Her Hidden Genius.

 ✰✰✰✰

 CONTAINS SPOILERS

Rosalind Franklin has always been an outsider―brilliant, but different. Whether working at the laboratory she adored in Paris or toiling at a university in London, she feels closest to the science, those unchanging laws of physics and chemistry that guide her experiments. When she is assigned to work on DNA, she believes she can unearth its secrets. 

Rosalind knows if she just takes one more X-ray picture―one more after thousands―she can unlock the building blocks of life. Never again will she have to listen to her colleagues complain about her, especially Maurice Wilkins who'd rather conspire about genetics with James Watson and Francis Crick than work alongside her. 

Then it finally happens―the double helix structure of DNA reveals itself to her with perfect clarity. But what unfolds next, Rosalind could have never predicted. 

    ❀ ❀ ❀

I love science, and I love historical fiction. I remember learning about DNA and its structure in my biology class in high school and later college. It was confusing to learn about DNA but also fascinating at the same time. I only briefly learned who discovered the structure of DNA, but it never occurred to me that there could been another person. I wasn't aware of Rosalind Franklin until I started reading Her Hidden Genius. I have read books that featured science before, but nothing like this, or that detailed. I loved going on the journey with Rosalind to discover the DNA structure. Her Hidden Genius was heavily detailed on the DNA, and I enjoyed most of it, but there were also parts I had trouble understanding. So there were parts of the book that were harder to follow than others. I couldn't get of this book, and I wanted to see where the discovery would lead her. 

I can see why Rosalind Franklin was such an inspirational woman. To make such a discovery, the amount of research and observation that had to be conducted to reach that discovery. I love Marie Benedict's writing styles, having read a few of her books. I can tell the amount of research she had done for this book, the details on everything, especially about the DNA. I learned more about DNA than before just by reading the book. Marie Benedict had such vivid descriptions, especially the research aspect, making me feel as if I were there, along with Rosalind, discovering with her. It's upsetting that the amount of research she conducted, and instead of being appreciated, her research was getting stolen by other scientists. I hoped that she would find a way to get her research back. There was so much happening, and I couldn't get enough of it. 

There was something off about Maurice Wilkins from the moment that he and Rosalind met. He just couldn't let go that Rosalind oversaw the research. I had a feeling that he had something up his sleeve. Unfortunately, Watson wasn't any better. Of all her books I have read, Her Hidden Genius is one of my favorites. This isn't a book that you will forget. I found myself thinking about it after reaching the last page and even talking about it with my family and friends. I feel it will be a story that I will return to in the future. I even researched Rosalind Franklin once I finished the book, her story had a significant impact on me, and I wanted to know more. I would highly recommend this to any historical fiction and science fans. 

Inspirational.