Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

219 reviews

charlottedow's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Rape, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Death

Moderate: Homophobia, Child abuse, Grief, Violence, and Suicide

emimero's review against another edition

inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Wow wow wow ! Finally something different. Bonnie Garmus really created something special here. It's not your typical romance book, it has so much more to it, women's conditions in the society, being different, strength and solidarity,.... It is way better than the show (which is good too by the way) but the details, the characters are so loveable and the plot keeps you going because again, I've never read something like that I truly don't know what's happening next ! Definitely recommend to read this gem ! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Rape, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Death, Grief, and Misogyny

Moderate: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Suicide, Grief, Gaslighting, and Homophobia

jules1090's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Abandonment, Rape, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Suicide and Homophobia

jamballdonut's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Vomit, and Death of parent

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexism, Pregnancy, Rape, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Body shaming

tangerinegem's review against another edition

inspiring lighthearted tense 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

3.0

Honestly it took me a long time to get through this one. I kept putting it down, reading entire other books, then coming back to it. But whenever I was in it, I was IN IT. 

The vibe in this book is like a sitcom set in the 1950’s-60’s, minus the docile housewife. Elizabeth Zott (a scientist/single mom/tv host) responds to all the misogyny of the time in way that is maybe aspirational, but not very realistic. Which honestly? Is fine. I think she’s meant to be a bit of a caricature. She’s a self-taught scientist who inadvertently ends up with a cooking show where she inspires American women to be who they want to be and not just who society says they should be. 

It’s fast paced… but somehow not? The story moves through events in her life pretty quickly, but I often found myself wondering where the story was going. There are two timelines that essentially show where she is now vs. how her early life experiences color her current life.

The writing had a dead pan wit and some comedy, but is also sprinkled with some pretty intense scenes. Definitely check trigger warnings. 

This book was worth reading, especially if you are a fan of Mad Men or the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It was very fun at times, but is not one of my favorites. 

I will say though, the dog is perfect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Misogyny, and Death

Minor: Homophobia

giraffesandaudiobooks's review against another edition

dark emotional informative slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Homophobia

lostgwennel's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide

axmai's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Suicide, Grief, Sexism, Gaslighting, Car accident, and Misogyny

Minor: Homophobia, Body shaming, Pregnancy, and Emotional abuse

bookishpip's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Rape, Suicide, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual violence, Vomit, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Homophobia

Minor: Domestic abuse and Alcoholism

taylor_bb's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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? Yes

3.25

I’ve never been so deceived by a book description before. Usually, I have good idea about what a book is about just by reading the blurbs or, in the case of this book, seeing trailers for TV/Movie adaptations. But this book completely threw off my game… and for bad reasons. 

 

Using descriptions like “laugh-out-loud funny” and “original and vibrant as its protagonist” could not be more wrong. Just because there is humor in the book, it DOES NOT mean that this is a “laugh-out-loud funny” book,

especially since a graphic SA scene is described not even 5% the way in.

Even though I knew that this took place in the mid-20th century, I did not expect the constant references to SA.

 

Do NOT get me started on the CONSTANT misogyny. Again, I get it, it’s the 50s-70s, with a woman in STEM, it’s going to happen… but God it felt like every chapter included some misogynistic obstacle with Elizabeth on the brunt end of it. It genuinely grated on my nerves how every chapter HAD to contain some “b-b-but you’re a w-w-woman” moment, so that Elizabeth could have her girl boss moment. 

 

While Elizabeth had the many components of a “not like other girls” character, I do appreciate that the author did not make her one entirely. In fact, I did enjoy Elizabeth’s character a lot! It just got annoying how every few pages, she would have a “misogynist-owned” moment. I mean yeah, it takes place in the mid-20th century when misogyny ran ramped, but I understood the point after the thirtieth incident, I didn’t need over half the book to consist of that.

 

I liked Mad, Calvin, Harriet, and Six Thirty (after reading that Bonnie Garmus has a dog named 99, THAT made a lot more sense), so I don’t have much to say about that. I’m a hopeless romantic at heart, so I adored the beginning that focused on Calvin and Elizabeth.

The whole marriage thing was frustrating, but I get it lol. One thing about Mad though was the whole family tree thing and befriending a priest to find out more information about her dad. I REFUSE to believe any mother would be okay with walking into her house and seeing a random man hanging out with your 5/6(?)-year-old daughter. NOPE.

 

So, yeah, I had a few issues with it, and it felt like it dragged on and on. Will probably not reread it, too much effort, but I did enjoy a lot of the book. It was also a bit too surface-level with its feminism. It was basically saying “Hey, women were treated badly in the 50s. They should not have, and should have been able to do science.” Overall, I did enjoy it, but not enough to revisit it or overwhelmingly recommend it.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Homophobia and Suicide