Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - The Lost Apothecary

You follow 3 women (1 being a girl) and their stories. They have all been hurt by men in some way.
Nella being betrayed by her lover begins creating poisons for any woman that is betrayed.
Eliza is a 12 year old sent by her employer to obtain a poison for her husband. We pretty quickly discover he'd been lusting over her.
Finally Caroline discovers her husband's infidelity just days before their 10 yr anniversary. She takes what should have been an couple's vacation to London where she starts to unravel the mysteries behind a vial she finds that leads her to the "lost apothecary"
There's a couple twists in the book that are shocking and satisfying.

Content Warnings

bookishalice's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

I loved the concept of it. Regular women forgotten by time. Female relationships lost in time and never documented. The loss of yourself in what you think you're 'supposed to be'.

Brilliantly executed and with such multidimensional characters, definitely one I'll be recommending!

Content Warnings

freetobme's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

Enjoyable, quick read. I had no issue following the stories from the 3 characters. I didn’t appreciate that magic potions were glorified, nor the making and disguising of poisons.

However, in the end the apothecary has a change of heart and stops making and dispensing poisons.

I did find several sentences and paragraphs to record and reflect on.

Content Warnings

sarahbryant717's review against another edition

Go to review page

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? Yes

4.5

Three women who on the surface don’t appear to have much in common, but when you look closely, you see that they have more in common that what you think.

This book takes place in London in two separate timelines—late 18th century and current time.

In the late 1700’s, Nella has a hidden apothecary shop where she tends to the needs of women—from cures for menstrual cramps to poisons to get rid of a chewing husband. Nella fiercely protects her clients’ secrets while keeping her work a secret. One day Nella meets an unlikely ally—12 year old Eliza, a servant who arrives at Nella’s shop to pick up a poison for her mistress. Eliza is intrigued by Nella and the “magic” she creates and wants to learn as much as she can from Nella.

In the present day, Caroline arrives in London on a solo trip that was originally meant to be an anniversary trip with her husband. Caroline is on a search to find herself and to figure out what she wants out of her crumbling marriage. Caroline finds an old bottle with a mysterious etching and her self searching evolves to a search for the origins of this hidden treasure.

I enjoyed the dual storylines and since the timeline and characters were so different, it was easy to keep track of what was going on in the story. The characters were well written and were all strong women that you wanted to root for. I would definitely recommend this book and give it 4.5 stars.

Content Warnings

lacecarol's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

asanders88's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous reflective sad 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

I'm not sure why I let this book sit on a shelf for so long! The twists and turns at the end had me captivated!
The story follows a centuries ago apothecary full of poisons and secrets and the clues she left behind for a present-day woman, going through her own struggles, to find.
While I did find the book a little slow in the middle, the ending more than made up for it!

Content Warnings

acasiamae's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

bleach226's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

More...