A review by haleyshort
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

emotional funny hopeful sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I really enjoyed this! It hurt to read at parts, to witness the horror of misogyny that so many women had to suffer through for so many years. We still have so much to do but damn have we made progress. I am so grateful to the women who fought for so many years to give us what we have now. I know that it wasn’t easy. 

I am always wary of these kids of girl power narratives because they often reek of liberalism. I appreciated that the protagonist was an outspoken champion for all oppressed peoples, not just women like her, but it still felt like a white feminist perspective. And it seemed like at the end of the day our instructions are to fight the power, which Zott tried to do throughout her story and wasn’t really able to make the changes she wanted unless a wealthy benefactor landed in her lap. I want a raging feminist book to come with raging feminist next steps - to give women more ammo than embracing their own power. But that’s hard to do when the ammo doesn’t really exist. 

I truly love a precious child character more than anything else in a book. Justice for Mad! 
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