Lessons in Chemistry
Ratings624
Average rating4.1
I liked this! I’m really glad I got a chance to finish it before the series comes out next month. I disliked the way the narrative was structured - the plot would constantly get interrupted by asides - and the social message was a bit heavy-handed at times, but I enjoyed the characters immensely.
The ending was lovely.
Elizabeth was sooooo annoying, and I swear this isn't said negatively but Brie Larson playing her in the upcoming series makes perfect sense.
The sexual assault in the first 60 pages was a bit unexpected, but overall, I couldn't put this down. A powerful love story and loved the daughter's wit even though there were so many irritating (accurate) male characters. Wish it would have addressed racial justice issues of the time period, but glad the TV adaptation made some changes to attend to this.
I was hesitating to pick up this book, because I didn't know if I'd enjoy a book, where the protagonist is in love with chemistry (silly, I know, but high school left its mark on me). Boy am I happy I decided to give it a shot!
The premise is fairly simple - Elizabeth Zott vs. the patriarchy and sexism of 1950s. Elizabeth is a chemist, she's unmarried and later has a child out of wedlock. She's direct, says exactly what she thinks and calls people out on their crap. Her refusal to play the game and stroke men's egos and patiently pretend she's not bothered by the discrimination and sexual harrassement is what costs her her opportunity to obtain a doctorate. When she becomes pregnant, she's given the sack. A new opportunity arises when she (after some hesitation) becomes the host of a new cooking show, where she decides to teach women some chemistry on the side and mainly their worth.
I really enjoyed this book. The writing is so good, it felt like nothing is just fluff. I especially applaud Bonnie Garmus on her chemistry/science lingo, since from what I gathered she herself is not a chemist. I feel like there was really good balance between the narrator's voice, which felt kind of snarky at times and it was amazing, and direct speech combined with looking into the character's point of view or their inner thoughts. The book is also funny and the humour is dry and kind of sassy, just like Elizabeth herself.
The characters were also super well written, none of them were flat and I think all of them were interesting - except for Calvin, who was kind of boring to me (sorry Calvin). I can see how Elizabeth could be annoying to some readers, but because the book has such strong feminist theme, she makes me feel connected to all the women before me who stood up for women's rights (and she is also shown supporting the civil right's movement), she just feels like an adopted ancestress. Her daughter is the “kid genius” kind of trope, but she still reads as a child and is likeable. I also appreciated that the men in the book have a variety of character and are not as despicable as Elizabeth's boss.
The only thing that was a bummer was the beginning - it takes a whole half of the book to get to the cooking show, which is presented as the main premise. I feel like the backstory of Elizabeth and Calvin dragged on a bit and I'd welcome if it were swifter. Also sometimes the role of Six-Thirty, Elizabeth's dog, seemed a bit off, can't quite say why. But except that I feel like the story was very well built, it included one of my favourite tropes, the found family. And the ending was splendid.
All in all, I really recommend!
This was not what I was expecting in a good way! I thought the ending was less strong than the rest but overall I had fun with it. My main issue is that all the villains are like comically and completely evil shitty people, but otherwise I thought all the sympathetic characters were charming
Usually when a book is hyped this much I run from it, I also don't care for romance as a genre, but it was selected for bookclub so I gave it a go.
I was hoping/expecting realistic fiction since it's tagged historical fiction and feminist. I tried adjusting my expectations, telling myself ok it'll just be straight up fiction, but I was just so annoyed by this book. There were a few moments where I felt that it might have been a three, but in addition to rubbing me the wrong way I feel that since it was so exacting that it deserved to be nit-picked. I didn't think it was funny, even though it's marketed as a rom-com (cringe).
I love 6:30, he might be the best thing about the book, but he's also the biggest reason why it's not realistic for me. Loved that he was being taught words, but attempting to have telepathic conversations with a dead man and a fetus was too much for me. An inner monologue would have been fine. Oh and of course Elizabeth straps goggles to him and has him operate equipment a few times.
