⭐🐊
I will preface this review by saying that I had to read this book for a class in high school. 

This was a short read and I have based my entire distaste for Steinbeck on this book. While it was a book with a lower page count and overall an easy read, which I can usually appreciate, I hated it. The portrayals of brotherhood and friendship were toxic at best. Even as a teenager that still had a lot to learn about what ableism was and how neurodivergence can be celebrated instead of repressed, I was uncomfortable with how the character of Lennie was written. I also distinctly recall how the only woman who had any lines in the book was the wife of one of the side characters. And while her death was depicted on page, she was never deemed to be valuable enough for a name.

Wouldn't read again. I actively tell people not to read it. I also convinced an entire grade level that the wife had a name and her name was Bertha. Justice for Berth and the puppies and for Lennie. Should have been gayer.