Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

458 reviews

alex_k99's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

3.5

An sich hat mir das Buch sehr gut gefallen, es war spannend und ich habe mit den Figuren mitgefiebert (Ich hätte James mehr als einmal gern eine Schelle verpasst).

ich fand es auch sehr klug gewählt, dass am Ende nicht genau aufgeklärt wird wie Eliza überlebt hat und ob Nella tatsächlich gestorben ist. Manche Sachen gehen auch mit den besten historischen Quellen unter.

Allerdings gab es auch einige Dinge die mir negativ aufgefallen sind bezogen darauf, wie gut recherchiert es ist. Wären diese leichtfertigen Schnitzer nicht gewesen, hätten das sehr gut 4,5 Sterne sein können, da sie mich schon sehr daran gehindert haben, mich in die historische Handlung reinzudenken. (Wer es genauer wissen will, kann unter dem Spoiler nachlesen was ich meine)

1. Warum hat die Autorin die ganze Zeit darauf bestanden dass die Figuren der historischen Handlung Pergament statt Papier benutzen? Das war Ende des achtzehnten jhds schon längst von Papier verdrängt worden weil es in Herstellung einfach viel zu aufwändig war. Mag sein dass sie damit eine Art vage historischen Vibe herstellen wollte, aber dafür ist Pergament ein sehr unüberzeugendes und faules Mittel zum Zweck. Taktile  Beschreibungen usw hätten sich da eher angeboten

2. Warum wusste Eliza nicht was eine Menstruation ist? Für ein Mädchen das auf einem Bauernhof gelebt hat sie diesbezüglich arg unaufgeklärt gewirkt

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Death and Miscarriage

alexefontaine's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault

shabibi's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Classism

odcosta's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

4.0

Really interesting! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Murder

makayla_radford's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Child death, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy

booksoversecondbreakfast's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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

4.5

Overall, I loved this book, especially Caroline's (the modern character's) story. I enjoyed the fact that her story mirrored thematically the stories of the past. I also enjoyed the fact that the Nella kept her log book because she believed that women deserved to have their stories told, and I liked how this was reflected in Caroline's story in her investigation. It truly was a story of women helping other women, even if in a way that's shrouded in darkness. Everything got pulled together so neatly at the end and it was so poetic and satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide attempt

noemie_0612's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

J’ai trouvé la traduction française vraiment médiocre, cela m’a tellement perturbé que je n’ai pas réussi à me concentrer sur l’histoire (ex: il est peu probable qu’une fillette de 12 ans dise “bof” en 1791). Je recommande la version originale anglaise pour ceux qui peuvent la lire. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Violence, and Murder

cahlacarla's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder

heresyourletter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-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

3.5

As a sucker for Kate Morton-esque books with multiple narrators set in different time periods and a strong mystery element, I enjoyed the book. I found the prose a tad repetitive, but the audiobook format meant I could zone out during the “recaps” and tune back in once the plot resumed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Infertility, Sexism, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Blood

One character’s job is supplying women with poison to kill the men in their lives. Beetles are killed to make a poison. One minor character is an alcoholic. Infidelity is a prominent theme. An upperclass character uses her privilege to bully another character into doing her bidding. One character believes in ghosts and mentions feeling haunted by a character who died before the novel begins. Two different characters discuss trying (and failing) to have a baby.

One character miscarries after she is deliberately fed poison and grieves the loss of her unborn child throughout the book. Another minor character, who is mentioned but does not appear in the book, is a teenager who became pregnant by her employer’s husband and died in childbirth. A twelve-year old girl is groped by her employer’s husband. He also drugs her and attempts to sexually abuse her, but is stopped before this happens. One character is shown to be in a marriage with a man who tries to manipulate her and blame all his problems on her. One character is interrogated and another two are chased by police on suspected murder charges. One character is slowly dying from an unnamed illness (possibly cancer) and coughs up blood. One character plans to die by suicide, but ultimately does not go through with it. One character jumps off a bridge in a presumed suicide attempt, but is later shown to behave survived. One character drinks eucalyptus oil and is rushed to hospital, but ultimately survives.

grace33's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Murder

Moderate: Death and Suicide

Minor: Pedophilia and Sexual assault