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headachesince03's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, War, Deportation, Body horror, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Alcohol, Police brutality, Torture, and Gaslighting
celsius273's review against another edition
4.0
Quick, fun, but definitely not a throwaway read! The Apothecary hits all of my reading and real life interests: chemistry, Latin, teenage sleuthing, and general badassery balanced with entertaining characters. Really, quite nice.
Jane (Janie) is perfectly content with her life in LA, but it’s 1952 and McCarthyism is in full effect. Her parents are being monitered for communist sentiments and in order to get away from the constant scrutiny, they decide to move to London - without discussing with Janie first. She’s 14 years old, just getting into high school and this news obviously distresses her. This is the first point of this book that I quite enjoyed: how the new school experience was convincingly portrayed. She hates everything at first: the awful uniform, the lack of butter, learning Latin and more ofc, but then she befriends Benjamin Burrows, the son of the apothecary, and an aspiring spy.
Benjamin hates everything about becoming an apothecary He thinks it’s boring, useless, and - being a teenager - is also annoyed that he is following his father into the business. Turns out though, that the life of an apothecary isn’t as drab as he thinks of it and he and Janie are quickly thrown into a whirlwind of revelations when they find his father conversing with Soviet immigrants, and then mysteriously disappearing. The book then dives straight into the secret world of alchemy, and suddenly Benjamin isn’t so turned off by the prospect of becoming and apothecary! See it turns out there’s this magical alchemy book that Benjamin’s father has and is coveted by a lot of nasty people. It’s up to Benjamin, Janie, and their allies to keep it safe from Soviets, ex-Nazis, anyone who would want to use it for harm.
See, doesn’t it sound so fun already? I love it when alchemy is the basis of magic in a book like in bloodlines - and my go to harry potter class is obviously potions! And this book is packed with fun stuff. There are invisibility baths that require melting down an ounce of gold, elixirs that turn people into birds or salt, distillations that force anyone who inhales the vapors to state only the truth, and way way more. There are magical plants, moon cycle timed rituals, but also magic that is woven in with chemistry, biology, and all sorts of other sciences. Love love love this part of the book!
Janie and Benjamin end up teaming with another boy, Pip who is a pickpocket but has a heart of gold, when they are all forced to turn into birds to escape a deranged Latin teacher chasing them down at juvie. They also meet up with Jin Lo, a chinese chemist who has been working with Benjamin’s father, and is herself also an accomplished alchemist producing copious amounts of orange smoke from a vial in order to escape from captivity and in general helping the children with their alchemical projects. She was my favorite character of the whole book probably. A no nonsense attitude and dry humor combined with general amazingness - what’s not to admire!
Around the half-way point, I remember being really frustrated with Janie - hence the four stars - but it isn’t really memorable. On the whole, this book was jam packed with stuff, really really fast paced and I never once got bored. The characters are awesome, the concept fascinating, and the plot moving. The one part I’m apparently missing out on are the illustrations. Based on how nicely done the cover is, I’m not really sure how much this would have affected my reading, but the audiobook was fantastic anyways. Now if only I could find the second book on overdrive...
Jane (Janie) is perfectly content with her life in LA, but it’s 1952 and McCarthyism is in full effect. Her parents are being monitered for communist sentiments and in order to get away from the constant scrutiny, they decide to move to London - without discussing with Janie first. She’s 14 years old, just getting into high school and this news obviously distresses her. This is the first point of this book that I quite enjoyed: how the new school experience was convincingly portrayed. She hates everything at first: the awful uniform, the lack of butter, learning Latin and more ofc, but then she befriends Benjamin Burrows, the son of the apothecary, and an aspiring spy.
Benjamin hates everything about becoming an apothecary He thinks it’s boring, useless, and - being a teenager - is also annoyed that he is following his father into the business. Turns out though, that the life of an apothecary isn’t as drab as he thinks of it and he and Janie are quickly thrown into a whirlwind of revelations when they find his father conversing with Soviet immigrants, and then mysteriously disappearing. The book then dives straight into the secret world of alchemy, and suddenly Benjamin isn’t so turned off by the prospect of becoming and apothecary! See it turns out there’s this magical alchemy book that Benjamin’s father has and is coveted by a lot of nasty people. It’s up to Benjamin, Janie, and their allies to keep it safe from Soviets, ex-Nazis, anyone who would want to use it for harm.
See, doesn’t it sound so fun already? I love it when alchemy is the basis of magic in a book like in bloodlines - and my go to harry potter class is obviously potions! And this book is packed with fun stuff. There are invisibility baths that require melting down an ounce of gold, elixirs that turn people into birds or salt, distillations that force anyone who inhales the vapors to state only the truth, and way way more. There are magical plants, moon cycle timed rituals, but also magic that is woven in with chemistry, biology, and all sorts of other sciences. Love love love this part of the book!
