Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

56 reviews

robotmermaid's review

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia

rodiemom's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective fast-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

This book has a split timeline with multiple narrators.  The author does a great job of weaving the 2 storylines together, using first person perspective for multiple characters, but it could definitely be confusing if you have a hard time keeping that straight. I enjoy the split timeline and didn’t have difficulty figuring out where and when I was, even in audio because the present narrator has an American accent and the past tense narrators have British accents. All 3 narrators are fantastic.   The theme of women protecting and helping one another was powerful throughout the story  incredibly engaging. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage and Murder

Minor: Child abuse

lemonwrlds's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Child abuse, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Suicide

amplawrence's review

slow-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

1.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Sexual assault and Pedophilia

trisarahtopps06's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Abortion

Minor: Child abuse and Rape

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Child death, Incest, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Death of parent, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Vomit

Rape warning is just in case - for use of an aphrodisiac poison, the intent of which can be considered a form of rape by deception. Also includes descriptions of menstruation.

erikalv97's review

mysterious medium-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? Yes

3.5

I was really excited to read this book, so I had high hopes for it, while it wasn’t exactly what I expected, it was not a bad read.

I don’t particularly enjoyed the “present” story, but I enjoyed the eighteenth century one. 

Overall, it’s a book with a great concept and it had some plot twists that surprised me

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

msbarnesela's review

mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

The concept of historical women using knowledge that men ignored to take charge of their own lives is a cool idea. But this book didn’t live up to that.  I didn’t find the characters compelling because none of them were developed enough for me to care. Their backstories were almost immediately revealed through exposition—there wasn’t enough effort in the unraveling of it for it to be satisfying. The plot felt too convenient; the modern main character’s research process was too easy. The author seemed to intend a big twist for in one place that I was totally unsurprised by. I read the whole thing in an afternoon, so at least it wasn’t a slog, but it just didn’t achieve what I hoped it would be.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Abortion

Minor: Vomit, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Gaslighting

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

---

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

stephaniepk15's review

challenging dark informative mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Murder, Miscarriage, Child abuse, and Suicide