Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

152 reviews

chanlo1994's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I've never had a book cause me so much anxiety before (for the character). So relatable, both in the realistic elements and mystical ones. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Abortion, Blood, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Grief, Suicide, Murder, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Vomit, Pedophilia, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual assault

campredwood's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Infidelity, Murder, and Grief

bluebellfallen's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.25

This book felt like a lot of ideas of story lines or plots that an author brainstormed, added a page count to, and then published without any further thought. The characters are deeply rooted in sexism and patriarchy, even though the author seems to imply this is a feminist, women-empowering kind of novel. It isn't. 

Every single plot is centered around women wanting children and whether or not they have them and how that ruins or fulfills their lives after. Every single one. All of them. (I don't get it)

There are so many flaws (and I have so few spoons right now) that I will just say - it wasn't a good book, and it certainly wasn't the right kind of bad to be worth reading. 75% or more of the book crawled by, while the last 25% did all the heavy lifting in the most annoying, James Patterson writes chapters that are max 2 pages long and then jumps perspectives / scenes entirely to keep the tension up and he inspired me - esque way. 

It just wasn't (in any way) worth my time, but because it's so mildly written and the author tries to hide behind "dark murder mystery" vibes to get away with a lot of shitty things (and the book isn't even a dark murder mystery btw - that's just the vibes she's going for), it would also be so very easy to just think "wow, that book was mid, but I wouldn't mind recommending the book if someone is bored or something", and then accidentally pass on, perpetuate, and re-normalize things like baby-obsession and "casual" emotional and mental manipulation at the hands of a spouse (which - if you know, you *know*).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Self harm, and Infidelity

The husband thing, for if you don't know, want to know, but don't want to read the book:

The husband literally poisons himself to try and manipulate Caroline into staying with him after he cheated on her (you know, instead of apologizing). The police think she tried to kill him herself on purpose, and she is almost arrested because of it (and honestly, she should have been - that whole scene is also b.s., and is beYOND unrealistic). When she figures this out, she is briefly a little bit angry, but otherwise? Nothing. They part ways on relatively okay terms (they're not getting back together, but they're chill somehow??), she never tells the police what actually happened, and the author makes it very clear that they think this behavior was normal and fine. Not even ONCE does the author even beGIN to imply that this man needs help or that he's abusive (and yes, two things can be true at once - he needs help for this obvious mental health crisis, AND he's an emotionally and mentally abusive f*ck).

_wilhelmine_'s review against another edition

adventurous mysterious relaxing 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Infertility, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Vomit, Pedophilia, and Suicide attempt

a_novel_craving's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Abortion, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Medical content, Grief, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, and Murder

mairi99's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Miscarriage

Minor: Medical content, Sexual harassment, and Vomit

stormeno's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Death

singingshooter'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

3.0

Okay, had a hard time loving/rooting for these characters

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Infidelity

Minor: Murder, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Grief, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts

enlamont's review against another edition

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

chainsawheartbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

“You are not searching for a thing so much as you are searching for an inconsistency of things, or an absence”.

A gorgeously written feminist tale set in two different eras; 1871 and 2021, and I truly found myself in love with both eras of the story. 

Starting with 1871, the characters are so rich, you want to know more about them and I was sat at the edge of my seat throughout the latter half of their story.

Then we have 2021, which I struggled to get into at first, but as soon as Caroline found herself enamoured with the lost apothecary I was sold, and I kept wanting to tell her everything I knew about the past events to aid her discoveries.

Suffice it to say, I really enjoyed this book. It warmed my heart, and it was wonderful seeing how two stories, set decades apart, intertwined…and I’m not ashamed to say I shed a tear when I finished this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Vomit, Suicide, Miscarriage, Death, Infertility, Death of parent, and Grief