Janie and Benjamin end up teaming with another boy, Pip who is a pickpocket but has a heart of gold, when they are all forced to turn into birds to escape a deranged Latin teacher chasing them down at juvie. They also meet up with Jin Lo, a chinese chemist who has been working with Benjamin’s father, and is herself also an accomplished alchemist producing copious amounts of orange smoke from a vial in order to escape from captivity and in general helping the children with their alchemical projects. She was my favorite character of the whole book probably. A no nonsense attitude and dry humor combined with general amazingness - what’s not to admire!
Around the half-way point, I remember being really frustrated with Janie - hence the four stars - but it isn’t really memorable. On the whole, this book was jam packed with stuff, really really fast paced and I never once got bored. The characters are awesome, the concept fascinating, and the plot moving. The one part I’m apparently missing out on are the illustrations. Based on how nicely done the cover is, I’m not really sure how much this would have affected my reading, but the audiobook was fantastic anyways. Now if only I could find the second book on overdrive...
booksnorkel's review against another edition
4.0
This is not a book I thought that I was going to like. I typically don’t read books set in the ‘cold war’ time line and I can’t decide if it’s because there aren’t that many out there, or if it’s because it just doesn’t interest me? I’m wondering if this is just a weird blind spot in teen and children’s fiction.
Set at the beginning of the cold war Janie’s parents are accused of being communist, so they have to move from sunny California to gray cold England. An England that is still recovering from WWII, an England that still has rationing and bomb drills. Janie already sticks out as an American but now she sticks out because she becomes friend with the Alchemist’s son Ben. The two of them get caught up in a mystery involving a foreign diplomat, spies for the communists, and magic. This touch of the fantastic you know is what sold me on this series . Not to say this novel didn’t fall into some of the tired old tropes, we have a plucky orphan who charms a rich debutante, and an elixir for almost every plot hole. Still fun and entertaining, and well written, this book was a surprise hit for me.
Ages 6th grade on up looking for a historical fiction book with a touch of magic, and mystery. Though writing this out does make me question who exactly this book is for, again not a well-represented time in history, and I don’t know of many kids who are looking for this era. Though it was pointed out to me that this is a Meloy so this author is related to the Decemberists, who infamously has the Wildwood book (hipster Narnia) so perhaps it is now less of a surprise that this was set in such a strange era for a kids series.
Got this at a library book sale, and will keep an eye out for the rest of the series, but I don't think this is one that I will be buying new.
Set at the beginning of the cold war Janie’s parents are accused of being communist, so they have to move from sunny California to gray cold England. An England that is still recovering from WWII, an England that still has rationing and bomb drills. Janie already sticks out as an American but now she sticks out because she becomes friend with the Alchemist’s son Ben. The two of them get caught up in a mystery involving a foreign diplomat, spies for the communists, and magic. This touch of the fantastic you know is what sold me on this series . Not to say this novel didn’t fall into some of the tired old tropes, we have a plucky orphan who charms a rich debutante, and an elixir for almost every plot hole. Still fun and entertaining, and well written, this book was a surprise hit for me.
Ages 6th grade on up looking for a historical fiction book with a touch of magic, and mystery. Though writing this out does make me question who exactly this book is for, again not a well-represented time in history, and I don’t know of many kids who are looking for this era. Though it was pointed out to me that this is a Meloy so this author is related to the Decemberists, who infamously has the Wildwood book (hipster Narnia) so perhaps it is now less of a surprise that this was set in such a strange era for a kids series.
Got this at a library book sale, and will keep an eye out for the rest of the series, but I don't think this is one that I will be buying new.
mkean's review against another edition
4.0
I suppose I should review this book in relation to its target audience. I am not the target audience. I'm not middle school/ young adult range, so this wasn't up to its usual snuff for me. BUT, that being said, I would definitely reccomend this to someone younger. It tackles tough topics like the cold war and the atomic bomb, without hiding all the bad bits but also without being too dire. It is well-written and interesting, although not as hardcore as I usually go for. The illustrations are super cute though, and make the story much more homey!
bookerage's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
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
4.5
I bought the apothecary by accident when I meant to put the lost apothecary in my cart, and I'm glad I did! This was worth the read. A light-hearted story, great in between "heavier" reads. Characters are adorable and the story fast paced.
lindasdarby's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. I can't wait for my girls to read it. It was fu n from beginning to end.
mercies's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
emilybriano's review against another edition
4.0
This was such a fun book! I really enjoyed the setting (California and London in the 1950's) and the characters really drew me in. The illustrations by Ian Shoenherr really took the book to the next level. I look forward to more about Janie and Benjamin.