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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
bethvance's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
sad
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, and Death
thea_d_brown's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Sexual assault
kera_reads's review against another edition
Who even needs actual character development or romantic chemistry? Lots of telling, not a lot of showing… yet somehow, only 9% in and there aren’t enough content warnings available to cover what’s already happened.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexism, Misogyny, Violence, and Gaslighting
arf26's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Sexual assault
molsreads's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault
ofi's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
5.0
i thought the six-thirty pov episode of the series was the saddest thing i’d ever seen but then i read the book every single line in his pov is much much worse. six-thirty i would give my life for you
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Death, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Death of parent, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, and Forced institutionalization
stackwin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
Oh boy this book was a doozy. It was gifted to me by my mom since I'm currently getting a chemistry degree and you know how moms are. I had reservations as soon as I read the back and she was saying "acetic acid" and "sodium chloride" when... cooking. Insufferable. But that was only the beginning of this character's insufferability. On just page 4 she had apparently calculated the exact amount of food her daughter needed in a day so her losing weight was a physical impossibility. EVERYTHING in this woman's life is able to be taken care of by her Giant Brain. She was immediately good at rowing because she knew physics! She got her daughter into kindergarten early because she... figured out the chemical composition of ballpoint pen ink which somehow allowed her to forge her birth certificate? When asked how she knew her brother was gay she said "I'm a scientist. I knew." What??? And also, ew. Honestly, a lot of the chemistry in this book is nonsense, putting a bunch of Science words together and hoping it makes sense. Which it doesn't. I was amazed to find out when I got to the acknowledgements that she had multiple scientists checking to make sure she got the science right. They must have been playing her.
Moving away from the science, the feminism in this book is incredibly bare bones. She made several caricatures of Evil Men who were there to say and do sexist things and have Elizabeth argue with them and then ultimately they lose everything in the end! It felt like a series of events curated so Bonnie could give her cute little talking points and move on to the next one. Nothing revolutionary, just the same things I've been hearing for decades. Probably why she set it in the 60s.
It could be that this book is just not meant for me, it's meant for people with no background knowledge of chemistry and who are just dipping their toes into women's rights. Obviously there's nothing wrong with that! We need media for people in all stages. However, the writing was truly, genuinely terrible. For example, after Elizabeth explained different types of bonds on her show as types of relationships, we move to a random lady watching, who says to her daughter "See! I told you, your bond with that boy is hydrogen only. When will you wake up and smell the ions?" Hoo boy.
I didn't give this book a 0 because I did find the unraveling mystery of Calvin's parentage interesting. That's it though. I kept reading because I kept saying to myself "I have to at least get to the meat of it before I DNF" and then it was over.
I didnt realize how long this review was... whoops... this book brought out the worst in me.
Moving away from the science, the feminism in this book is incredibly bare bones. She made several caricatures of Evil Men who were there to say and do sexist things and have Elizabeth argue with them and then ultimately they lose everything in the end! It felt like a series of events curated so Bonnie could give her cute little talking points and move on to the next one. Nothing revolutionary, just the same things I've been hearing for decades. Probably why she set it in the 60s.
It could be that this book is just not meant for me, it's meant for people with no background knowledge of chemistry and who are just dipping their toes into women's rights. Obviously there's nothing wrong with that! We need media for people in all stages. However, the writing was truly, genuinely terrible. For example, after Elizabeth explained different types of bonds on her show as types of relationships, we move to a random lady watching, who says to her daughter "See! I told you, your bond with that boy is hydrogen only. When will you wake up and smell the ions?" Hoo boy.
I didn't give this book a 0 because I did find the unraveling mystery of Calvin's parentage interesting. That's it though. I kept reading because I kept saying to myself "I have to at least get to the meat of it before I DNF" and then it was over.
I didnt realize how long this review was... whoops... this book brought out the worst in me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
jenniferduannfultz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, and Sexism
booksawyer's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Misogyny
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Child abuse, Suicide, and Body shaming