I don't know that I've ever been so torn about a book! I loved the autism representation, and Germaine absolutely SANG as a character. The humor was spot on, as was her character development and yet . . . there just wasn't enough of a plot here, beyond shoving Germaine into awkward situations and letting the reader laugh. It worked when it worked, but when it didn't, it felt scarily close to "punching down."

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

I received an advanced copy of The Helpline by Katherine Collette from the publisher Atria via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Germaine Johnson is fabulous with numbers, but not good with all people, which has led to others being promoted over her, she quits her long term job. Luckily, her cousin gets her a job at the city council working the Senior Citizens Helpline. Germaine is not excited at the job but when offered a way to move up the chain by working on a secret project for the Mayor, involving the troublemakers at the senior citizens and their feud with golf club next door. The mayor and the attractive golf club owner, Don, want the senior center closed down. But as Germaine gets to know the residents, it is more complicated.

What I Loved: Honestly, there is not much, but I did like the ending of the book and the curmudgeon turning around aspect of the book. I liked the role of sudoku.

What I Didn’t Like: This book is rough. It’s set up to be a curmudgeon book where Germaine is the curmudgeon who needs to get to know how to deal with people, but Germaine is just hard to deal with. A lot of her moves seemed very selfish and that made it hard to accept Germaine as our hero. I spaced out a bit during this book and it didn’t capture my attention. I also didn’t get to know many characters other than Germaine, as they felt one dimensional and it made me hard to enjoy the whole story.

Who Should Read It: People who like curmudgeon books.

Summary: A woman on a mission to remove a senior center, gets a wake up call by getting to know the seniors.

I thought this book was ok. It was well paced and the characters were fully developed. Thank you for letting me read this book.

A fun read full of quirky characters you can't help but want to get to know better.

The Helpline, introduces us to Germaine an eccentric woman who is not only great with numbers but jobless. That is until she lands a job at City Hall where she is asked to help close down the senior center in town.

She agrees the "numbers" make sense until she starts to get to know the residents of the center.

This is definitely a feel-good story and one that I hope will continue into a series.

Though THE HELPLINE was a quick read for me, I didn't love it as much as I thought I would. I know this is vague, but I just couldn't connect with the characters.

The premise of the book is great and the author really delivers. Great read. Highly recommended. .

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.
I honestly struggled with this one. It really is extremely similar to one of my favorite characters Eleanor Oliphant but not in a good way. Germaine was not a character i fould get into, unfortunately.
Thank you netgalley and atria books for my review copy!

This one started off with potential, but I honestly had the hardest time with it. The characters were awful. Germaine was very odd, and truly just not a very nice person. They compared her to Eleanor from Eleanor Oliphant, and I had high hopes that this book would be similar, but it was not. Germaine was really not much like Eleanor other than the fact that she was quirky. I felt that she wasn't kind, and she never changed the whole book. She, like the book was very uninteresting, and I almost DNF. The story was slow and boring, and I almost felt that there was no real point to it in the end.

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 ***

This book was .not what I was looking for. I think it's me. i like Eleanor Oliphant but not enough to like books that are touted as the next Eleanor. This book was not for me.

I was reading this book at the same time as another. The other was dark and morbid and this was light and easy reading. I think that is why I liked it. Germaine is awkward, probably on the spectrum, and doesn't particularly care for other people or understand their ways. She somehow ends up on a helpline for seniors and, predictably, she befriends those strange people she starts out hating to help.

Overall, if you don't think about it too much, it's good. It had some funny parts and some characters that were far better written than the main character, even when seen through her warped lens. The character of Germaine was a little unbelievably written and hit on a whole b unchecking of stereotypes, but she was a means to the end. I'd recommend for light, cheesy reading.

The Helpline by Katherine Collette is features a main character reminiscent of Eleanor Oliphant in that Germaine is socially awkward, blunt in her honesty, and doesn't always understand why people might have an unfavorable impression of her. However, you can't help but fall in love with this character and her quirky ways. Germaine has a brand new job working on the helpline for senior citizens. She is determined to make a great impression with her coworkers and the mayor. She forges grudging alliances along the way and helps her community battle back against some possibly criminal behavior. Read and enjoy!

If you were a fan of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, then you will definitely enjoy The Helpline by Katherine Collette! The protagonist, Germaine Johnson, is unexpectedly fired from her data analytics job and finds a job answering calls at a Senior Citizens Helpline. Most people want to call in to talk about grieving or pension check problems, but Germaine is determined to make the call times short and efficient 😬. She is also asked by the mayor to participate in a special project in which she invests all of her time. All Germaine desires in life is to be recognized for her hard work and dedication (although it is often with a blind eye), which she does not receive from her mother.
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Collette writes Germaine with a wry sense of humor and quirky observations on societal norms as if an alien has descended into our world. I’m still chuckling at “the biscuit situation”.
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The Helpline has the tone of Eleanor but is a quick, fun read with a bit of drama and a warm/fuzzy ending.

Germaine loses her job because she was involved with her boss. I have read a few books lately that have started this way. Then Germaine gets a new job working at a helpline for seniors. But what you need to know about Germaine is that I am pretty sure she has some sort of social disorder. She sees things as black and white, doesn't like being around people and generally thinks her way is better than everyone else's. But then she starts to see how helping people can help her break out of that.

So, I enjoyed this book. However it was not an easy read for me. Most of the time I just wanted to roll my eyes from the situations and the way the main character reacted to them. I am, however, appreciative of the depth of which this particular disposition is written. I do not know if the author wrote with a social disorder in mind or just created a complex individual different from the cookie cutter heroines we sometimes see. Either way, it was interesting to get through.

I received this book in order to review.

A light read that reminds me of Eleanor Oliphant or Evvie Drake, but not executed as well. This was cute but mostly forgettable. Good for a by-the-pool read in between heavier fare.

This book had many laugh-out-loud moments. Germaine is so blunt and to the point, and mixed with a senior citizen group that is HELPLESS. Germaine’s few responses that we get to “witness” are very funny. I’d compare this to Eleanor Oliphant.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

The Helpline was SUCH a fun read for me. Thx Atria for my Netgalley copy (I picked up a physical copy in a swap). I got major Eleanor Oliphant vibes (which is a good thing because I loved that book). I loved that right off the bat, you knew that some type of experience or event has affected Germaine in such a way that makes her the very peculiar lady we learn about. I obviously don’t want to spoil anything but I loved her “discovering feelings” and I literally burst out laughing at the ending.

cute and quirky, but didn't stand out among similar books. I enjoyed a few of the characters but overall it was just ok.

The Helpline by Katherine Collette is a charming and funny story that has a set of memorable characters including Germaine who is quirky to say the least. Between Germaine, her coworkers at City Hall and the people at the Senior Center this book is constantly entertaining and quite enjoyable. I LOL'd quite a few times at the things that Germaine says and does throughout the story. This is a perfect end of summer read! Thank you to @netgalley for the ebook!