Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

247 reviews

zealandrc's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Such a good story. Unlike anything else

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Sexism, and Domestic abuse

lasunflower's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

4 stars because I liked the happy ending. Otherwise it would be 3.

The blurb and reviews on the cover dont really accurately explain what the book was about. I got the impression that its a funny book about a quirky scientist turned TV host in the 50/60s. It is hard to describe (it is literary fiction after all). I'd say somewhere between a dysfunctional found family story and a fictional idiosyncratic feminist biography.

It is written in a witty way, but I wouldn't say funny. The cooking show doesn't form much content of the book: it doesn't become a thing until halfway through and even then isn't much of the content. Be aware that the book from the beginning dives into dark themes: ca page 20 is a rape scene and not much later is a conversation hitting on themes of suicide, child rape, abandonment, death of parents etc. I understand why Garmus did this (as it occurred at the beginning of Zott's career) but it was too jarring, especially considering what I was expecting the book to be about.

Overall, I liked how it was written, though some scenes were a bit strange. Like the cafeteria scene was a bit strange to hear from the perspectives of people not otherwise on the book (and happening early on, nearly put me off the book) or the chapters from the dog's perspective too. I think if these chapters were cut, the book would have flowed a lot better. Sometimes they felt like Garmus was just trying to be quirky instead of give new perspectives.

This book has given me lots of food for thought.

Just so others are aware, this book focuses on the white straight woman experience only. I commend Garmus for not doing too many themes in the book, but just for readers to be aware, as it is a recent feminist book, but isn't reflective of third wave intersectional feminism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Sexism, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual harassment, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Outing, and Suicide

schlotte's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse

cazab22's review

dark emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, and Domestic abuse

17kmcollins's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Rape

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Vomit and Domestic abuse

samanthacorwin's review

funny slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, and Suicide

Minor: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, and Grief

akswhy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Diverting enough for its feminism, but some of the things characters get away with and the “small world” connections are too far-fetched. I’ll be interested to see how it’s adapted by AppleTV.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Blood

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Suicide, and Death

Minor: Child death and Child abuse

kalisaur's review against another edition

• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

While very readable, I found certain parts of this cringey. Do you have to make sexual assault so prevalent to show the strength of patriarchy within mid-century society? No. Do chemists actually refer to water and salt by their chemical names in their daily life? I doubt it. Must a woman be stiff and socially inept simply because she is intelligent? Of course not. The story ended with a nice happy bow on it, which I never favor. Perhaps due to its popularity I expected more out of the novel but it was merely okay to me. Also I felt the rowing was shoehorned in simply because it seemed to be the only thing related to the author, who is neither a chemist nor a chef.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, and Sexism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

Minor: Vomit and Domestic abuse

jellybeanjess's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Misogyny, Sexism, Rape, and Pregnancy

Minor: Domestic abuse

Graphic SA in the beginning of the book!

bookwormess's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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? Yes

3.5

This is a good book, I recognize that. However, it was a really hard one to get into. It took me to about 250 pages to feel compelled by the story. I feel that there are other books that I was able to get into more even though I gave them lower star ratings. I wouldn’t read this book again, but it is well-written for sure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Abortion