classicallyzo's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- 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? No
5.0
A stunning book that I got sucked into. At its heart Elizabeth Zott - who wants to be herself and a scientist. Lessons in Chemistry does in fact include lessons in the hard science, but more so lessons in life and the fucked up shit women have had to overcome. It's empowering and so well written.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Child abuse
brazenbookbabe's review against another edition
4.0
This book had a lot of trauma in it. The young child character was maybe too precocious for their age. But outside of those things, I enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Death, Suicide, and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual violence
floatinthevoid's review against another edition
DNF-ED at 75%.
Warning! Rant review incoming.
Warning! Rant review incoming.
"Wait. is that rare?" Madeline piped up. "Is not believing in God one of those rare things?"
The subtlety... is that of an actual elephant in the room. This is why I avoid hyped books like a plague btw. I've heard so many positive reviews from people I usually shared a taste in books with. But man, like okay, I get it Elizabeth Zott is Woman In Science. She calls out misogynistic bullshit all the time. She dared to fight injustices. I get it she's smart and quirky and very attractive to everyone except herself. And of course her child is a Genius too. Reading Nabokov and Norman Mailer at four. Understand politics and human rights at six. Oh, they also have a dog that can understand 200 words or something. Nothing is too impossible for the Zotts, apparently. Okayyy I get it, really. So then, the story?
The actual plot minus all the quirkiness and force-fed morality messages from the author? so dragging and borderline boring. The comedy? Okay. You can make fun out of something very serious. I believe that. But you also need to execute it well. Meanwhile in this book, the author to me feels like she doesn't know how to go about it. And I imagine she said "Fuck it, we ball!" then she balled and not giving it another glance. There's some heavy topics discussed and described in the early chapters, so I got the impression that this is the kind of "serious book" layered with dark humor. Well I was promised "sparks joy with every page" but I got none. With all the exaggeration integrated in a lot of aspects in this book: the characters, plots, dialogues, etc this would do so well as a satire. Make it over the top since the start, so over the top people can't miss it's a satire. But alas this book is not a satire.
Instead of exploring nuances about women in science's struggle or women's struggle in general during the 1950s, the author instead took the girlboss archetype marketed by corporates and mainstream media path. Why is it that Elizabeth so two dimensional anyway? there's a potential to shape her into Woman In Science character with depth, if the author allows her to have vulnerabilities. There are some moments where distressing situations can cause her emotional or moral dilemma, which will be very interesting by the way. But no, nuh-uh. Only logical thinking is allowed. She seemed to always got it handled perfectly in the end.
The other characters were also put as some kind of measurement to show how much better Elizabeth is regarding to social issues, as if she's a social person herself. I only loved the part where Elizabeth and Calvin met, knowing each other then get together. Just two snobs being a couple.
The dog... doesn't necessarily give me any kind of joy. It's just not something I usually wanted to read willingly. So I don't have much to say about it.
The other men characters on the other hand, have no redeeming qualities. Either they're straight up a SA perpetrator or they're an active complicit that ends up not getting their views challenged/confronted at all.
You know, if anything I'm more interested in whatever's going on between Calvin and Wakely...
Point is, this is so disappointing and annoying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Domestic abuse, Grief, and Child abuse
annakh16's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Car accident, and Rape
Moderate: Misogyny, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
Minor: Pregnancy and Suicide
melodymarrshmallow's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
Too sad. Also I’m not sure if the fmc is supposed to be neurodivergent but it leaned a little hard on stereotypes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, and Suicide
ktdakotareads'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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Bullying, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Blood and Infidelity
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.
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
squinch's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
fast-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Child abuse
bookwormess's review against another edition
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.
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
kmrose's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny and Rape
Minor: Abandonment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Car accident