Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

977 reviews

wquindley's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

at no point did i know where this book was headed. the writing style was so pleasant and so i was caught off guard a few times by some dark events. one of which happened so soon and unexpectedly it was kind of horrifying and left me kind of unsettled the rest of the book. the plot was outlined so interestingly. i felt strangely connected yet detached from these characters, especially elizabeth, who felt pretty unknowable a lot of the time. the POVs jumped around a lot, which was fun, but also felt disjointed. i really came to love the character dynamics and unlikely friendships and i feel like this part of the book felt too short. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Suicide

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

While I loved the characters and the premise of a strong, female lead in the 1950’s demanding to be seen and heard as an expert in her field, I thought the beginning of the book was a bit difficult to get into. The writing style wasn’t appealing to me at first and took some getting used to but by the end of the book it felt more natural. The realities of becoming a scientist during a time period when women were only considered homemakers was an important and interesting story to learn more about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

bethantg's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.5

After a few days, I've realised that my biggest issue with this book is that it did not have to be a historical fiction. This book doesn't need to be set in the 20th century, because the issues it discusses are still prevalent, and not only does it not need this setting, I feel that this setting actively detracts from the story. Elizabeth still would not fit into modern-day roles of acceptability, and her refusal to repackage herself to be more palatable or to disrespect the intelligence of her viewers would still make her stand out and be appreciated. Calvin would've still been loveable without being the only non-misogynist in the room. Mad still would've been a kooky child. Catholics and bad husbands still very much exist, so Harriet's situation wouldn't change a bit. This is why the setting isn't necessary, but the reason that the setting detracts is because this book is having 21st century feminist conversations that feel anachronistic, using the 1950s as an aesthetic rather than bringing the reader into that time period and discussing the issues of the time. It's a good story, but the contrast between the setting and the messaging really took me out of it at points. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexual violence

Moderate: Suicide

my_personal_escape's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Car accident, and Abandonment

lokes's review against another edition

funny hopeful informative tense medium-paced

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

2.0

tw: mentions of rape

Well, I’m not really sure how to rate this one… I quite liked the characters and the stories, even if it bordered on the whimsical and imaginary at times (like the hyper intelligent dog, the many coincidences between characters and especially the major plot points, etc), and the main character was feminist in the sense of the 21th century, which did throw me off a few times. Also, there is no intersectionality to the feminism of the main character, and her motto seems to be „tell women you’re proud of them and make their unpaid, invisible work (namely the house hold chores and child rearing) visible and tell them, that you’re proud of them doing it, and they’ll revolt and become suffragettes!“
The only really bad part would be the rape scenes, because the author gave the characters absolutely no reaction to that (apart from her crying once and being slightly disturbed while giving her police statement), and later even went as far as to make her pull out a kitchen knife when another male character tries to rape her (which leads to him immediately having a heart attack), all the while never letting Elizabeth have the room to acknowledge the trauma she suffered before, or working on said trauma, as if the rape made her a better, stronger women and wasn’t trauma at all, but simply something she needed to go through in order to become a feminist/independent woman. 
Apart from that, I think I liked it, even though the underlying plot is still about a man - her lover - and his long lost family. But hey, he was “one of the good ones”, to say it in the characters words…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

juniorgoldengirl's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Grief

Minor: Domestic abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

mrs_whitethorn's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Rape

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide

iriswishes's review against another edition

2.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Fatphobia, Suicide, Blood, and Vomit

Minor: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racism, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment

theebster's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I personally found the plot to be a little too soap-y/trope-y by the end. But Zott kept me going with her electric personality. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Abandonment

Minor: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

cloddaily's review against another edition

This is the most disappointing and reductive writing of a FMC by a woman that I’ve ever had the displeasure of taking time out of my bedtime routine to engage with. Character development hinges on the Zott being harmed by men. Everyone is either one thing or the opposite of that thing. The book isn’t funny or lighthearted and tbh Zott is just deeply unlikeable. I always root (and gravitate towards) a FMC, but I cannot believe this FMC was written by a woman. Every possible surface level understanding of women and feminism can be found in this book. I was expecting some “old school” perspectives to come through on the page since it is based in the 60s, but it might as well have been written in the 60s too because Zott and her story is so incredibly bland, boring, sad, and traumatizing. White women white womening through and through :/ I have literally never not finished a book I started but I just couldn’t force myself to pretend to be interested or invested anymore. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Sexual harassment