Jess’s Reviews > Lessons in Chemistry > Status Update

this is one of the worst books I've read in a long, long time

god, this author is such a debate-me atheist. People like this are the reason I don't call myself an atheist. I don't believe in god, but I also don't believe in being a self-satisfied asshole about it.

Elizabeth still insisting she will succeed on her own merit without any help whatsoever while happily accepting a TV job offered to her because she's hot and her own lab offered to her because her dead lover's long-lost mother is rich

yep, just quit your lucrative TV job without having anything lined up, it's not like you've ever experienced misogyny in the scientific field before, I'm sure they'll all be lining up to give you jobs, this has after all always been your experience of the way the world works

no really, how many times are you gonna blame the bloody leash????

and ANOTHER mention of the dog leash specifically being responsible for love interest's death. I just. there is something so deeply obnoxious about this author bending over backwards to create a bizarre circumstance where she can claim leash laws are harmful when their entire purpose is to protect humans and animals from injury and death. it REEKS of a personal beef.

okay, I hate this dog, but I think it must be said that he has a richer character arc than any single human in the book. It's a deeply stupid character arc, but still.

oh my god i think the genius dog is about to foil an assassination attempt. ah, you might be thinking, he's seen something in a crowd, sensed a person's ill intent. but you are thinking like a reasonable person. no, friends. no. the dog watches the protagonist's TV show every day. the dog analyses the studio audience on the screen. the dog has observed that an audience member has attended two tapings and not clapped.

Viewer letter: "dear Elizabeth, I don't eat meat for personal ethical reasons, I don't like to think of animals being killed for my dinner, that's not stupid is it?"
Elizabeth: "lol and yet you're happy to kill plants for your dinner, I am very smart"

hilarious how she EXPLICITLY took this TV gig because she's unemployed and has no money and needs to provide for her child, and ever since she's done nothing but the opposite of what the studio wants and essentially try her hardest to get fired