tariana's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Sexual assault, Car accident, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Cannibalism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
tlbignerd's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
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? No
5.0
Incredibly moving book. I spent the first half incredibly angry at the end of each chapter,then the second half incredibly emotional. It's been a while that I've connected so much with the characters and their story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Rape
Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Death
freul's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Rape, Car accident, and Suicide
Moderate: Grief, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Bullying, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Medical content, Vomit, Abortion, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, and Religious bigotry
queen_melliott's review against another edition
challenging
sad
medium-paced
- 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
I had really high hopes for this but ended up absolutely despising it. I did however, very much enjoy the ending because I love when everybody gets what they deserve. It was the only redeeming thing about this disaster of a book.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Bullying
Moderate: Rape, Homophobia, Pregnancy, and Body shaming
Minor: Grief, Child death, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Death of parent, Abortion, and Car accident
weasley1912's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
5.0
The dog as a character was very interesting and also broke my heart ❤️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexism, Sexual assault, Rape, Death, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment
chiarixci's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Rape, Death of parent, and Suicide
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
teigancollins's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Suicide, Car accident, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Sexual assault
fazazzle's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I purchased this book in anticipation of the Apple TV adaptation starring Brie Larson, but I really wish I didn’t. I’ve seen this title circulate around for years and hailed as a terrific piece of literature, but I truly do not agree.
While there are some redeeming qualities to this book (i.e., most of Six-Thirty’s POVs, the reveals at the end, and the development of the main romance), I could not wholeheartedly get behind this book.
Also, I know that this story takes place in the 1960s, but the feminist perspective felt very one-dimensional and was really ineffective for me. Honestly, it was kind of textbook White Feminism. I think that a lot more could have been done with these characters and this story if the feminism dared to dig a little deeper. Although I did enjoy the way that the cooking shows impacted the female audience members, I think that ultimately a lot of the messages fall a little flat.
Ultimately, I don’t think I would really recommend this book to others. Although the writing style was (at times) interesting and there were some nice moments, I don’t really think this book will stand the test of time.
While there are some redeeming qualities to this book (i.e., most of Six-Thirty’s POVs, the reveals at the end, and the development of the main romance), I could not wholeheartedly get behind this book.
Spoiler
The turning point for me was about 95 pages in, when we witness Calvin’s death. I don’t think that this death was meaningless (it was hinted from the beginning, so we did know it was coming), but the exaggerated, violent description of his death is really unnecessary. I don’t think that being needlessly cruel in the specifics of Calvin’s death really does much for the story or even the character development of outside characters.Also, I know that this story takes place in the 1960s, but the feminist perspective felt very one-dimensional and was really ineffective for me. Honestly, it was kind of textbook White Feminism. I think that a lot more could have been done with these characters and this story if the feminism dared to dig a little deeper. Although I did enjoy the way that the cooking shows impacted the female audience members, I think that ultimately a lot of the messages fall a little flat.
Ultimately, I don’t think I would really recommend this book to others. Although the writing style was (at times) interesting and there were some nice moments, I don’t really think this book will stand the test of time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Death, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Body horror, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Pregnancy
stellakay's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Pregnancy
Death of spouse