A review by dibiz116
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

funny hopeful lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

 This was pretty enjoyable! I absolutely loved the elements of magical realism - the whole book felt JUST outside of reality in the best way. The chemistry being done was extremely handwavy and made little to no sense, and normally this would bother me as a trained scientist, but I was able to categorize those aspects right next to the talking dog, unattainably genius child, and kitchen chemistry lab renovations. The plot was engaging enough to keep me reading, the characters were loveable, and the overall theme was very feel-good (it was quite girl-boss-white-feminist-y for my taste, but not to an unbearable degree).

Major trigger warning regarding sexual violence in the beginning of the book, which definitely took away from the lightness that it seemed the rest of the book was trying to achieve and this was a big disconnect for me.

Overall a good read, but I truthfully haven't thought about it once since I finished. Except for the dog - he was the BEST character and I did miss him for a few days after closing the book for the last time. 
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