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katmystery's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
3.5 stars. I loved the Netflix adaptation, so I thought I'd give the book a try. I was surprised to find that, while I enjoyed the book, I liked the show a lot more. The show addressed most of the problems I had with the book- the surprisingly little page-time given to the love interest that influenced much of the story (readers didn't really have a reason to care about him), the believing-in-yourself-will-fix-all-your-life-problems feminism that ignored class and race, and the little time given to side characters.
Some of the book was fun and inspiring. More of it was sad, and most of it made me angry- Elizabeth faces so much sexism left and right that it's hard to read.
The book felt extremely heavy-handed in its message and could have been more powerful if it were more subtle. Pretty much all the male characters and several of the women were cartoonishly misogynistic, which actually hurt the message more than it helped- sexism is so often not as obvious as it was depicted here, so by ignoring more subtle forms of sexism, the book accidentally furthers the view that sexism is only a thing of the past.
If you want to read the inspiring albeit sad tale of a dauntless woman in science and don't mind a bit of heavy-handedness, go for it. If you enjoyed the show, the book doesn't add anything you don't already know, so I'd recommend you skip it.
Some of the book was fun and inspiring. More of it was sad, and most of it made me angry- Elizabeth faces so much sexism left and right that it's hard to read.
The book felt extremely heavy-handed in its message and could have been more powerful if it were more subtle. Pretty much all the male characters and several of the women were cartoonishly misogynistic, which actually hurt the message more than it helped- sexism is so often not as obvious as it was depicted here, so by ignoring more subtle forms of sexism, the book accidentally furthers the view that sexism is only a thing of the past.
If you want to read the inspiring albeit sad tale of a dauntless woman in science and don't mind a bit of heavy-handedness, go for it. If you enjoyed the show, the book doesn't add anything you don't already know, so I'd recommend you skip it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Suicide
skylarkblue1's review against another edition
This was a slog to read through. I did not give a crap about any characters and apparently all feminist fiction is now just "look! this woman's life sucks! she's so smart but she's just constantly explicitly abused and shit all the time!". The blurb is complete false advertising, I got to the 50% mark and the only mention of the cooking show was a paragraph to 2 at the very very start. TV industry has been mentioned a single time since. The story so far has just been the main character being abused, screamed at and being depressed with a shitty husband.
There's just constant POV changes to everyone and everything - including the goddamn dog. It's not split up by chapters, it'd just be one paragraph is from one character, the next from someone completely different. I could not tell you what year any of the events that happened are from. I could not even really tell you all the different characters and who they where as people because honestly most of them didn't feel like people. The guys where mainly just misogynistic pricks, though some liked rowing! but that was about it for them. The women where mainly just "I'm being looked down on and abused but I'm secretly smart!" or just, idk, like not wanting to challenge the status quo so they where even flatter than that?
I'm reading this for a book club but even though there's still multiple days before the meeting I just don't care enough to read more. I don't even care about the cooking show element which was super interesting to me when I first heard about it.
There's just constant POV changes to everyone and everything - including the goddamn dog. It's not split up by chapters, it'd just be one paragraph is from one character, the next from someone completely different. I could not tell you what year any of the events that happened are from. I could not even really tell you all the different characters and who they where as people because honestly most of them didn't feel like people. The guys where mainly just misogynistic pricks, though some liked rowing! but that was about it for them. The women where mainly just "I'm being looked down on and abused but I'm secretly smart!" or just, idk, like not wanting to challenge the status quo so they where even flatter than that?
I'm reading this for a book club but even though there's still multiple days before the meeting I just don't care enough to read more. I don't even care about the cooking show element which was super interesting to me when I first heard about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Death, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Sexism, Rape, and Fatphobia
gracielou2000's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Drug use, Child abuse, Death of parent, Infidelity, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, and Car accident
Minor: Fatphobia, Abortion, and Addiction
kyjade_x's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Rape, Death, Bullying, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Car accident, and Suicide
Minor: Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Domestic abuse
carleesi's review against another edition
The way the author uses physical descriptions to imply the value and inherent goodness of characters got too much for me. So much body shaming.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Fatphobia
The description of the rapist is so fatphobic. The links between fatness, monstrosity and disgust were incredibly blatant. As a survivor I felt sick listening to a rape, and as a fat woman I was forced into the understanding that actually my body was the kind that perpetrates sexual violence. It was a really horrendous experience.nwood1121's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Death, Abandonment, Suicide, Body shaming, Car accident, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Homophobia, Fatphobia, and Police brutality
cmbohn's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Death
Minor: Suicide, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, and Biphobia
madzie's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Despite a wonderful idea, Garmus's popular novel fails to deliver on every account. Garmus promises a book about the experience of women, but with an unbearable protagonist and little exploration, Garmus never dives into what sexism feels like nor its real causes and reactions. In fact, the main character refuses to demonstrate any real growth in the book at all. Character relationships are always told rather than shown, making the reader hollow when the horrible, melodramatic plot points occur to them. Although Garmus introduces deep topics, she seems to lack the courage or the understanding to explore them with substance, instead having her main character be randomly bothered by instances in her past only to move on a sentence or two later. Plot points are randomly thrown into the novel with no consideration of how they affect the characters or the themes, leaving an unsatisfactory journey. Without this deep exploration and path, Garmus never says anything profound about her themes and certainly never touches real women in their trials and tribulations.
Additionally, Garmus's writing style is subpar at best. She seems to believe her readers are stupid as she tells them absolutely everything in frank detail and covers it over with big "sciency" words, never allowing the writing to breathe. Her sentences are simple and often boringly strung together, never giving vivid detail to her world to allow the reader to experience it. Occasionally, she'll hit gold with a particular line, but overall, she seems to favor hovering over everything just to produce a mess of thoughts. In the end, the novel reads like a string of random ideas never actually explored in depth—the substance of a first draft but not of a good novel.
Additionally, Garmus's writing style is subpar at best. She seems to believe her readers are stupid as she tells them absolutely everything in frank detail and covers it over with big "sciency" words, never allowing the writing to breathe. Her sentences are simple and often boringly strung together, never giving vivid detail to her world to allow the reader to experience it. Occasionally, she'll hit gold with a particular line, but overall, she seems to favor hovering over everything just to produce a mess of thoughts. In the end, the novel reads like a string of random ideas never actually explored in depth—the substance of a first draft but not of a good novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Car accident, Sexism, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Death of parent and Suicide
Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia
ktbelliss's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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? No
4.0
I really liked this story! My only complaint was that, as a scientist, I could tell the author wasn't a scientist herself. The scientists in the story struck me as slightly stereotypical. They were more what people think scientists are like, and less like the actual scientists I know. Otherwise it was really interesting to see into the life of a woman in the 60s and made me grateful for how far the world has come!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Death
Covers what life was like as a woman in the workplace in the 1950s and 60s, including mulitple instances ofdaniofthewood's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape
Moderate: Sexism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Fatphobia
Minor: Homophobia and Suicide