Lessons in Chemistry

Storyline: 3 Stars

I was hoping for more, or maybe I was hoping for less. This book has been so popular and had so many good reviews, but I was disappointed. Part of the disappointment might have been because the reviews were so different. Some of the reviews thought that it was hilarious, some serious, and some in between. I did not really know what to expect.

It was definitely not hilarious. Even the parts that I thought were supposed to be funny were not really funny. It was serious, but a little unbelievable. I think I would have been impacted by the story more if it had been more realistic. There were so many bad, evil men and so many bad, evil women who joined the bad, evil men. I just have a hard time believing that every person in the 50s was terrible. My grandparents were young adults in the 50s, and I can’t imagine any of them acting the way that they do in this book.

I would just say read at your own risk. I would not really recommend or not recommend this book. It just was not my taste.

Parental Guidance: 55% Recommend

I would not recommend Lessons in Chemistry to everyone because of the language and some scenes. I would recommend it 55% of the time for parental guidance.

There was foul language, including “f*ck” and “c*nt”. It was disturbing and I honestly get tired of reading books with so many unnecessary swear words, especially if it does nothing for the plot or characters. Be warned that the language is not nice.

There were some graphic, uncomfortable scenes and descriptions. There was a pretty graphic r*pe that takes place in the first pages of the book, which I was not expecting. There is another almost r*pe later on. There is a married women who has a very s*xually perverted lifestyle. They were graphic and horrible. I have read a few books with such heavy topics, and some of them dealt with the aftermath really well, including Beartown and The Kite Runner. Those were both emotional books. I was a little disappointed with how it was dealt with in this book. It almost seemed like outside of not being let into school, the main character felt nothing over the r*pe or almost r*pe. She just went on living, which I thought downplayed how horrible a r*pe is.

Outside of the language and graphic violent scenes, there were a few other parts of the book that I was not a fan of. Particularly that all “Christians” in the book were portrayed as terrible people. Let me be clear: THOSE PEOPLE WERE NOT CHRISTIANS. If anyone actually read their Bible they would know that these people were not actually Christians. I was saddened because everyone in the book believed that they were, and I know that’s how it is. The hypocrites are always the ones that people look at, and it hurts the Christian faith so much.

Additionally, there was a rainbow character in the background and implied s*x between two characters who have a child.

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Spoilers Ahead

I was more annoyed with the book than anything else.

1. I have a hard time believing that a woman in the 50s had those exact thoughts about society –it more closely resembled what women today think.

2. As mentioned above, I really hated the representation of “Christians” in the book. They were almost the villains.

3. Almost every man was a terrible human being. I have a hard time believing that 50% of men were that perverted in the 50s. I know that people are evil when they are left to themselves, but it was still a little unbelievable.

4. The book was unbelievable. The main character and her daughter was just not believable.

5. The downplay of r*pe and its impact on the victim. It didn’t sit right with me that it was brushed over so quickly. Of course the consequence of not continuing school isn’t good, but I would have just expected even more. It seemed that the r*pe was used as an explanation of why women can’t progress in their careers versus that r*pe is demeaning and evil and hurts the victim beyond their careers.

6. I wish that we could see a character that is smart but maybe not absolutely beautiful or masculine. I understand those people exist, but it’s just not as believable or relatable. I’m not crazy beautiful or masculine, but I would consider myself independent and capable. I wish there were characters like that.