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A review by willowbiblio
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
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
"That had to be a special brand of bravery, for a child to endure the worst, and despite every law in the universe and all evidence to the contrary, decide the next day might be better."
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I didn't have specific expectations going into this, which was probably a good thing. At first, the feminism was cool. But it fairly quickly became clear that it was specifically for privileged white women who had fairly secure finances and the freedom to fail and reinvent themselves. In addition, the other characters were almost like caricatures of the awfulness that exists in the world.
The anthropomorphizing of the dog was such an odd move for a purportedly serious novel. So too was the weird and very neat fantasy ending where everything was wrapped up perfectly, everyone forgave each other, and the bad guy got his due.
I guess what was so hard was that it wasn't clear if this was meant to be satire, hopeful, funny, or serious. To go from a brutal rape to casual incidences of humor and meet-cute felt a bit like whiplash. It felt like towards the end we were getting a hodgepodge of motivational quotes, but it didn't really fit the character. I guess it just didn't quite click or make sense for me. Definitely did not get the hype for this book.
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I didn't have specific expectations going into this, which was probably a good thing. At first, the feminism was cool. But it fairly quickly became clear that it was specifically for privileged white women who had fairly secure finances and the freedom to fail and reinvent themselves. In addition, the other characters were almost like caricatures of the awfulness that exists in the world.
The anthropomorphizing of the dog was such an odd move for a purportedly serious novel. So too was the weird and very neat fantasy ending where everything was wrapped up perfectly, everyone forgave each other, and the bad guy got his due.
I guess what was so hard was that it wasn't clear if this was meant to be satire, hopeful, funny, or serious. To go from a brutal rape to casual incidences of humor and meet-cute felt a bit like whiplash. It felt like towards the end we were getting a hodgepodge of motivational quotes, but it didn't really fit the character. I guess it just didn't quite click or make sense for me. Definitely did not get the hype for this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment