Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

59 reviews

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.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Abortion

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

jeaniedew's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I picked this up because it was marked as fantasy… I suppose some might consider it such, but because of the way that it’s written and the time period that it’s in and how vague everything is, it’s more like science that they just didn’t understand at the time so they called it magic. I personally would not consider this fantasy at all.

Aside from that, there wasn’t really much character development or plot development… A pretty dry, boring story, all told. Pretty sure people like this for the pretty cover more than anything.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Gaslighting

ambb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Infertility, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia

Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit, Terminal illness, Animal death, Blood, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty

juliaximena's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Murder, Child death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Grief, and Infertility

Moderate: Vomit, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

booksbyantheia's review

emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

AMAMOS.

Tres mujeres, secretos, salvación a través de la historia y PLANTITAS.

(Reseña en construcción)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Pregnancy, Murder, Misogyny, Medical content, and Miscarriage

Mentions of poisoning.

readwithria's review against another edition

mysterious medium-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

3.75

The Lost Apothecary kept me reading, but didn’t keep me guessing.

I read this book pretty quickly, and while I thought the concept was executed well I don’t think it was the book for me.

Things I Liked
- I really enjoyed the 1791 timeline. I think that Nella and Eliza were an unlikely pair, and their relationship was weird and lovely. 
- Caroline’s growth throughout the book was quite refreshing! I wasn’t surprised by her decision at the end of the book at all, but I was very glad she made them!
- it was so easy to dislike James! Very much fit with the men-are-trash theme

Things I Wosh Were Different
- I think the present day timeline was a bit cheesy at times, which made it difficult to connect with Caroline. 
- Again in the present day timeline, the secondary characters lacked depth that I wish had been there. I know it’s a short timeline, but it easily could have been extended by a day or two to make some of the relationships deeper. 
- Caroline was a little too in her head about her secrets. I know it was a theme of the book, but her internal struggle was a bit heavy handed for my taste. 

Overall, this was a good book that I would recommend to folks who I’m enjoy historical fiction and mystery novels. 3.75 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Infertility, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Infidelity

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

readbycarina's review

adventurous reflective slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Medical content, and Murder

buckaroo97's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Infertility, and Vomit

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