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A review by laurens_beanbag
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-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? No
3.5
This book seemed so promising, but unfortunately I did not like it as much as I thought I would. First, I don’t think the book should have been marketed as funny or witty. It could be funny at times, but not to the point where that’s what it’s known for. I would not call this a humorous book. In the first half of the book alone, there is a graphic scene of SA, mention of suicide, and lots of familial death. And these dark topics are dropped out of nowhere and then the characters move on. It’s very jarring and I wish there was a content warning in the beginning of the book, especially for the graphic SA scene.
With that aside, the actual content of the book was not what I expected either. I wish we could have explored more about how Elizabeth Zott came to form her feminist views, because her beliefs are similar to current 21st century feminism. While that’s not a problem by itself, we don’t explore how Elizabeth Zott came to figure out these views or how she was so ahead of her time. We just have to believe she’s not like everyone else. The rest of the characters in the book just aren’t on her level of understanding, but we don’t get to learn how Elizabeth got to this point. Where did she learn all these things? Why are the other female characters shown to be catty and superficial? Why isn’t Elizabeth given more positive relationships with other female characters?
This book did make many good points about feminism, and I did enjoy reading it, but considering this is historical fiction that takes place in the 50s and 60s, I wish the author did more to immerse us into the setting aside from just making every other character misogynistic and Elizabeth Zott the enlightened one. Despite this book’s flaws, I still did like reading it, and I think I should have gone into this book blind instead of placing so many expectations onto it. This is the author’s debut novel, and it’s well done. Had the book been marketed differently (which I understand is something the author doesn’t have much control over) I think I would have enjoyed reading it even more for the first time.
With that aside, the actual content of the book was not what I expected either. I wish we could have explored more about how Elizabeth Zott came to form her feminist views, because her beliefs are similar to current 21st century feminism. While that’s not a problem by itself, we don’t explore how Elizabeth Zott came to figure out these views or how she was so ahead of her time. We just have to believe she’s not like everyone else. The rest of the characters in the book just aren’t on her level of understanding, but we don’t get to learn how Elizabeth got to this point. Where did she learn all these things? Why are the other female characters shown to be catty and superficial? Why isn’t Elizabeth given more positive relationships with other female characters?
This book did make many good points about feminism, and I did enjoy reading it, but considering this is historical fiction that takes place in the 50s and 60s, I wish the author did more to immerse us into the setting aside from just making every other character misogynistic and Elizabeth Zott the enlightened one. Despite this book’s flaws, I still did like reading it, and I think I should have gone into this book blind instead of placing so many expectations onto it. This is the author’s debut novel, and it’s well done. Had the book been marketed differently (which I understand is something the author doesn’t have much control over) I think I would have enjoyed reading it even more for the first time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism
Minor: Death and Suicide