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reads2cope's review
4.0
Much funnier and darker than I was expecting. Required a lot of suspension of disbelief, but the writing was engaging and easy to read. For example, very weird that Elizabeth spouted such strong political convictions on her TV show but had no qualms about working for a military contractor. At the same time, I wanted her to shove it in the face of her old bosses. Loved the time jumps and how the other story lines wove together. Picked it up because most of my aunts have read it this year, so looking forward to hearing their opinions when I’m home over the holidays.
Graphic: Grief, Child abuse, Sexism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Bullying, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Car accident, Death, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Rape
khowez's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Rape, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, Misogyny, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Homophobia
Minor: Pedophilia, Mental illness, Self harm, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Sexual harassment, and Child death
uranaishi's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Sexism, Car accident, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Suicide, Vomit, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Bullying, and Classism
Minor: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Animal death, Racism, Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, Abortion, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse
mirificmoxie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Cursing, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual assault, and Suicide
Minor: Pedophilia, Infidelity, Body shaming, and Domestic abuse
saracree's review against another edition
Graphic: Rape, Misogyny, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Grief
tariana's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Cannibalism, Vomit, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Car accident, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, and Rape
lmurpho's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
[Warning for the jump-scare rape scene in chapter 3.]
While this book is advertised as a funny & inspiring feminist story, I don’t see it as any of those things. Putting aside the many inconsistencies and inaccuracies with how scientists are portrayed (I have a lot more to say about that), the main character’s personality is stunted from the start with very little character development described.
Half the time EZ is made out to be a matter-of-fact, stoic person seemingly incapable of understanding basic social interactions, and then other times she's portrayed to be fully empathetic and emotionally soft. The author attempts to smooth the rough edges of Zott’s personality but these glimpses of a more emotionally mature adult do not fit the rigid template character of ‘socially-awkward scientist’ the author has lifted from modern media.
In Elizabeth’s character, the author has done a huge disservice to women in science, both back in the 1950's but also today. Women did exist in science in the 50s; Rosalind Franklin, Gertrude B. Elion, Rita Levi-Montalcini, Barbara McCintock, Dorothy Hodgkin, Irene Joliot-Curie, Rosalyn Yalow, and Gerty Theresa Cori were all award-winning scientists active in the 1950’s and I’m sure would have faced many of the barriers that Elizabeth experienced. However, rather than show the audience that success can be achieved despite the odds, she chose to encapsulate them into a main character that is emotionless, rigid and uninteresting.
For a supposedly feminist novel (or at least one that wants to celebrate a woman revolting against the role that society has carved for her) this book severely lacks in meaningful female relationships. The interactions between women in this book repeatedly tend towards judgement, shame or pity. It's not just women that seem to suffer the author’s tendency to focus on negative character-traits either, the men in this book have few redeeming qualities. Most of the male characters are either physical, emotional, or sexual abusers.
I’m petty so here’s a few examples of the inaccuracies/inconsistencies I spotted:
• Lab coats outside the lab are a big no-no in chemistry. Despite this, EZ decides to wear hers out of the lab, getting into her car and going to someone else’s place of work to confront them.
• It rarely rains in Cambridge, England. I know this from living there for 7 years, but also a quick google comes up with: https://www.yourweather.co.uk/news/trending/where-is-the-driest-place-in-the-uk-weather-climate.html.
• Nobel prize nomination lists aren’t made public until 100 years after the award. You’d need some very close connections to the Swedish National Academy of Sciences to know if Calvin Evans was nominated for a Nobel.
• Despite being a brilliant scientist who uses logic and reason in every part of her life, she was very surprised to find-out she was pregnant when her co-worker pointed it out as a possible cause of morning sickness.
• Again, despite being a brilliant scientist, she manages to break her centrifuge with an unbalanced load (this is the first thing you learn when you are shown a centrifuge).
• Nobody (literally nobody) has ever said 'pass me the sodium chloride'...
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Suicide, Grief, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship
freul's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Rape, Car accident, and Suicide
Moderate: Grief, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Bullying, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Medical content, Vomit, Abortion, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, and Religious bigotry
weasley1912's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexism, Sexual assault, Rape, Death, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment
aine7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Moderate: Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse