Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

149 reviews

amcginger's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Grief, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Death, and Infidelity

reka111's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

First, there was trust. Then, there was betrayal. You cannot have one without the other. 

Honestly, even though this book used to be a DNF for me, I liked it immensely now. It was so lifelike, and I would even say modern, in a word, brilliantly written. 

The characters were lovable, each in their own way (well, except for James, he was more of a toxicer) little Eliza was a staple of my heart, but Nella was still my favourite. The tremendous helpfulness, acceptance, and struggle that burned within her was extremely inspiring.

Although the plot ran on two time threads, it was not confusing, the events followed each other nicely, it was understandable and simple. Basically, it took place over a few days (both modern and past) so I think the time was right. I really liked the wording, it was a bit like reading a diary, and even the first-person POV didn't bother me. The end was closed nicely, albeit slightly open. 

Overall, I really liked it and recommend it to anyone who loves history and poisons, but doesn't want anything big.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Death

Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, Sexual assault, and Grief

booking_along's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Blood, Murder, Vomit, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

ahoijules's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

2.0

Eine gute Idee, die leider nicht gut umgesetzt wurde. 

Ich empfand das Buch als furchtbar langatmig mit vielen Beschreibungen und Erklärungen, die nicht nötig gewesen wären, um das Buch zu verstehen. Ich hatte Probleme mit den Protagonistinnen warm zu werden und fand keine so richtig spannend. Auch dauerte es bis gut zwei Drittel des Buchs bis die Handlung langsam an Fahrt aufgenommen hat. 

Das Ende fand ich furchtbar kitschig, die letzten 25 Minuten des Hörbuchs habe ich auf 1,5-facher Geschwindigkeit gehört, damit es endlich zu einem Ende kommt. Es stört mich außerdem wahnsinnig, dass so getan wird, als könnte man sich mal ganz easy in Cambridge immatrikulieren 😂 ich bin außerdem ziemlich sicher, dass die Masterarbeit thematisch nicht in die Anglistik gehört 😅

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Death, and Infertility

junglejelly's review

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

2.5

At first this book got me hooked and I adored the writing, especially the how the characters were written. However, the writing was too cliché and repetitive for me.

Someone of the writing near the end was a bit clumsy and the characters stereotypical. But Penner knows exactly how to write mysteriously and have you hooked, I needed to know what happened to the two 18th century characters, and this alone is what kept me reading.

Overall a below average book for me hence the rating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Vomit

Moderate: Infidelity, Death, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage

Minor: Alcoholism, Grief, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Sexual assault

bambifaun's review

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Grief, and Medical content

Moderate: Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, and Miscarriage

Minor: Pregnancy, Abortion, Blood, Death, Grief, and Murder

mattiedancer's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Writing: 3⭐️/5 

The writing was fine, adequate, presentable. A few times Penner had some really stunning lines, but mostly the writing did what needed to be done without too much flare or finesse. A lot of sections for backstory were lengthy, giving us a bit of information by flashback and then overexplaining the emotions of the situation. But overall the writing did enough to not get in the way.

Characters: 3.5⭐️/5

I think the characters in the historical sections were much more fascinating than our modern-day protagonist. While I appreciated that Caroline had a lot going on, I also felt like her half-telling of the story made me lose a bit of interest in what was going on. I loved her research-heavy mind, but it felt stunningly unbelievable the way in which she pursued her research so easily after so long. And, while the characters were interesting, they felt a bit surface at times, almost as though we never got a true glimpse of their whole beings.

Plot: 3⭐️/5 

Okay, so the concept? Super cool. The execution? Maybe that’s where I got lost. I loved everything about the apothecary. I even loved the slow unravelling of clues from Caroline’s side, but I also felt like that was the only thing that felt super fleshed out. All the details in the novel felt muddled, as though they were unclear and unformed. I also think that the end kind of undid some of the feminist points made throughout the novel, leaving kind of a sour taste in my mouth at the end.

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of historical books that have a split POV with modern perspective
• Someone looking for a cool concept over everything else
• Fans of witchy history who are looking for an easy read

Content Warnings? 

• Pregnancy, adultery, murder, sexism, misogyny, rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, violence, abuse, child abuse, child death, death, death of parent, self-harm, suicide, suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts, terminal illness, poison, gun violence, medical trauma, classism, injury, injury detail, fire, pedophilia, incest, infertility 

Post-Reading Rating:  2.75⭐️/5

I just… wanted more? I liked the concept so much but I think everything else fell pretty flat.

Final Rating: 3⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Infertility, Violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Self harm, Child death, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Blood, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

jkohls's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

I think this was a very easy read. I found the book grabbed my interest very early. I sometimes struggle with the flashback books but I got into the grove with this one quickly.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Murder, Grief, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Chronic illness, Incest, Infidelity, Child abuse, Violence, Child death, Medical content, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Rape

aimeemg155's review

emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Grief, Murder, Drug use, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

lizzie_beth98's review

dark emotional informative mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Infertility, Child death, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Murder