I accept that Elizabeth's cooking show was pedantic, and I don't mind it since I love Alton Brown. During the bookclub discussion another woman and I discussed how we didn't love that Elizabeth was so good looking, nearly impossibly good looking. I reminded them about how she didn't even sweat under the set lights – would have like a chemistry explanation for that one. Another bookclub member said, “Maybe she's so good looking so that way it wasn't an excuse to not have her on television?” I then reminded her of Julia Child, whom I have respect for and also had a technical/scientific background (shark repellent) but she's not a knockout.
Also speaking of the cooking that Elizabeth does, I looked it up and from the multiple sources I read, making coffee (not espresso) with distilled water will taste flat and not as appealing. If you're going to be fastidious throughout the book then get it right.
The way that Elizabeth brushes off the audience member's vegetarianism made me cringe.
I nearly exploded when she tossed the can of soup away because it had too many chemicals in it. Um WHAT?! Everything is literally made of chemical substances, NaCl, table salt is a chemical. Which chemicals are you referring to here? This was a huge opportunity lost to educate the audience.
It was cool to learn about the high flammability of pistachios.
Elizabeth didn't want to get married, that's fine. I just didn't think that her argument about a name change was convincing since she mentions “Einstein's wife” and I doubt that Elizabeth knew who she was even talking about because Einstein had two wives, the first of whom Mileva Marić, the physicist and mathematician, hyphenated her last name and when they divorced went back to her original name, and Einstein's second wife was his cousin, she was born an Einstein but since Albert was her second marriage she took his name, or would that count as changing it back to her maiden name? Elizabeth also mentions First Ladies as “Mrs. George Washington” and “Mrs. Abraham Lincoln”. I stopped on my walk to work, paused the audiobook and yelled, “Who doesn't know them as Martha Washington and Marry Todd Lincoln?!” Then again I'm a nerd so maybe I'm in the minority.
I get that she wants to keep her own identity, but I wish that she had expressed that more clearly. I don't see why she couldn't have kept her name or hyphenated, I know that it wouldn't have been traditional, but she isn't traditional and she's headstrong so she could have made it happen. She could also have gone with the argument that “Mrs.” is based off the word mistress and I accept that “Ms” was not available to her in the mid/late 50's.
I was also disappointed that Elizabeth didn't address becoming property, maybe because she knew Calvin would poo-poo the notion or not understand.
Additionally, for someone who is concerned about being publicly conflated with him she's making quite a scene at their place of work rather than ‘let's talk about this at home'.
In chapter five Calvin and Elizabeth discuss their familial backgrounds. This was a decent sentiment, “When raised on sorrow it's hard to imagine others having a similar portion.” Because yes, they both have ridiculously tragic backgrounds, like if Matilda had a crush on Klaus of the Baudelaire orphans. When you hear someone's brother died due to suicide do you ask for details? If the person was my romantic interest, I'll admit yes, but with a preamble, the utmost sensitivity, and reassurance.
Elizabeth can't swim and doesn't mention it when she goes rowing with Calvin even though she knows there's a likelihood that the boat will capsize or that she could fall out. I'm surprised she didn't talk about natural buoyancy.
I did like the rowing parts. Even though the rower member of out bookclub doubts that Elizabeth would be able to keep up with the physically bigger people I accept that she could have worked out the physics or something. I liked that rowing was a metaphor or thematic for teamwork, acceptance, having a shared interest, putting work into a relationship, etc. This was touched on in the interview with the author at the end of the book.
The doctor who's a rower is the only competent man in the book, well maybe Reverend Wakely, he struggles with his chosen career but he acts decently.
I can't make up my mind about Mad. Some of the kiddos that I've worked with are hyperlexic, but that's not what Mad is, at least not in the clinical sense of the word because Mad was taught how to read. I think in the interview with the author she mentions that Mad is not a genius but rather a really good observer. I think I struggle with Mad not because it's not that she's impossible but because she unrealistic and I was hoping for a realistic book.
This was probably things just being convenient to the plot but I thought that it took Elizabeth an uncharacteristically long amount of time to come for Calvin's boxes. Around the end of chapter 22 Elizabeth is at the office for the boxes and while there she and Miss Frask befriend each other because they've both experienced SA? They've exchanged first names but still call each other miss + last name. (I can't recall Miss Frask's first name.) This is because of the sisterhood, I guess. Miss Frask was trying her hardest to tear Elizabeth down, but she had recently been slighted (again) by male management and discovered they have an unfortunate commonality, so she acts helpful. I do like that Frask grows, but it could have been better executed.
