Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - The Lost Apothecary

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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an_a_list_alias's review

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hopeful 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? Yes

3.0

Interesting premise and easy read, could be a tad faster at times. I believe the POV of the twelve year old could have been written better, too much telling (I.e 'in my TWELVE years of life...') instead of showing (acting or thinking like someone of that age).

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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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eberlin's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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theinkwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

An enjoyable time while I was reading it, but not an all-time fave.

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pansypantaloons's review

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emotional inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing 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? Yes

4.25

Enjoyable and relatable story. Loved all the female characters and their relationships with each other

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mattiedancer's review against another edition

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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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whatthekatdraggedin's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

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