A review by brittanykayhinton
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

4.0

I enjoyed this book. In particular, I loved the relationships (friendships, the main romantic relationship, and even the dog-owner relationship). I also liked the overall message: women are just as capable as men and deserve a place in the workplace. However, I feel like it was quite lacking in a couple of aspects. One, it seemed highly exaggerated to the point where it took me out of the story. No doubt sexism was entrenched in this era, but it was so extreme in the book. Elizabeth and a coworker were sexually assaulted by their pHD mentor, and both had to drop out. Elizabeth was then also subjected to an attempted sexual assault by another boss. But even through this, Elizabeth stays painfully naive and fails to grasp the sexism permeating her world. (A brilliant chemist that can’t grasp this, even through harrowing circumstances?) Another lacking aspect was the exaggerated pure evil permeating religious persons in the story. An evil bishop who prevented Calvin from meeting his family and (seemingly) sexually abused him as a child. A horrible evangelist pastor who murdered people through fake “miracles.” In fact, the only good religious person in the book admitted he didn’t believe in God. Again, oversimplified to the point of taking you out of the story. While it gave me an emotional response and deserves kudos for some of its messaging, I think it’s lacking in some key aspects.