Lessons in Chemistry - The Library of the Uncommons

Phil in SF reviewed Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Neatly tied together, a little too neat

3 stars

Content warning minor spoilers

What if you took a very modern female chemist who expects everyone to treat her based on her brains, skills, and accomplishments and dropped her in a misogynist chemistry lab in the late 1950s/early 1960s. Rather than go along to get along she is blunt, direct, and uncompromising. Things go about as well as you would expect for an unmarried mother who challenges the powers that be and the status quo.

I'm guessing a lot of people will love this book because Elizabeth Zott is uncompromising and fights the good fight. It wasn't enough for me, and I bounced off the first half of the book because it is really slow, setting up the character and situation with a litany of sexism.

But I think the part that got me the most was that the setup felt too constructed. For example, a secretary from Zott's employment becomes the typist for a minister who just so happened to have been a pen pal of Zott's former love. Everything was just too neatly tied together.

KnitAFett reviewed Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Decent

4 stars

3.5, rounded up.

Overall found this to be enjoyable.

Definite trigger warnings for sexual assault, though.

I've seen quite some negativity about the book being toted as a comedy, lighthearted, etc. This didn't have any impact on me before reading as I go into every book as blind as I can.

I did have a hard time with believing that the characters in this world are from the 60's with the extreme progressive attitude towards women's rights and being non-religious. Every time something from the time frame was mentioned (i.e. black & white tvs), it threw me for a bit of a loop. Took away from the overall vibe I was getting from the book.

Is it one I will buy and keep on my shelf? No. Am I mad that I read it? No.

Rainer reviewed Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

"Fun Summer Read" meets dramatic and poignant feminist tale

4 stars

This book was fun and also inspirational. I didn't really have many expectations when I started it, but I liked the characters. Don't really have too much to say about it other than it had some great things to say about gender equality and also a really awesome canine character.

Also, readers should be aware that there is at least one and a half scenes in this book that depict sexual violence.