Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

624 reviews

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

capsandclauses's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.75

 

“Whenever you feel afraid, just remember. Courage is the root of change - and change is what we're chemically designed to do. So when you wake up tomorrow, make this pledge. No more holding yourself back. No more subscribing to others' opinions of what you can and cannot achieve. And no more allowing anyone to pigeonhole you into useless categories of sex, race, economic status, and religion. Do not allow your talents to lie dormant, ladies. Design your own future. When you go home today, ask yourself what YOU will change. And then get started.”

Every now and again I read a book that isn't a fantasy or a romance that just hits a spot I didn't know I needed. Lessons in Chemistry is a historical that I picked up because of the Apple TV adaptation, and boy was it worth it. Full of lush imagery, interesting, quirky characters and female spunk, the book was a delightful read.

Lessons in Chemistry follows Elizabeth Zott, a female scientist in a 1960s world of men. We follow the rise, fall and rise again of her career as she deals with sexism, romance and the trials and tribulations of single motherhood.

I really hope Bonnie Garmus continues writing and I cannot wait to see what she does next.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual assault

kkpines's review against another edition

funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Pedophilia and 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

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

sar23's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief