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robin_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
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.
Graphic: Infertility, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Vomit, Terminal illness, and Suicidal thoughts
anewton's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Murder, Abortion, and Vomit
Moderate: Sexual assault, Death, Sexual harassment, and Death of parent
michaela_reads_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The way that Penner weaves together the 3 different POVs and 2 different centuries is amazing and slowly piecing together all of what happened with this Apothecary in the 1790s.
This is just a beautiful fun book about unraveling a mystery in history, about self discovery, and friendship. And you get to read about some women taking down some bad men while you’re at it. I also thought I could see how this was going to end, but I was wrong! It was very exciting and kept me hooked from the first page to the last.
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Infertility, Medical content, and Miscarriage
Minor: Blood, Vomit, and Death of parent
lemonwrlds's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
2.5
Minor: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Child abuse, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Suicide
sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
The premise of this sounds so riveting but the execution just fell flat, the beginning and the end really dragged on. It was very boring. The cover of the book is also very beautiful, but this book is just not very exciting.
I finished this in two days because I wanted to finish the book in time for book club but I didn't like this very much. I read the whole thing because everyone kept praising this book and I thought to myself, "there has to be some reveal at the end that makes the boring parts of this book, worth the read." There was a reveal of sorts at the end but it wasn't good enough to warrant the book to drag on as long as it did. I really had high hopes for this one, I usually love historical fiction.
⭐️⭐️ 1.5/5 Stars
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual assault
lottieisobella's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
5.0
Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, and Suicide
Minor: Death of parent
amplawrence's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Sexual assault and Pedophilia
blissofalife's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Murder
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Body horror, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Suicide
vanesst's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Infidelity, Death of parent, Murder, Suicide, Death, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, and Grief
Moderate: Infertility, Classism, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Child death, and Chronic illness
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Medical content
cpachet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Eliza felt too old sometimes and too young other times. Caroline’s husband is absolute trash. Nella had so much power, yet hid away and didn’t capitalize on it.
Hated the ending in a way because (and history is my profession) I question the ethics and purpose of Caroline keeping “her” discovery to herself. That’s the opposite of what Nella and her mother recorded their work for!
Moderate: Sexual assault, Murder, Vomit, Blood, Miscarriage, Infidelity, and Death of parent