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lokes's review against another edition
- 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? No
2.0
Well, I’m not really sure how to rate this one… I quite liked the characters and the stories, even if it bordered on the whimsical and imaginary at times (like the hyper intelligent dog, the many coincidences between characters and especially the major plot points, etc), and the main character was feminist in the sense of the 21th century, which did throw me off a few times. Also, there is no intersectionality to the feminism of the main character, and her motto seems to be „tell women you’re proud of them and make their unpaid, invisible work (namely the house hold chores and child rearing) visible and tell them, that you’re proud of them doing it, and they’ll revolt and become suffragettes!“
The only really bad part would be the rape scenes, because the author gave the characters absolutely no reaction to that (apart from her crying once and being slightly disturbed while giving her police statement), and later even went as far as to make her pull out a kitchen knife when another male character tries to rape her (which leads to him immediately having a heart attack), all the while never letting Elizabeth have the room to acknowledge the trauma she suffered before, or working on said trauma, as if the rape made her a better, stronger women and wasn’t trauma at all, but simply something she needed to go through in order to become a feminist/independent woman.
Apart from that, I think I liked it, even though the underlying plot is still about a man - her lover - and his long lost family. But hey, he was “one of the good ones”, to say it in the characters words…
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
bookswithlauren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
bettymer91's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Death, Sexual violence, Suicide, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Body horror and Body shaming
hammock_napper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry
naomiauld's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Suicide, Car accident, and Death of parent
juliagongaware's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Car accident
xiaogui's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Grief
Moderate: Violence, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
spootilious's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Title: Lessons in Chemistry
Author: Bonnie Garmus
Review:
“The librarian is the most important educator in school. What she doesn’t know, she can find out. This is not an opinion; it’s a fact.”
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism
escapereader's review against another edition
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
cmcahill's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Elizabeth Zott, a scientist working in the 50's is surrounded by people who are threatened by her beauty, intelligence, but mostly threatened by the fact that she doesn't listen to the nay-sayers. I don't want to put in any spoilers, but I can say that her life doesn't go in directions she expected. Some folks might find the story a bit didactic, but having worked in a lab for several years, Elizabeth's story sadly rang true to my experience in the 1980s.
This was actually my second reading. Read it last year with the Reading Between the Wines book group.
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment