Author: Bonnie Garmus
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Release Date: March 31, 2022
Genre: Historical Fiction/General Fiction
Length: 400 pages
Source: Purchased
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.
Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.
My Review:
I bought Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus because it was said to be one of Barnes & Noble book of the year. Well I love Barnes & Noble and I trust them, so I picked it up expecting to be blown away. Well, I gave it three stars so I can't really say that it met those expectations.
My biggest problem with Lessons in Chemistry is that the whole story was slow and it was hard to get through. I thought at the beginning it was just build up to something exciting that was coming, but that something exciting turned out to be at the very end of the book. I even considered DNFing the book but in the end I'm glad I didn't. I'm glad I finished it.
My second problem with this book is that I just didn't like the main character Zott! She was very strict and rigid and she just seemed like she never had any fun. She didn't seem to have any hobbies. I don't mind characters with strong opinions, but Zott would scoff at other people who held strong traditional values! She lived a very different life than most people at that time and wanted to be accepted but really only surrounded herself with people who were like her.
I'm really glad that I finished Lessons in Chemistry because, by the end, it was all neatly wrapped up with a bow. There were no loose ends and nothing was out of place. The ending was the reason why I gave it three stars and not lower. I like when a book tells me how it ends and when it's not open-ended.
Overall, not my favorite book and not the worst book. Just be ready for a bit of a slow read if you decide to pick it up.
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