Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus

83 reviews

e_graz's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexism

Minor: Homophobia

bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Classism, Murder, Religious bigotry, Death, Car accident, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Grief, Fatphobia, Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Rape, and Body shaming

bookiecharm's review against another edition

This book is incredibly frustrating and I regretted coming back to it every time. Peak white feminism, not my brand of humor, and so much unnecessary belittling of horrifying events.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Blood, Death, Rape, Grief, Injury/injury detail, and Gaslighting

Minor: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Suicide

epellicci's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, and Misogyny

Minor: Suicide and Homophobia

motleybooksandtea's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Suicide, Rape, Homophobia, Death, Death of parent, and Sexual assault

ladyinverse's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

very cute book. imo, a kindof boring start but it does get very interesting midway through. 6:30 is my favorite boy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, Medical content, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Rape, Misogyny, Death, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Classism

a_alves00's review

challenging emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Rape, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Body shaming, Car accident, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

annaofjesup's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Misogyny, Death, Car accident, Rape, Grief, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Abandonment, and Cursing

Minor: Physical abuse, Alcoholism, and Homophobia

faefolkreads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad slow-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? It's complicated

2.5

Did I read something different to everyone else? 
All I’ve heard and seen are rave reviews for this book, but I honestly don’t get the hype. 
‘A novel that sparks joy with every page’- I think not. This book mostly just left me feeling sad. We have sexism, homophobia, suicide, death, rape and depression. Although I liked the feminism in this, I found Zott herself a difficult character to like, and it was disappointing that 96% of men in this book were horrible human beings- I would really like to think that not ALL men in the 50’s and 60’s were like this. I also found the book didn’t flow very well, with jumping character pov’s and timelines, which felt a bit messy.

This is the reason I avoid popular, accoladed fiction 🙈😅

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death, Rape, and Suicide

jkneebone's review against another edition

informative slow-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? No

2.5

Okay, I do NOT get the hype with this one. I really struggled through the first half of this book. I enjoyed the second half more, but I likely would have DNF’ed before it got to that point if I wasn’t reading this for a book club, so I wouldn’t call that a ringing endorsement. 

I did listen to the audiobook, and I didn’t like the narration style very much, so perhaps I would have liked this better if I’d read the physical version. We’ll never know. 

I’ll admit that some of my gripes with this book are more personal preference - I’m not a fan of the use of third person omniscient, for example, and I found Elizabeth Zott to be quite annoying as a main character. In some situations her perseverance was admirable, and I liked how she drew attention to the discrimination she faced as a woman; however in other situations she was so stubborn as to be idiotic. The way she refused to understand how any of her behavior might prove to be an issue, especially once she got on TV, made it seem like she had no awareness or understanding of how society worked. 

In my view there were some technical issues with Lessons in Chemistry, eg it wasn’t very well written. Frankly, I think it was too long by half, and a lot of the backstory and tangents could have been removed. On the stylistic side, some things were over-exaggerated to the point of absurdism (eg, Elizabeth teaching her dog 900+ words) while others were treated extremely seriously (eg, the sexism Elizabeth faced) which made me unsure of how I was supposed to be reading the overall tone. There was practically no character growth or development, despite how many people’s heads we got to peek into, and so many of the characters read more like caricatures with no nuance at all, including some of the main players. And for a book ostensibly about a woman scientist, so much of the story from start to finish ended up being centered around Calvin. 

Overall, this was fine. There were some funny parts, and even a few moments that tugged at my heartstrings, albeit in the same way as commercials with sad animals do. It’s entertaining enough, I suppose, even if the plot is trying to do *way* too much. (IMO it would have benefited from another round of editing.) But best book of the year or any of the other superlatives people have been throwing in its direction? Agree to disagree. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Body shaming, Suicide, Death of parent, Child death, and Misogyny

Minor: Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Domestic abuse