Book · 2022
Lessons in Chemistry
by Bonnie Garmus
A 1960s chemist forced out of the lab becomes a reluctant TV cooking-show host and teaches a whole country to stop underestimating her.
What does Reddit think of Lessons in Chemistry?
And the top-upvoted takes are hostile. The most-upvoted comment (↑149) calls it 'insufferable' outright; another (↑127) just says it didn't work. Mentions peaked at 78 in 2023, the year after publication, and have declined since, down to 26 in 2025. This is a book Reddit argues about, not one it's settled on.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · feminism-as-marketing versus feminism-as-substance debate
- · hate-read appeal
- · near-total single-subreddit reception
- · 1960s workplace sexism as plot engine
Common praise
- + One reader says they 'laughed out loud and cried' and 'adored the characters' (↑39).
- + Even critics admit it works 'as a good hate read' (↑62).
- + It shows up reliably enough in r/suggestmeabook threads to function as a default reference point for the book-club-fiction crowd.
Common criticism
- − The single most-upvoted comment in the whole dataset calls it 'insufferable' outright (↑149).
- − A ↑62 comment argues the book thinks it's 'a Feminist Triumph' while actually delivering 'ignorant and patronising' white-girlboss politics.
- − Multiple commenters pair it with other disliked prestige-fiction picks, like The Goldfinch, rather than praising it on its own terms (↑31).
Who it's for
Go in expecting book-club fiction, not literary fiction, and you'll have a better time than the ↑149 commenter who called it insufferable. If faux-feminist girlboss framing is a dealbreaker for you, the ↑62 critique lays out exactly why this one might grate. Readers who want a hate-read with a genuine payoff — laughing, crying, actually finishing it — exist too (↑39), so don't let the pile-on scare you off entirely.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Lessons in Chemistry?
Top-upvoted quotes across the subreddits where this book is mentioned. Click through to read the full thread.
“A hot take - Lessons in Chemistry was insufferable
“Didn’t care for Lessons in Chemistry at all!
“Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
“*Lessons in Chemistry* by Bonnie Garmus. It's genuinely infuriating because it patently thinks it's a Feminist Triumph while delivering something ignorant and patronising and *steeped* in not-like-the-other-girls privileged white girlboss faux-feminism, but it's also a good hate read because every s…
“Lessons in Chemistry!
“Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus. I laughed out loud and cried: I adored the characters and the overarching themes that great love and happiness can come from great hardship, and that family is what you make it.
“Fiction: *Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow* by Gabrielle Zevin Mystery and Thriller: *The Maid* by Nita Prose Historical Fiction: *Carrie Soto is Back* by Taylor Jenkins Reid Fantasy: *House of Sky and Breath* by Sarah J. Maas Romance: *Book Lovers* by Emily Henry Science Fiction: *Sea of T…
“I hated The Goldfinch and Lessons in Chemistry. I love literary and narrative nonfiction, especially travel and nature writing.
Convinced? Pick up Lessons in Chemistry
What else does r/suggestmeabook read?
Other books mentioned in the same sub, ranked. Shared-sub overlap with this title breaks ties.
Project Hail Mary
Andy Weir
A high-school teacher wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memory of how he got there and one job left: save Earth.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
J. K. Rowling
A neglected eleven-year-old discovers he belongs to a hidden magical world, enters Hogwarts, and learns that wonder carries history and danger with it.
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries)
Martha Wells
A security robot hacks its own governor module, gains free will, and spends its days streaming soap operas instead of killing anyone.
Mistborn: The Final Empire
Brandon Sanderson
A street thief gets recruited into a heist crew plotting to overthrow a god-emperor who has ruled unchallenged for a thousand years.
Circe
Madeline Miller
An exiled witch on a deserted island turns men into pigs and spends three thousand years deciding what she actually wants.
The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexandre Dumas
A framed sailor rots in an island prison for fourteen years, escapes with a fortune, and spends the rest of the book collecting on every debt of vengeance.
Lessons in Chemistry — frequently asked
Is Lessons in Chemistry actually good, or is Reddit just being contrarian?+
Reddit isn't being contrarian — it's split, and the top-upvoted take (↑149) flatly calls it insufferable. There's no consensus to lean on either way.
Why do people hate Lessons in Chemistry so much?+
The sharpest critique (↑62) argues the book presents itself as 'a Feminist Triumph' while delivering 'ignorant and patronising' politics dressed up as empowerment — white-girlboss faux-feminism, as the commenter puts it.
Is Lessons in Chemistry worth reading in 2026?+
Mentions have dropped from a 2023 peak of 78 to 26 in 2025, so the cultural moment has passed. If you missed the wave, the ↑149 and ↑127 comments ('didn't care for it at all') suggest tempering expectations — this reads more like a divisive book-club pick than a settled classic.
Who actually likes Lessons in Chemistry on Reddit?+
A minority, but a real one — one commenter (↑39) says they 'adored the characters' and cried reading it, pointing to the found-family and hardship themes as the payoff. That take just doesn't carry the same upvote weight as the ↑149 'insufferable' comment sitting at the top of the thread.