Hated the “meet cute” of Calvin vomiting on her.
Liked the exchange of letters with Wakely and appreciated the fairy tale viewpoint vs religion.
Was surprised at Elizabeth using the word soulmate several times. I get that atheists can believe in spirits and souls it just didn't feel like it fit; I'm also not a fan or a believer in soulmates, at least not in the romantic sense that there is only one soulmate intended for each person.
Liked the update of the audience member perusing a medical career.
Whew it felt good to get that out of my head.
2.75 stars.... idk man i like the plot and the message but the characters were so unbearable and it did ruin a lot for me. It was hard to read because the characters. The characters felt very unreal which sucks because the situations in this book are very real but.. idk its hard to explain but a book like this deserved better characters to tell the story.
also naming a dog 6:30??? go to jail
A New York Times bestseller worthy of the hype! Take note. This book is an absolute delight. So original, a heroine we can all relate to, laugh with and root for. I blew through this one. Highly recommend!
This really is a love story of chemistry plus a cooking show of Bill NYE was a woman and in the 60's. Loved this so much! My favorite character was Six-Thirty!
This was a 3.5 star for me until the end, which bumped it up to 4. Also, six-thirty
I had to stop. I hate hate hate books set in the past with characters acting like they're from 2023. It feels preachy and unrealistic. I am so bored with these quirky characters. Also not sure why this book is described as funny when the first few parts include a rape and various other depressing background stories. I cannot understand why this is so highly rated - This one was not for me.
Loved it from start to finish. Didn't want it to end. Everyone should read it. This is your homework. That's all.
Well it was readable but who the hell could find it funny. Reading it made me cranky. And just so fantastical as to be stupid really. To be honest words fail me with this book, it just seemed very juvenile
the revelation that her funding wasn't due to her skill and formative research but instead was down to nepotism really undermined the feeling of the rest of the story, and really did not enjoy the bunny the dog perspective. no thanks
Witty and clever repartee and a quirky range of characters belie the gritty darker undertones of sexism, religious fundamentalism, and the challenges of being a woman in the 1960s. Worth all the hype.
I'm on the fence between 4 stars and 5 stars. This book crushed me. I was looking for a romance and that's not this. Though it centers around a love story, this is really a tale about family and making the best out of really $hitty situations. “Every day is a new day.” It's a great idea but hard to effectuate.
I loved how the characters' stories were interconnected–the weaving was very well done without expressly relying on a trope of divine intervention/fate.
I listened to about 50% of the audiobook, then switched to text so I could cheat and skim the rest. I had to know how it ended. With me in tears ultimately.
Many thanks to pioneering women like the character of Elizabeth who blazed the way.
A woman living in 1950s America who wants to be a scientist and not a housewife, and also ends up starring in a TV cooking show. On one hand there's misogyny and sexual assault but also some positive, uplifting female empowerment. I can't quite put my finger on why but the female empowerment bit doesn't feel very realistic.. like we are supposed to read this as a book set in the 1950s but something feels off, as though the way it's written is a bit too fantastical and too good to be true. Which also makes the tonal shifts with the sexual assault parts a bit weird as well.
I still found it entertaining though!
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
I got this book for my birthday and I'm so glad I enjoyed it so I didn't have to tell them I absolutely hated it 😂 I understand the negative reviews, but in my opinion this book is a lot more enjoyable if you don't think of it as trying to be the most accurate representation of everything but as a bit of an exaggeration to prove a point on themes which are still very relevant today.
This book is so hard to review... on one hand the writing and story were absolutely brilliant, especially in the way that it unfolded. On the other, I felt like that political messages were quite heavy-handed especially towards the end. It also was anti-religion for the entirety of the novel. Religion was branded as the source of all evil starting with Elizabeth's parents all the way towards Avery's backstory.
I think for me it was a 5-star read up until the 60% mark and then the messaging made it harder for me to pick it up after putting it down.