Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

The Apothecary Diaries, Volume 4 by Itsuki Nanao, Natsu Hyuuga

4 reviews

corallydeer's review

dark emotional lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This was a great volume! Watching all of the intrigue and mystery play out with Consort Aduo and her head lady-in-waiting. The way that Maomao pieced together the mystery felt very natural and easy to follow along, so it felt like it flowed really well. I also loved seeing the whole miscommunication and misunderstanding at the end take place. Can't wait for the next volume!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Murder, Pedophilia, Suicide, Alcohol, and Pregnancy

Child Death

(depictions of Consort Aduo's child's death and her grief)

| Death

(the corpse of a drowned woman discovered and examined; discussion of Maomao's preferred execution style; the death of Consort Aduo's child is explored; Fengming, Aduo's head lady-in-waiting is executed [but not shown])

| Medical Content

(Maomao is an apothecary so her knowledge is used; Maomao's father was also an apothecary previously)

| Bullying

(Consort Lishu's ladies-in-waiting bully her)

| Classism

(discussion of the reality that peasants can be executed easily by nobles)

| Grief

(depictions of Consort Aduo's grief after losing her child and ability to bear children; depictions of Fengming's grief at causing the death of Aduo's child)

| Infertility

(Consort Aduo loses the ability to bear children after her first birth and how this impacts her position in the Inner Court)

| Injury/Injury Detail

(Chinese foot binding shown and explained)

| Alcohol

(some minor drinking depicted)

| Murder

(mentioned in passing as a possible cause for the drowned woman's death; mention of the attempted murder [poisoning] of Consort Lishu)

| Pedophilia

(passing mention of the late emperor's preference for especially young concubines)

| Pregnancy

(passing mention as the duty of concubines)

| Suicide

(mentioned in passing as a possible cause for the drowned woman's death)

jennifermreads's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Each volume brings a new mini-mystery as well as more insight into the characters. Maomao’s fascination and finesse with poisons lends itself to some delightful facial expressions and interesting character quirks. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Child death, and Infertility

paradicsomleves's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Child death, Infertility, Suicide, and Death

Minor: Trafficking

alite428's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Infertility, and Child death