Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

139 reviews

wizardingwisteria's review against another edition

dark inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This was my first audio book and I'm glad it was.  I loved the fact that each character had their own dedicated narrator.  The narrators were fantastic.  Each voice fit each character perfectly.

As someone with a BA in history and conflicted feelings about grad school I related to Caroline quite a bit, especially during and after her historical investigation.  I found all three women to be compelling in their own ways.  The relationships that blossom in this book are fantastic.  The side characters are also great.  (I had a massive crush on Gainer the entire time). 

I took the .25 off because, while the ending was overall satisfying, I didn't totally love it.  There is a moment where it seems like

Caroline is going to get back together with her (dumbass) husband.  Thankfully they didn't, but I didn't like how close that call was.

 

Aside from her relationship,

I didn't understand why Caroline threw the glass bottle back into the river.  If she planned on writing her dissertation on the apothecary, then that bottle is an incredibly valuable artifact that would greatly help her research.  She had pieced the story together.  She understood the significance of that bottle.  And she tossed it?

  I feel like the author sacrificed an authentic moment for a plot point that served as symbolic representation for Caroline in the end.

Overall a great read with a mostly satisfying ending.  I could see myself listening to this one more time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse

julbel's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Pedophilia

browsingthebooks's review against another edition

3.5

This book was a solid four stars for me right up until the end. I enjoyed each of the three narratives and the tiny sprinkling of magic.

I found it really frustrating that she threw away the vial and didn’t tell the world about Eliza. Half of Nella’s goal was to keep these women’s names in history. So what was the point of hiding the last one she went to pains to record?

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death and Suicidal thoughts

d0505's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

skylerreads28's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

I will always love a book that discovers the intimate relationships women have between one another; the instinctual reaction to always protect one another, whether it’s with poisons for (deserving) husbands, secret tinctures for luck, offering distractions and love during hard times. This book was recommended by one of my best friends and was a really good and refreshing read. It gave me the same vibes as Weyward by Emilia Hart while still having a different plot line. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death and Miscarriage

bambifaun's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Medical content

Minor: Death, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy

mattiedancer's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Writing: 3⭐️/5 

The writing was fine, adequate, presentable. A few times Penner had some really stunning lines, but mostly the writing did what needed to be done without too much flare or finesse. A lot of sections for backstory were lengthy, giving us a bit of information by flashback and then overexplaining the emotions of the situation. But overall the writing did enough to not get in the way.

Characters: 3.5⭐️/5

I think the characters in the historical sections were much more fascinating than our modern-day protagonist. While I appreciated that Caroline had a lot going on, I also felt like her half-telling of the story made me lose a bit of interest in what was going on. I loved her research-heavy mind, but it felt stunningly unbelievable the way in which she pursued her research so easily after so long. And, while the characters were interesting, they felt a bit surface at times, almost as though we never got a true glimpse of their whole beings.

Plot: 3⭐️/5 

Okay, so the concept? Super cool. The execution? Maybe that’s where I got lost. I loved everything about the apothecary. I even loved the slow unravelling of clues from Caroline’s side, but I also felt like that was the only thing that felt super fleshed out. All the details in the novel felt muddled, as though they were unclear and unformed. I also think that the end kind of undid some of the feminist points made throughout the novel, leaving kind of a sour taste in my mouth at the end.

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of historical books that have a split POV with modern perspective
• Someone looking for a cool concept over everything else
• Fans of witchy history who are looking for an easy read

Content Warnings? 

• Pregnancy, adultery, murder, sexism, misogyny, rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, violence, abuse, child abuse, child death, death, death of parent, self-harm, suicide, suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts, terminal illness, poison, gun violence, medical trauma, classism, injury, injury detail, fire, pedophilia, incest, infertility 

Post-Reading Rating:  2.75⭐️/5

I just… wanted more? I liked the concept so much but I think everything else fell pretty flat.

Final Rating: 3⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jkohls's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

I think this was a very easy read. I found the book grabbed my interest very early. I sometimes struggle with the flashback books but I got into the grove with this one quickly.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy

lizzie_beth98's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Blood, Grief, and Murder

suchallie's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Good easy read, less magical vibes than I thought it would be and more dark and dusty Bridgerton-esque historical vibes 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, Abortion, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Blood

Specific trigger content re: abortion/miscarriage/pregnancy:

there is content of a forced abortion without consent

Also lots of content about infidelity and marriage troubles