Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

536 reviews

abirej's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

How can I even describe how wonderful this book is? Most of the time I stay away from 3rd person omniscient but this is an example of a WELL DONE pov. I adore Elizabeth Zott. This story is told perfectly, everything revealed at e x a c t l y the right time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Misogyny, Death, Sexual violence, Sexism, Violence, Car accident, and Grief

snazzy10101's review against another edition

5.0

this book deserves every award it has and more. 
i feel represented by Elizabeth Zott and also by the need to want to know someone who died more than you did when they were alive. 

i’m so emotional. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, and Suicide

halfcactus's review against another edition

4.0

Read this because I saw Angela's rating and got curious haha I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would! It had a lot of things I did not like—canonically very attractive female lead, quirky romcom elements, anthropomorphized talking dog, and exceptionally precocious genius daughter—but surprisingly it all ended up working for me in the end. That, or I just get desensitized to it haha.

The main character is pretty much a Mary Sue in every way you can imagine—she's quirky, she's highly intelligent, she's conventionally attractive and charismatic, she conquers labor pains by erging everyday, and she's Definitely Not Racist—but she is all of these things to criticize the flaws of a patriarchal and ignorantly religious society, so it didn't really bother me. Okay, the white savior bits kind of made me raise my eyebrows, as did the fridging of an offscreen gay character to make a Point about homophobia and give a straight character a Traumatic Backstory, but I just skimmed through them.

The science/STEM storylines felt more like TV science, but tbh everything about this book felt like TV logic, and I'm not knowledgeable enough in either the field or the subject to make a comment on it. Would not recommend it as a realistic depiction of STEM struggles, however.

CW: Rape, sexual assault... a "bury your gays" fridging subplot

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Sexual assault and Grief

Minor: Homophobia

mandyjedi's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death, Homophobia, Rape, Death of parent, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Misogyny

Moderate: Child abuse, Pregnancy, and Infidelity

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, and Racism

gracefulraven's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Classism, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Grief, Death, Alcohol, Sexual assault, and Vomit

Minor: Car accident and Medical trauma

emmacharlotte96's review against another edition

informative inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Sexual assault

minisaucisse's review against another edition

funny lighthearted sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

VERY immersive. Almost missed my stop a couple of times because of it.

sadly, the end is a bit flat

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death, and Rape

Moderate: Vomit, Emotional abuse, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

ronnir's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Sexism, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Grief, Car accident, and Rape

poisonviolet's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Sexism

Moderate: Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Death

lauraelovesbooks's review against another edition

emotional sad tense 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? No

4.25

This book manages to be frustrating, whimsical, and somber all at once. If you’re like me, many parts of this book will have your fists clenched in anger. Best rest assured, your fists will uncurl (mostly anyway) by the end of this book (although most of the sweet here is counterbalanced by bitterness, in a true lesson in chemistry) 

At first I wasn’t sure about the writing style. It was captivating enough but when we started getting 6:30’s point of view, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Thankfully I stuck with it and the writing sucked me in and I really enjoyed this book. 

I’m very late to this party but I’m really glad I picked this book up! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse