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michaelchurch 's review for:
Lessons in Chemistry
by Bonnie Garmus
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I wanted to enjoy this more than I did. I was aware of the show with Brie Larson and Lewis Pullman, and the concept caught my attention, but it’s not really a full concept. The whole plot felt awkward to me. So much time was spent getting her to the tv show, but that was made clear in the beginning to not be the ending we should root for. Consequently, I spent a good portion of the book wondering what the point or goal was, and I’m still not entirely sure what it was supposed to be. I think maybe family connection?
One of the first things that I found annoying was the main character, Elizabeth Zott, referring to salt as sodium chloride. Yes that’s correct, but who would do that? It felt like a way to force in the “oh yes, she’s a *scientist*” characterization without alienating her from the readers, except it IS alienating, because who would do that? Unless sodium chloride is super common in lab tests around the world, so it makes sense for that to become the go-to name instead of “salt.” This seemed to be the case with almost all of the science talk. Just enough to sound fancy, but accessible enough to most readers.
I think it might have been more intended to signal that this woman just isn’t like other people. I was reading her as autistic most of the time, in the vein of Temperance Brennan from Bones, as she seemed to take things rather literally and refused to acquiesce to societal norms (like calling it salt). Though there’s never much more depth given to that aspect of her. She’s just unyielding, and being in the 1950s-1960s, there’s certainly no diagnosis for her, though it would have fit the narration rather well to just have a simple “in some future time, she would have been diagnosed with autism, but at this point, they hadn’t even developed the tests for her place on the autism spectrum” or something.
On the one hand, this does give her a heroic arc. She’s immediately on the right side of history with sexism and racism in 1960 America, while everyone else is portrayed as a complete moron who is so over the top with their prejudices that they come off as cartoonish caricatures. I can appreciate this to some degree, as someone in 2025 who knows how ridiculous those old ideals were/are, but it just makes it awkward to read. Like, yes, the sexist pig does not have any actual argument for why he’s going to try to assault her, but why is it just him saying he’s going to assault her? It lacked any finesse in the scripting.
Someone else pointed out that this is a white savior fantasy. This woman faced all this adversity in her life, but overcame sexism to be successful, and in the meantime she stood up for minorities and atheists (by just saying so on her tv show) and look how well that turned out for everyone!
I did find some of the characters to be enjoyable, once we got to know them. I still love the concept of Six Thirty naming everyone after the time he meets them, which is adorable. But any positive character is outweighed by the awful ones surrounding them. Two graphic instances of sexual assault, plus further discussions of it, and domestic violence.
All of it wraps up with an ending that anyone should be able to see coming the first time a couple of names appear on page. The rest of the plot is just resolved by the magical millionaire coming in to fix everything.
Overall, this just wasn’t for me.
One of the first things that I found annoying was the main character, Elizabeth Zott, referring to salt as sodium chloride. Yes that’s correct, but who would do that? It felt like a way to force in the “oh yes, she’s a *scientist*” characterization without alienating her from the readers, except it IS alienating, because who would do that? Unless sodium chloride is super common in lab tests around the world, so it makes sense for that to become the go-to name instead of “salt.” This seemed to be the case with almost all of the science talk. Just enough to sound fancy, but accessible enough to most readers.
I think it might have been more intended to signal that this woman just isn’t like other people. I was reading her as autistic most of the time, in the vein of Temperance Brennan from Bones, as she seemed to take things rather literally and refused to acquiesce to societal norms (like calling it salt). Though there’s never much more depth given to that aspect of her. She’s just unyielding, and being in the 1950s-1960s, there’s certainly no diagnosis for her, though it would have fit the narration rather well to just have a simple “in some future time, she would have been diagnosed with autism, but at this point, they hadn’t even developed the tests for her place on the autism spectrum” or something.
On the one hand, this does give her a heroic arc. She’s immediately on the right side of history with sexism and racism in 1960 America, while everyone else is portrayed as a complete moron who is so over the top with their prejudices that they come off as cartoonish caricatures. I can appreciate this to some degree, as someone in 2025 who knows how ridiculous those old ideals were/are, but it just makes it awkward to read. Like, yes, the sexist pig does not have any actual argument for why he’s going to try to assault her, but why is it just him saying he’s going to assault her? It lacked any finesse in the scripting.
Someone else pointed out that this is a white savior fantasy. This woman faced all this adversity in her life, but overcame sexism to be successful, and in the meantime she stood up for minorities and atheists (by just saying so on her tv show) and look how well that turned out for everyone!
I did find some of the characters to be enjoyable, once we got to know them. I still love the concept of Six Thirty naming everyone after the time he meets them, which is adorable. But any positive character is outweighed by the awful ones surrounding them. Two graphic instances of sexual assault, plus further discussions of it, and domestic violence.
All of it wraps up with an ending that anyone should be able to see coming the first time a couple of names appear on page. The rest of the plot is just resolved by the magical millionaire coming in to fix everything.
Overall, this just wasn’t for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Domestic abuse, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Car accident, War