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!

I enjoyed this one, but I didn't love it, Interesting characters and I enjoyed the concept, though! However, I really didn't enjoy the humour and didn't really get anything from it.

Thank you Netgalley, Simon & Schuster Canada and Katherine Collette.
This is a first novel by the Australian author, Katherine Collette.
Germaine Johnson loves number but not people. After being let go by her previous employer she finds a job thru her cousin at a senior helpline. Throughout the book we learn how Germaine adapts to people and especially seniors.
Quirky main character and spunky seniors.
Enjoyable read.

The Helpline is an entertaining read. How can you help others when you can't even help yourself? Germaine, the heroine, is fired from her job of 15 years (she's a math genius), and is abruptly tossed out into the real world. She is socially awkward and inept and just doesn't have people skills. How, then, to find a new job? But, find she does working in a senior center. It's a new complicated reality. She is witty and relatable, but she is also annoying sometimes. Germaine learns the ropes of office politics, personal interactions and questions her way of being in the world. Germaine becomes entangled in a situation that brings her issues to the forefront. Through all of this, she makes actual connections to other people, confronts herself about who she's been for so long and ultimately must choose who she wants to be, knowing she has the strength to leave some ways of living in the past. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

What a wonderful story. I just loved the story line and the characters! I recommend this book to everyone!

Hollis’ 1.5 star review

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. **

Fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely fine will adore this debut novel about Germaine, a genius on paper but extremely socially awkward protagonist who has been recently fired from her job of 15 years and accepts a position at a senior citizens help line. I found it resembled Eleanor Oliphant a bit more than I expected to but nonetheless it was humorous, and entertaining. The supporting characters were the perfect touch for this gem of a novel.

Thank you Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for sending me this digital copy.

This book was a bit different than what I was expecting. When Germaine Johnson, a math nerd and socially awkward women, loses her job at a insurance company, she has to take whatever job she is offered whether she likes it or not. With help of a family member, she soon gets a job at Senior Citizens Helpline. But while Germaine is exceptionally good with numbers, she struggles with interacting with people. Soon she gets caught up in the plots and politics at her workplace while developing some unexpected connections and friendships. But her life gets even more complicated and she is forced to choose between her career and morals.

I am little conflicted about how to rate this book. I thought the first half of the book was pretty slow but I thoroughly enjoyed the last half. Colette's writing style is very witty, humorous and lighthearted. I loved those little graphs and figures she added. It made the characters more realistic. It took me some time to warm up to the main character, Germaine but I could also relate to her on many levels. I believe she has Asperger's Syndrome and maybe a little bit of OCD. I genuinely felt bad for her since people often took advantage of her naivety and manipulated her for their own gain. She did make some really questionable choices and was unnecessarily rude to some people but she redeemed herself in the end. I loved all the side characters especially Germaine's mother, Jack, Cecily and Jin-Jin. The little romance in this book was quite endearing. All in all, this book was a great 3.5 star read for me.

The Helpline was a fun read, told in the first person by “Germaine”, a socially-awkward math genius who continually compared human relationships to algebra problems. Her many social gaffes and the her descriptions of co-workers and friends (according to HER calculations) was amusing and captivating. Germaine became involved in a “good vs evil” office politics plot, and along the way, made new friends who helped her to see the world with more self-awareness. It was an enjoyable read especially if, like me, you are a little tired of high drama/conflict, and just feel like reading about human relationships with some comedy thrown in. From this perspective, The Helpline was definitely what I was looking for!