A review by azrah786
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

3.25

 CW: sexual assault, sexual harassment, rape, sexism, misogyny, gaslighting, pregnancy, violence, injury, blood, death, death of parent, car accident, suicide, grief, abandonment, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, child abuse, bullying, body shaming, religious bigotry, homophobia, vomit, toxic relationship
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The hype well and truly reeled me in with this book plus I’m always down for more women in STEM rep in books, but I’ve got to say this now belongs in my list of most frustrating books I’ve ever read and for a myriad of reasons.

It’s a pretty easy book to read. The writing is straightforward, the story flows well though I will admit the constant changing of points of view did take some time to get used to. What made me mad were the characters and how horrible literally every single person was.

Now I expected to get mad with this book. It takes a jab at the patriarchy by showcasing the many injustices women have faced for years and are still facing today when it comes to being a part of society. The “ideal role” we’ve always been expected to fit into.

But for a book spearheading feminism I was mad at the protagonist too. She felt like a caricature to the point that a lot of the time I couldn’t take her seriously? In fact I found her precocious 3 year old and unbelievably advanced dog to be less unusual?

The cooking part and merging it with science was fun but it did start to get a little tedious by the end. Overall an okay book but I also now find myself mad that, for the overall message the book stands for, I couldn’t like it more.
Final Rating – 3.25/5 Stars 

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