Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

32 reviews

enlamont's review

hopeful inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Grief, Pregnancy, and Murder

Moderate: Medical content, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Vomit, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Terminal illness, and Suicide

asanders88's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Suicide, Death of parent, Infertility, Medical trauma, Child death, Infidelity, and Death

julbel's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Abortion, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Murder, Suicide, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Infidelity, and Infertility

Moderate: Pedophilia

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

taylortome's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

A lovely little story about an apothecary turned deadly and it’s *downfall*. This story is more than what it seems. It is a journey for all characters as they discover themselves and their truths. It is written with multiple POV throughout different timelines. It is cohesive and concise and comes together well in the end. I did find it difficult to identify with and love the characters, though I understood the meaning of taking one’s own journey to discover themselves and what they truly find fulfilling in their lives. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity and Miscarriage

Minor: Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Child death, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship

meenakshisathish's review

dark inspiring mysterious tense 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Murder, Grief, and Miscarriage

lyfeistrip's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, Emotional abuse, Abortion, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Infertility, Incest, Domestic abuse, Child death, Cancer, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Vomit, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, and Death

gummifrog's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

I'm glad I listened to this book on audio because I think I would have struggled reading it physically. I loved the historic portion of this book, I enjoyed the characters of Nella and Eliza and I wanted to see more of them. 

I actually felt the modern day story was enjoyable if you consider that Caroline was meant to be the overall protagonist of the book - her life and journey is shaped by the joy of discovery based on this one tiny piece of history. It's about the idea that even the smallest thing can have an impact on someone hundreds of years from now, that our legacy ripples through time in ways we can't predict.

That being said, I have never wanted a character to leave her husband more quickly. Caroline and Gaynor are my ultimate OTP from this book, you can't change my mind.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Infidelity, Pedophilia, and Murder

Minor: Infertility and Medical trauma

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

robin_reads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

This book is about Caroline in present times finding a remnant of an apothecary from two hundred years ago. She pieces together the history during her stay in London, while her own life is being turned upside down. 
The second POV is of the apothecary, Nella, in 1791 and how she is running her shop and how a 12-year-old girl changes everything.

It was slow to get into but once it did, I was hooked. I loved to learn what really happened in 1791 vs. what Caroline thinks has happened. 
I think I know why so many people didn’t like it because it’s focused on a rather unpopular trope for a while. 
The audiobook was lovely to listen to. The different characters and timelines were easily distinguished. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Vomit, Terminal illness, and Suicidal thoughts