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A review by karkei
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I forget how much women in the past had to fight for the rights we enjoy today. The inequalities have in no way been eradicated, but I feel so fortunate to be living in the time that I do.
Elizabeth Zott is not exactly a lovable character - she is stubborn and she is odd. But she definitely earned my respect.
The book was a page-turner. What an exciting premise. I would say that reading the blurb, I wanted to read more about how Zott changed the women’s lives though. I think it would have been interesting to see more of the lives of the women behind the screen watching her and the little impacts they made in their own lives, rather than the huge focus on Zott’s life itself. It would have been a better balance - less about how she got to Supper at Six, but more on how the show or Zott herself made an impact on others.
The reason I say this is because it was almost ironic that this story that supposedly champions women ended up being more about a man (Calvin Evans). Evans was the huge catalyst behind Zott’s story, his death was central to the plot and his childhood was what ended up giving Evans the life she wanted. I didn’t enjoy that.
Also, another little critique I have is that Zott’s beauty was brought up quite a lot. I know that they were trying to emphasize that men looked at beauty a certain way back then, but for the sake of the story, I think the story wouldn’t have changed much without the mention of beauty (e.g. Frask also got assaulted and went through something similar to Zott, even when she was highlighted to be quite unattractive). This is particularly the case when considering how Garmus went to great lengths to emphasize Evans’ unattractiveness. It was almost like Garmus herself was putting Elizabeth into a box and claiming she got where she did because a woman’s beauty helps her.
Elizabeth Zott is not exactly a lovable character - she is stubborn and she is odd. But she definitely earned my respect.
The book was a page-turner. What an exciting premise. I would say that reading the blurb, I wanted to read more about how Zott changed the women’s lives though. I think it would have been interesting to see more of the lives of the women behind the screen watching her and the little impacts they made in their own lives, rather than the huge focus on Zott’s life itself. It would have been a better balance - less about how she got to Supper at Six, but more on how the show or Zott herself made an impact on others.
The reason I say this is because it was almost ironic that this story that supposedly champions women ended up being more about a man (Calvin Evans). Evans was the huge catalyst behind Zott’s story, his death was central to the plot and his childhood was what ended up giving Evans the life she wanted. I didn’t enjoy that.
Also, another little critique I have is that Zott’s beauty was brought up quite a lot. I know that they were trying to emphasize that men looked at beauty a certain way back then, but for the sake of the story, I think the story wouldn’t have changed much without the mention of beauty (e.g. Frask also got assaulted and went through something similar to Zott, even when she was highlighted to be quite unattractive). This is particularly the case when considering how Garmus went to great lengths to emphasize Evans’ unattractiveness. It was almost like Garmus herself was putting Elizabeth into a box and claiming she got where she did because a woman’s beauty helps her.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment