Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

234 reviews

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, Grief, and Medical content

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

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

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

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

aimeemg155's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Grief, Murder, Drug use, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

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

annorabrady's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

The story was intriguing, but still left a lot to be desired. Especially when it came to Caroline's POV. I found a lot of her actions to be incredibly dumb, especially in regards to how she took notes. I also didn't understand a lot of her thought processes. I also felt that her husband's presence didn't add to the story except to show the extent to which he was willing and capable of abusing her. But memories alone showed most of that. 

I wish the story had focused more on Eliza. Her part of the story was the most compelling by far. 

Upon further reflection, I have to say that Caroline's story doesn't fit with the themes of the other stories. The others focus on seizing what little control they have over their situations as women of their time by means of harming the people who harmed them. 

Caroline learned almost nothing from her "research" that lent itself to her situation. And she didn't even intend to hurt her husband. If he hadn't attempted to force her to stay married to him by way of poisoning himself (a move that he also intended to use as means to frame her for his death should he not live), nothing about her story would have been different despite the attempt at drawing a parallel between the various stories. 

Also, on the bit about him poisoning himself. Are we really supposed to believe that her husband's history of toxic behaviors was limited to "being pragmatic and convincing her to give up her dreams until the right time" and then cheating on her? One doesn't go from infidelity and "risk aversion" to extreme manipulation via self harm and attempts at suicide without there being other attempts at similar methods of control. That level of escalation, especially after 10 years of marriage and however long of dating is unrealistic. Abusers use tactics they know are likely to work based on past acceptance of similar behaviors.

Also also am I really supposed to believe that someone who goes so far as to poison themself as an act of manipulation is going to just accept that it didn't work and leave calmly? Someone willing to go that far is someone who is dangerous. The kind of dangerous where the person leaving shouldn't be alone with their abuser. At all. 

To have that storyline end with a hug and understanding is alarming. This is the kind of storyline that could encourage an abuse victim to stay in an abusive relationship because "well it's not always bad." Or, worse, could encourage someone to attempt a similar "conscious uncoupling" with someone who could seriously hurt them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Murder, Grief, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

sea_tea_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious tense

5.0

I could not put this down. Ironically, the author wrote of one of the main characters, "she wasn't a witch, and this wasn't Harry Potter," but I disagree. According to the author, this story was about "embracing magic" (or "magick" as spelled in ye olde times). There were whisperings of a hidden, magical world—similar to the wizarding world with Snape's potions class, as well as the more shadowy realm of Dark Arts, Knockturn Alley, and Borgin and Burke's. And that is precisely what drew me into this story and kept me captivated.

All that aside, this story had a mystery that slowly unraveled between past and present perspectives. Loved the twist at the end! I've already reserved the author's next story from my library/Libby. 

5 ⭐

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Mental illness, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Infertility, and Abortion

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Child abuse

blueyogi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Murder, Miscarriage, Grief, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Infertility, and Death

Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexual harassment, and Violence

ekilburn529's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.0

And this book was a little slow to hook me in but once I did, I found I really liked it. It’s told through multiple POB and different timelines to keep it interesting. It was a nice transition book from summer to fall. Definitely take note if pregnancy/miscarriage is a concern for you. It isn’t overly graphic, but it is mentioned throughout the book multiple times by multiple characters so if that is something that would bother you, I would skip this one.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Infertility

taliatalksbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner was just as good, if not better, than I expected it to be. I tried not to let all the praise surrounding the book skew my reading experience, but I can now say it was definitely well earned (not to mention how much I LOVE the cover). Historical fiction is not a favorite genre of mine, but I loved the way this story was discovered through researching the past and filling in the pieces. I think this was a really clever framework and it made the women of this story feel as though they were interacting, even if they never could have possibly met. I love a story with a good vigilante character, and this book certainly delivered. If you haven’t had a chance to read this historical fiction gem, definitely add it to your TBR. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Infidelity, Incest, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Murder, Miscarriage, Infertility, Gore, Death, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Classism, Abortion, and Grief