Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Уроки химии

Chemistry is change and change is the core of your belief system. Which is good because that’s what we need more of—people who refuse to accept the status quo, who aren’t afraid to take on the unacceptable.

Lessons in Chemistry is an unforgettable read, whose last page made me close the book with a grin in my face. Elizabeth Zott has become one of the most inspiring female characters I’ve got the pleasure to read, and the author, Bonnie Garmus, is an unparalleled talent whose ability to bring characters to life is extraordinary. This is a story for women and about women.

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hello_lovely13's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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jillaay_h's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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zoiejanelle's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.5

i read this per my aunt’s recommendation with zero knowledge of the book going into it. it is about the generation of women who came just after my grandmother, adult women in the late 50s and 60s who were on the precipice of the next great American feminist movement but still greatly impacted by WW2 social norms.

i did not expect this book to impact me so much! i love women’s fiction, but i tend to prefer more literary works than this. there was a very clear timeline and plot, which i appreciated, and though the book covered serious topics, the tone was mostly lighthearted.

the POVs in this book were absolutely incredible. i LOVED getting 6:30’s perspective, and the type of head hopping that would normally
bother me was used very strategically and successfully!

there was a HEAVY dose of found family here that i did not expect at all. i welled up in tears many times over during scenes where Mad and Elizabeth got to experience the love and support of their own little community.

also, i SHOUTED when the

Vogue

reveal happened. Harriet slayed!!! Best character award!!!

i can definitely see how this book lends itself to a TV series, which i plan on watching! overall, this was a really fun and interesting read outside my comfort zone.

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lokes's review against another edition

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funny hopeful informative tense medium-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? No

2.0

tw: mentions of rape

Well, I’m not really sure how to rate this one… I quite liked the characters and the stories, even if it bordered on the whimsical and imaginary at times (like the hyper intelligent dog, the many coincidences between characters and especially the major plot points, etc), and the main character was feminist in the sense of the 21th century, which did throw me off a few times. Also, there is no intersectionality to the feminism of the main character, and her motto seems to be „tell women you’re proud of them and make their unpaid, invisible work (namely the house hold chores and child rearing) visible and tell them, that you’re proud of them doing it, and they’ll revolt and become suffragettes!“
The only really bad part would be the rape scenes, because the author gave the characters absolutely no reaction to that (apart from her crying once and being slightly disturbed while giving her police statement), and later even went as far as to make her pull out a kitchen knife when another male character tries to rape her (which leads to him immediately having a heart attack), all the while never letting Elizabeth have the room to acknowledge the trauma she suffered before, or working on said trauma, as if the rape made her a better, stronger women and wasn’t trauma at all, but simply something she needed to go through in order to become a feminist/independent woman.
Apart from that, I think I liked it, even though the underlying plot is still about a man - her lover - and his long lost family. But hey, he was “one of the good ones”, to say it in the characters words…

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