Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Lessons in Chemistry

This was pretty enjoyable! I absolutely loved the elements of magical realism - the whole book felt JUST outside of reality in the best way. The chemistry being done was extremely handwavy and made little to no sense, and normally this would bother me as a trained scientist, but I was able to categorize those aspects right next to the talking dog, unattainably genius child, and kitchen chemistry lab renovations. The plot was engaging enough to keep me reading, the characters were loveable, and the overall theme was very feel-good (it was quite girl-boss-white-feminist-y for my taste, but not to an unbearable degree).

Major trigger warning regarding sexual violence in the beginning of the book, which definitely took away from the lightness that it seemed the rest of the book was trying to achieve and this was a big disconnect for me.

Overall a good read, but I truthfully haven't thought about it once since I finished. Except for the dog - he was the BEST character and I did miss him for a few days after closing the book for the last time.

Content Warnings

mirificmoxie's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

Content Warnings

kadyofbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

So, I absolutely LOVED this book!! I can't wait to reread it some day. I loved following Elizabeth's story, although it also made me furious at how women were treated throughout history. This focuses on the 1960's and even though things have changed for the better since then, there are still some things that need changing now. (And I do get the criticism that some people mentioned about Elizabeth feeling like a 21st century woman time-travelling back to the 1950s/60s and with that background trying to make a life in society.)
The characters Bonnie Garmus wrote felt very real (maybe a bit stereotypical at some points but, nevertheless, real).

Spoiler

I especially loved Elizabeth's relationship with her daughter, Mad. Although she originally didn't want children, once Mad was in her life I felt like that changed to accomodate the changed reality. I also loved that Garmus didn't portray motherhood as being easy-going from the beginning. Elizabeth does struggle with her new role as a mother and therefore a rolemodel and caregiver to a younger being. What I also loved about that was that she raised Mad to be independent and curious but not naive.

Content Warnings

rubyslippers96's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

nat_01's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny inspiring medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

lionysh's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

iblamewizards's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted 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? No

4.0

Lessons in Chemistry was the kind of book that requires a certain level of suspension of disbelief. It's not a realistic portrayal of...well...anything, to be completely honest, but it was still an oddly joyful read despite its often confronting and tragic subject matter.

Elizabeth Zott suffered hugely from the "not like other girls," trope, men were reduced to caricatures, Mad Zott was a completely unbelievable "gifted child," and there was a shoehorned "found family" narrative that, for me, was the weakest part of the book. But it was still just a lovely read.

There has been a lot of legitimate criticism levelled at Lessons in Chemistry, but ultimately, not of that detracted from the simple fact that I enjoyed reading this book. And sometimes that's all you need.

Content Warnings

tariana's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring sad 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

5.0

It was fun to read, there was a moment that I was so devastated about something that happens that I didn’t want to continue. However I felt like something was missing and after much thought I realized that even though the book brings a lot of discussions regarding feminism, it lacks depth, I say that having in mind that the story happens on the 1960s and some resolutions to the conflict were easily solved which I don’t think it would be the same if that had really happened in the 60s, for example, Elizabeth starring for a long time on TV preaching about feminism without men revolting against it and taking measures to restrain her.

Content Warnings

More...