Reviews

Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus

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justk8y's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

3.5

clarice629's review against another edition

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4.0

It’s a light book, at times funny. There are 1-2 serious issues mentioned in the book but you need them to appreciate what the book is trying to tell you.

At the first glance the book was about a woman empowering other women. Then it felt like the book is empowering YOU- to discover your dream then to have courage to take the first step in fulfilling them. To be strong to stand up for yourself, do not settle for anything lesser than what you want for yourself, do not go with the flow just because it has always been like that. Make that change if necessary. Be that change if you need to do so. Chemistry is about change.

Having typed all these I’m going to continue with my golf and believe in myself. That I can do it even if i need to put in 600 more times effort than an ordinary person.

ewynn610's review against another edition

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2.0

Didn't get the hype about this book. Overall, I thought it was preachy with a lot of monologues and "telling not showing."

What I liked: I gave it two stars because I did like Elizabeth's and Calvin's relationship.

What I didn't like: First of all, apparently all the woman of the 1950s needed was a woman like Elizabeth Zot to tell them they could do anything. While the book addressed structural barriers to women's progression, in the end all the characters needed to do was believe in themselves and they could overcome anything. Like the mother who decided to become a heart surgeon when Elizabeth told her she could? I thought it was an oversimplification of the problems women face. I also did not like all of the religion bashing. I know religion can have a detrimental effect on people's lives in many cases, but I thought the portrayal of everyone who was religious or believed in God as either stupid, evil, or that they came to recognize how ignorant they had been was unfair. I thought the book was full of preachy monologues and the author was trying to cover every human rights issue in one book (woman's rights, gender identity, sexual assault pedophilia, civil rights, homophobia, etc.). It was unbelievable that Elizabeth, a white woman in the 1950's had fully formed "2020" opinions about all of these subjects. Speaking of unbelievable, I know the daughter, Mad, is supposed to be a genius, but that she had fully developed cognitive and social abilities by the age of four was also unbelievable. I also found it troubling that a pastor befriended a four year old in the library and then proceeded to go on a wild goose chase for her, call her, and then visit her when she was home alone, and her mother did not seem to find it strange. Anyways, lots of things I did not like, and overall, it was somewhat of a painful read for me.