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A review by liamliayaum
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
4.0
Content Warnings: Bullying, death, gender stereotypes, homophobia, misogyny, rape, sexism, suicide
Elizabeth Zott wants to follow her passion in pursuing chemistry. However, Elizabeth lives in the 1960s where women weren't expected or traditionally allowed to work as a chemist. After a few life changing events, Elizabeth is no longer working as a chemist, but instead is the TV cooking show host of Supper at Six, where she focuses more on teaching women about chemistry and about standing up for themselves than on being a "relatable" house wife.
The only reason I rated this book as four stars was the reliability of being a woman in a STEM (and still heavily male dominated) field. While I don't experience the blatant misogyny or sexism that is rampant in this novel, small hidden tendrils of what once was acceptable are still apparent. My rating is a purely emotional one. If I'm rating from a more unbias viewpoint, I'd give this novel a two or a three.
That being said, I had a hard time dealing with everything this book approaches. There are some inconsistencies with the time period this novel is set and the protagonist almost seems like a transplant from 2022 into the 1960s with some of her views and approaches in life. Some of the plot points were almost carelessly thrown in such as Elizabeth's brother taking his own life due to their homophobic father but there was no other mention of anything LGTBQ related, whether as afterthoughts or as a way to reach more readers it is unclear.
While the writing is witty, including prose where the dog (Six-Thirty) has thoughts and is an active character is a stretch for me, especially as this is billed as historical fiction. In some ways, this would be better suited as a low end fantasy novel.
The behaviors exhibited by most of the male characters (thankfully not all) were awful towards women and while I know these behaviors did (and sadly do) still exist and were prevalent during this time period, it was still cringeworthy to read, especially given that women had little or no recourse to challenge the horrible behavior.
All in all, this novel is truly a mixed bag and could either be your next best loved book or a cringeworthy book for your donate bin.
Elizabeth Zott wants to follow her passion in pursuing chemistry. However, Elizabeth lives in the 1960s where women weren't expected or traditionally allowed to work as a chemist. After a few life changing events, Elizabeth is no longer working as a chemist, but instead is the TV cooking show host of Supper at Six, where she focuses more on teaching women about chemistry and about standing up for themselves than on being a "relatable" house wife.
The only reason I rated this book as four stars was the reliability of being a woman in a STEM (and still heavily male dominated) field. While I don't experience the blatant misogyny or sexism that is rampant in this novel, small hidden tendrils of what once was acceptable are still apparent. My rating is a purely emotional one. If I'm rating from a more unbias viewpoint, I'd give this novel a two or a three.
That being said, I had a hard time dealing with everything this book approaches. There are some inconsistencies with the time period this novel is set and the protagonist almost seems like a transplant from 2022 into the 1960s with some of her views and approaches in life. Some of the plot points were almost carelessly thrown in such as Elizabeth's brother taking his own life due to their homophobic father but there was no other mention of anything LGTBQ related, whether as afterthoughts or as a way to reach more readers it is unclear.
While the writing is witty, including prose where the dog (Six-Thirty) has thoughts and is an active character is a stretch for me, especially as this is billed as historical fiction. In some ways, this would be better suited as a low end fantasy novel.
The behaviors exhibited by most of the male characters (thankfully not all) were awful towards women and while I know these behaviors did (and sadly do) still exist and were prevalent during this time period, it was still cringeworthy to read, especially given that women had little or no recourse to challenge the horrible behavior.
All in all, this novel is truly a mixed bag and could either be your next best loved book or a cringeworthy book for your donate bin.