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missinfermiera's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment
abundance_of_fiction's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Yes there is some romance, but not in the typical sense. In the words of Elizabeth Zott, they are “soul mates”. Not in the cheesy meet-cute fashion but the real-life, messy, laugh and cry sense.
This book was empowering, heartbreaking, and everything in between. I cried so much in the last hundred chapters because I had gone through this journey. I was Elizabeth Zott and I was all the other women. You would think a novel set in the 1950/60s wouldn’t have so many parallels to the modern world but that was the beauty of it. As sad as it is, many of us are still Elizabeth Zott. Maybe not in the most direct sense but in spirit.
Even if you can’t relate to Elizabeth Zott’s story, you know someone who can.
Overall, a 5 star read through and through.
*slight spoilers*
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You will be crying by 30% into the book, so just be Prepared.
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Grief, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Minor: Cannibalism
nesilla's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.25
Graphic: Misogyny and Rape
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Suicide, Vomit, and Suicide attempt
wheelyautistic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism
tlbignerd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
jennifertremblay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Moderate: Suicide and Suicide attempt
queen_melliott'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
1.5
First of all, I have no idea why in the world anyone would describe this as comedy and compare it to Mrs Maisel when the holy story revolved around discrimination, prejudice, bullying, rape, suicide and death in general. It had zero funny moments.
The story felt so unrealistic for the time. Yes, there absolutely were women who were highly intelligent, who wanted to work, to be scientists or doctors, who didn’t believe in God, who supported or at least accepted gay people, who didn’t believe in marriage, who didn’t want children, who were not warm and nurturing but more unemotional and matter-of-fact, and who had highly intelligent children whom they brought up with a more liberal mindset. Elizabeth, however, combined all of these traits and felt so incredibly unrealistic to me. The reason why I couldn’t stand her was a different one, though. She always felt the need to fight, to be mean and make enemies wherever she went. She was so uncooperative and defensive, she didn’t see when people were trying to help her and be good to her (Calvin, Mason, Avery). She felt downright hostile to me.
Talking about unrealistic, DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON MAD AND THE DOG. Madeline is 5 YEARS OLD. Even for a gifted child, it just seemed ridiculous to me, the way she talked, speaking about taxes and faith having nothing to do with religion, get out of here.
And then the friggin’ dog. Learning English. Analyzing human behavior like a psychologist. Reading the clock. Speaking to dead and unborn people. Walking 9 miles by himself to visit Elizabeth at work. Picking up Mad from school. Having an inner monologue about the dissonance between people thinking they’re so smart and voluntarily consuming carcinogens. Then of course he was trained in bomb detection, too. I swear the only thing that dog couldn’t do was go rowing with Elizabeth.
Also, maybe three people would watch that cooking show. It would NOT be a hit in that time. Today, yes. Back then, hell no.
Needless to say, I skim-read most of the book because I hated it so much but still wanted to know where the story was going to go, what all the fuss was about.
Then came the point I would have DNFed this, hadn’t I been in 76% already: Elizabeth, a SCIENTIST, someone who always stuck to the SCIENTIFIC FACTS, telling a woman on her show that it is OK TO EAT MEAT BECAUSE PLANTS ARE ALIVE, TOO, just like animals!!! LADY, PLANTS DO NOT HAVE A CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, THEREFORE, THEY DO NOT FEEL PAIN. Also, they do not feel emotions and have no families, they don’t feel frightened before we dice them, they do not release stress hormones, they don’t feel pain, they don’t miss their family members when separated from them. EATING MEAT AND EATING PLANTS ABSOLUTELY DO NOT COMPARE. Meat is murder, full stop. So is dairy and eggs. Educate yourself, Bonnie Garmus. The only slightly redeeming part about this was that, later, Elizabeth teaches her audience that plants do in fact have protein. So at least, Bonnie Garmus knows nutritional facts, even if she has no clue about the anatomy of plants or ethical questions.
Lastly, the whole point of the story was to fight discrimination and be accepting of people no matter their sex or sexual orientation - with the exception of people who believe in God, of course, and all Christian churches in the world. They are pure evil! There is only a single good priest and that is the one who doesn’t believe in God in the first place (Wakely). What a way to undermine the books whole point. Accept people for who they are, unless they have a different point of view or different beliefs from yours. Well done, Bonnie Garmus.
Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, Sexism, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Body shaming, Homophobia, Rape, and Pregnancy
Minor: Child death, Infidelity, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
rebeccagl0ver's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment
ank3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Infidelity and Car accident
bookwormess'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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Abortion