Publishers Weekly noted that Wang's "clipped, funny, painfully honest narrative voice lights up" the novel.[7]Kirkus also applauded Wang's created voice, stating that while the unnamed narrator is "essentially unhinged, [she] is thoughtful and funny... It is her voice—distinctive and appealing—that makes this novel at once moving and amusing, never predictable." However, Huffington Post did not enjoy the narrative voice, saying, "The tight first-person can feel somewhat claustrophobic and familiar ― a cerebral depressive slowly unraveling in front of herself ― and much like the protagonist’s Ph.D. project, Chemistry doesn’t astound with its originality of concept or virtuosic language."[9]
The Washington Post lauded Wang's use of present tense, stating that, "in conjunction with Wang's marvelous sense of timing and short, spare sections, can make the novel feel like a stand-up routine... The spacing arrives like beats for applause."[5] The review continues, explaining that "the present tense also suggests the extent to which the past is, for this narrator, an ongoing anxiety."[5]
Library Journal stated that while Chemistry "could have been a clever, witty novel of self-discovery," but it might have been "more effective" as "a distilled short story."[8]
^Elosua, Juan; Hing, Geoff; Park, Katie; Zhang, Matthew (2017-12-05). "Our Guide To 2017's Great Reads". NPR's Book Concierge. Archived from the original on 2017-12-05. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
^Kerr, Euan; Curtis, Stephanie; Mumford, Tracy (2017-12-11). "Best fiction picks of 2017". Minnesota Public Radio News. Archived from the original on 2017-12-11. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
