3.5*

The overall message of this book is great. The MC is a female chemist in the 1950s and most of the book centres around the discrimination and hardship she and other women face during this time period. I love that aspect of the book and I can understand how it would resonate with so many people. There were a few reasons why I liked but didn’t love it;

- The lack of consistent reality. When I read about struggles that people have faced in our world, I want some level of realism. But this book almost teeters on being fantasy in parts. There are so many unbelievable characters, for example the MC’s daughter who is supernaturally precocious for no reason. It distracts from the message and makes the book neither a great fantasy nor a great fiction. With some toning down these elements could have worked but I found it distracting and oftentimes superfluous to the main plot
- Glorifying the extraordinary at the cost of the ordinary. The MC in this book is a genius and so are many other female characters she meets. I don’t mind this per se but it makes the character quite unrelatable and lacks the punch that perhaps a more relatable character tackling their struggles through more relatable means could have
- Rapid changes in pace/tone. Terrible things happen in this book, truly terrible, but the tone will change to be almost comedic very quickly, pulling you out of the scene.
- The way religion is dealt with. For a book that claims everyone has a right to their beliefs, it sure does ridicule anyone who believes in religion.

The book still received a good rating from me despite all of this, so let me list some of the reasons I enjoyed this book;
-The message. Female empowerment has come a long way and still has more to go. A book that shines a light on just how far we’ve come (or haven’t in certain areas) is always valuable
-Six-thirty. An anthropomorphised dog? Get outta here. But don’t, he’s fluffy and I need to stroke him
- The humour. Whilst there were a lot of jokes that didn’t land, there were many that did and I can honestly say this book brought a smile to my face many times
- The flow. Everything feels like it’s moving and moving quickly. I think this actually hurts the book in some cases, more time could be spent lingering on certain scenes/moments, but it made the book very easy to consume

Overall I’d recommend this to most people, but particularly if you have passing – or more than passing – interest in science.