Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

74 reviews

gsmith923's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Body shaming

Minor: Abortion, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry

radfordmanor's review

dark emotional funny hopeful 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Death, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Minor: Physical abuse, Suicide, and Pedophilia

gemloukay's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Spoilers ahead! Elizabeth Zott is a chemist struggling in the sexist world of 1950s/60s. She is beautiful and intelligent and won’t accept that she can’t have what the men in her life have.  When she falls for fellow chemist Calvin Evans and subsequently falls pregnant out of wedlock (despite him asking to marry her she refuses), she is further shunned by society. Unfortunately Calvin dies in an accident and she takes a job teaching the nation to cook (since cooking is chemistry after all!), which makes her a nationally acclaimed tv personality.  Their dog, Six Thirty, is a personality in himself and blames himself for Calvin’s death, so watches out for Elizabeth and her daughter Mad. I loved his inner monologue and how he was a character that had real thoughts but couldn’t voice any if them! 

The book deals with sexism, particularly the struggle for women to be seen as equals in science, alongside grief, the struggles of motherhood and the need for women to support each other both then and now. If you don’t like releasing about feminism, you’ll hate it. Thankfully for me I was brought up by strong women and men who supported them, so I found it to be an inspiring read. Some of the science was a bit simplistic for a supposedly brilliant chemist but then, unlike the women in this story, I was lucky enough to be able to study it at university so maybe I’m a bit more educated in the subject than most! An inspiring story and a brilliant debut novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexism, and Rape

Minor: Pregnancy, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Death

tommelisesofia's review

funny lighthearted fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Grief, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Car accident, Vomit, Cursing, and Religious bigotry

It is White-centric.

chelly_reads's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

cmbohn's review

challenging emotional informative sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Death

Minor: Suicide, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, and Biphobia

bbmaan's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Abandonment, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Child death, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Homophobia

kaiserlichelaura's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexism, Death, and Rape

eglizmas's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Everything was perfect during Calvin & Elizabeth's love story, but right after that I was kind of let down :// The book eventually picked back up though :)

This whole book was a treat! It's a story about women, for women, by a woman. Even though the events of this book take place in 50s/60s America, you can still relate to all of the women's experiences (which says a lot). The imagery the author used is amazing; I could see it all in my head; the dresses, the food, the homes and the offices, the characters and the cars.
Anyway, this was a phenomenal debut for Garmus (who's madly talented). I hope to see her taking on more stories in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Suicide, Abortion, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Racism

briana513's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Suicide, Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexism

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Chronic illness