Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

26 reviews

booksense's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and Sexual harassment

gracefulraven's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Medical trauma and Car accident

mjeanette_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

bri_morgan's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide and Pregnancy

kickitupanotch7's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny informative mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Phenomenal with extremely developed characters. Includes the most interesting perspective of a dog I’ve ever seen or heard. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

teadrinker4theoceans's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

If you think you had a shitty day, Elizabeth Zott will prove you wrong.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Suicide

maddie_luvs_books's review against another edition

emotional funny informative tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Bonnie Garmus' Lessons in Chemistry is such an accomplished piece of writing, which makes it all the more astonishing that it's by a debut author (albeit one with a lot of life experience behind her).

This novel started slow (and dark - readers should be aware [I wasn't] that

there is a violent, graphic sexual assault

before you hit page 50), but once it got going, it grabbed hold of me and did not let go.

Elizabeth Zott is such an incredible main character - tough, uncompromising, fiercely intelligent, and strong-willed (almost too much so, there were times I wished she would bend just a little, but no, she would not), but she did have a gentler side which I appreciated reading about.

Elizabeth needs every bit of willpower, because number one, she was a scientist, and number two, she was an unmarried woman living in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, a time which did not look kindly on women, particularly women who did not fit their prescribed stereotypes.

Fair warning to readers that the misogyny in this book is extreme, infuriatingly so. It comes from not only men but some women too. The sexism was so overwhelmingly awful at times that I had to stop and wonder if it actually was as terrible as Garmus depicts. I'm not sure, but I know that women definitely got a raw deal in this period of history.

The other infuriating thing to read about was so many of the terrible events in the novel could have been prevented if certain people had been less greedy, small-minded, or desperate. But then I guess there wouldn't have been a story, so go figure.

There were a few things that didn't quite work for me. The switches between POV characters would often occur within the same section, and even in the same paragraph at times, which was jarring as I would need to figure out whose POV I was reading.

Also, the POV of Elizabeth's

dog, Six Thirty

was a good idea in theory but didn't work on the page.

Would a dog really have that many thoughts going on in his/her brain?

I also found it hard to believe the advanced intelligence of

Elizabeth's daughter, Madeline. But then I guess some rare children really are that gifted, so I suppose it's not entirely implausible. But still.

Anyway, overall this was a really great read, albeit one with some pretty dark themes - I would advise prospective readers to check the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Child death, Homophobia, and Pedophilia

wheelyautistic's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism

agathacrispie's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body shaming, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy