Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - The Lost Apothecary

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

176 reviews

sarahbryant717's review

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.

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asanders88's review

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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!

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avasbookmark's review

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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acasiamae's review

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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

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bleach226's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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evaporeon's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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julbel's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

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beebats's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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browsingthebooks's review

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3.5

This book was a solid four stars for me right up until the end. I enjoyed each of the three narratives and the tiny sprinkling of magic.

I found it really frustrating that she threw away the vial and didn’t tell the world about Eliza. Half of Nella’s goal was to keep these women’s names in history. So what was the point of hiding the last one she went to pains to record?

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abigailhaagen's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

This book felt like it couldn't decide what tone it wanted to go with, so it threw in a bit of everything. Sad, dark, lighthearted, contemporary, historical... and the characters didn't seem particularly fleshed out either. I didn't root for anyone except Eliza. And nobody had a strong moral code in this book; characters seemed to switch between being ok with crime and not ok with it, without any particular reason. The writing was also mid; lots of telling instead of showing. And I don't think this book is particularly historically accurate, based on other readings about the 18th century I've done. But it wasn't awful to read, and I liked the premise of the poisonous apothecary. So not a bad book, but not a great one either.

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