Lessons in Chemistry
Sep. 19th, 2023 07:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearAfter bad experiences with a couple of unexpectedly unpleasant books, someone recommended to me Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, as a light, breezy, joyful book that would lift my spirits. There's also a quote on the front cover that reads: "Sparks joy in every page." So, I was confident going in...
First 40 pages - relentless, aggressive misogyny; a violent rape scene; and a conversation between two of the characters where they *both* reveal family backgrounds with so much tragedy and trauma that I had to stop reading before my usual 50-page marker...
So, um - maybe the rest of the book is all sweetness and light (and don't get me wrong - it's well-written, the characters are engaging and I was interested in where the plot was going) - but yikes!
First 40 pages - relentless, aggressive misogyny; a violent rape scene; and a conversation between two of the characters where they *both* reveal family backgrounds with so much tragedy and trauma that I had to stop reading before my usual 50-page marker...
So, um - maybe the rest of the book is all sweetness and light (and don't get me wrong - it's well-written, the characters are engaging and I was interested in where the plot was going) - but yikes!
