to read because Germaine isn't a character to magically change into someone you would like after a chapter. It takes a lot of effort and an event that impacts her and that's why the ending was so satisfactory and it was great to see her fully envelop herself with her friends.

MY RECOMMENDATION 

I would suggest you to read this if this is the quirky novel you've been craving!

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well three and a half stars really.

Collette’s debut, The Helpline, is similar in vein to recent popular novels such as Simison’s ‘The Rosie Project’ and Honeyman’s ‘Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine’.

Senior mathematician, Germaine, is a self proscribed expert in sodoku, the value of efficiency, and the immutability of numbers, but she is also uncomfortably socially inept, and awkwardly naive. Unceremoniously dismissed from her job of some fifteen years for reasons that she never quite articulates, Germaine finds herself working for the local council on the Senior Helpline, determined to prove her worth, and rebuild her career. Quickly singled out by the Mayor for a ‘special project’, Germaine is eager to please, especially when she learns that the project involves her childhood hero, former Sodoku champion, Alan Cosgrove aka Don Thomas. For Germaine, the need to resolve the Mayor’s standoff with the Senior Citizen’s Center, which happens to adjoin Don’s Golf Club, is a matter of responsibility and efficiency, until her equations are complicated by the unpredictable nature of the human factor.

Though Germaine is not always a particularly likeable character, I did warm up to her. Her neuro-atypical traits are never specifically identified but her different perspective is clear. The slightly eccentric supporting characters are varied, from feisty senior citizen, Cecelia Brown, to biscuit hoarder, Eva, and the inevitable love interest, bare kneed IT guy, Jack.

Generally, The Helpline was an enjoyable read. I liked the overall plot and it’s Australian setting, council going-on’s are actually a ripe setting for pathos, and humour.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, I could not put it down! Great characters, so easy to read, loved the storyline, particularly the perspective it was taken from. It really made me think about how everyday situations and conversations can be interpreted so differently by different personalities - and you couldn’t fault Germaine’s logic, it made perfect sense to her - just not to everyone else. Fabulous book.

[Mark Silva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Its stated on the back of this book 'Guaranteed Great Read or Your Money Back'. If I had the time and inclination I'd probably take them up on that.

[Anna Baillie-Karas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok, but it’s not for me.

I like the premise of a quirky woman protagonist, socially awkward, who goes to work at a senior citizens’ helpline. There is comic potential both in the local Council work environment (full of mediocrity) and the elderly callers she has to engage with.

Lots of prickly women characters whose company I didn’t like but makes a refreshing change from many other books.

The execution didn’t work for me - mainly because I didn’t like Germaine and we were too much in her laborious head, the plot was implausible and I found the writing clunky at times (but that could reflect Germaine’s thinking style - either way, it annoyed me).

Germaine is arrogant and petty. She seems to be on the spectrum but this is done heavy-handedly & wears thin (one or two methodical, logical routines are enough). The story, whilst promising, becomes silly (Local Council meets spy caper) but this would be fine if I enjoyed the writing or characters. Unfortunately not - but my podcast co-host loved it!

[Penelope · Rating 1 out of 5]

The back-cover blurb was fantastic – which only made the experience of reading this cynical rip-off all the more disappointing. This is a blatant attempt to write an ‘Australian Eleanor Oliphant’ (without the charm), starring a female incarnation of Graeme Simsion’s Don Tillman, with a trace of Toni Jordan’s Addition (without the wit). I cannot believe Text would publish such a derivative book, let alone one that cannibalises its own authors.

[Diane Hernandez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Germaine is let go from her longtime job at an insurance company. Finding herself without many prospects at her age, she takes a job at The Helpline for local senior citizens.

Germaine loves numbers and is befuddled by people. While seeing herself as providing helpful input, others see her as blunt and tactless. She decides to assist the mayor in closing the local senior center to allow an expansion of his golf club. But Germaine soon changes her mind once she meets the senior rebels.

Unfortunately, despite being The Helpline’s core demographic of an older female, I never liked Germaine or the somewhat derivative plot. I did occasionally feel sorry for her being bullied without even catching on. The humor was missing for me too. Overall, not a good tale. Read the much better Eleanor Oliphant or any of the Rosie Project books. 2 stars.

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Sharah McConville · Rating 5 out of 5]

Germaine is a Sudoku loving, mathematician turned Council Helpline employee. She deals with people and situations differently to most people. I really enjoyed this fun, quirky story. The ending really made me laugh. I received an ARC of 'The Helpline' by Katherine Collette from Text Publishing.

[Morgan Schulman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

I could never get past my feeling that this book was written by a neurotypical writer who never actually met a woman with Asperger’s, and that she was laughing at Geraldine, not with her. Seemed cruel. No than you

[Manda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable and fun in an Eleanor Oliphant sort of way.