Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

23 reviews

crystal83087's review

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Medical content, Infertility, Infidelity, Murder, Self harm, Excrement, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Body horror, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Abortion, Blood, Death, Medical trauma, Child death, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

vedpears's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

This book is somewhat difficult for me to rate. I liked the characters, loved the setting, and enjoyed the pace and motion the story was told through. I could easily imagine myself bustling along with the characters. I enjoyed the portrayal of someone of higher class status completely mucking things up for themselves and everyone around them because they felt entitled to something. 

However, the book completely got muddled up because Penner decided to use that awful story telling element - drama ensues because characters refuse to say one simple line that would clear up the whole misunderstanding! I hate this with a passion, so automatically loses 2 stars for that. 

Another star is lost because Caroline doesn't make sense/is not well written and she takes up half the pages. She is passionate about history so when starting her life over, she decides to pursue... literature? Police are cautioning her to better safeguard toxic substances and she instead worries about how she doesn't have a child to worry about poisoning? It seems Penner was hinting that James was manipulative and employed gaslighting and emotional abuse when interacting with his wife, so Caroline should be written with that in mind. She was angry and was sharp with James. When he said "you're the one who tore up your college application," Penner should have had Caroline react how a woman in that relationship would have reacted at that point. If she is fighting to get away and divorce him, she would be arguing with him or making him see that he made it into an ultimatum. In regards to her relationship with James, Caroline was simply not fleshed out enough. She was angry enough to flee the country just to get away from him. She would definitely still have that anger and react accordingly upon seeing him. Poor writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Blood, Infidelity, Death, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Drug use, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Classism

blissofalife's review

hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.0

Not a long read, I appreciated the lack of fluff and how Penner kept the plot moving. Multiple POV can be jarring, but she made it seamless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Murder

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Body horror, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Suicide

vanesst's review

adventurous dark fast-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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Death of parent, Murder, Suicide, Death, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, and Grief

Moderate: Infertility, Classism, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Child death, and Chronic illness

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Medical content

draiocht's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Misogyny, Classism, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship

selenatothemax's review

dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Infidelity, Infertility, Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Death of parent, Death, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Grief, Abortion, and Child abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Classism

Minor: Vomit

becca_w_'s review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Child death, Classism, Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Violence, Medical trauma, Police brutality, and Vomit

Minor: Abandonment

pipcorn's review

mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Classism

Minor: Pedophilia and Adult/minor relationship

kbairbooks's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I swear I have been reading so many dark books recently and it’s messing with me a little bit so I’m gonna try and pick up some lighter things for a little bit to lift me out of this mood. This story was told from three different perspectives and had three different narrators and I enjoyed that it was a dark feminist dual timeline story about betrayal and murder and coming to terms with Feelings and the important things in life and the people that matter but also damn that plot twist at the end

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Gaslighting, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Gore, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Abortion, Blood, and Infidelity

Moderate: Classism, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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

Excellent! I loved the dual timeline. In the present, a woman recovering from a painful life shock stumbles upon an unexpected history mystery. In the past, a woman dealing in poisons to help women lives out said history mystery. Definitely not my usual kind of book, but I’m glad I read it. Content warnings for infidelity, poisoning, miscarriage, sexual assault, suicide, and death.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Murder, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Death, Infidelity, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, and Medical content

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Classism

Poisoning, death of a spouse