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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
Didn’t finish it. Got a few chapters in and realized I didn’t care about it at all. Decided not to waste any more time on it. Moving on to something else!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ .5 out of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Set in Paris/London in the late 1800’s Lenna Wickes is looking for answers in the unsolved murder of her sister. Knowing her sister was involved with spiritualism and seances, Lenna begins to study the art of mediumship under famed medium Vaudeline D’Allaire, a personal hero for Lenna’s sister. When Vaudeline is called to London to perform a seance of her own to help the London Seance Society solve the murder of their CEO, Lenna joins hoping to kill two birds with one stone to also solve the murder of her sister.
Penner took all the best aspects of the Lost Apothecary (aka the stories set in Victorian-ish era Europe with strong female characters and super dark atmospheric settings) and turned it up a few notches with this one. I loved the spookiness behind the story… and more importantly, I am a big fan of our two main heroines, Lenna and Vaudeline. I loved that they had such starkly opposite approaches to spiritualism (and life, I suppose) and yet they balanced each other out so well.
The only critique I had revolved around the final seance around the major climax of the book. I was kinda taken out of the story a little while reading because parts of that final seance came off as slightly chaotic and a little TOO fantastical/unrealistic for my liking. I totally get that the entire book was leading up to something big, but I personally just felt that, FOR ME, final seance scenes just crossed that uncanny valley.
REGARDLESS — and I may be treading into spoiler territory but, yolo. I am a FAN of unexpected LGBT/WLW storylines and was PLEASANTLY surprised that our two heroines ended up romantically together. (thank you for that lil nugget.)
Final thoughts: if you loved the parts of The Lost Apothecary that took place in the actual Apothecary, you’ll love this one. (Lost Apothecary was my favorite read of 2021 — if that helps sway your decision at all!)
Set in Paris/London in the late 1800’s Lenna Wickes is looking for answers in the unsolved murder of her sister. Knowing her sister was involved with spiritualism and seances, Lenna begins to study the art of mediumship under famed medium Vaudeline D’Allaire, a personal hero for Lenna’s sister. When Vaudeline is called to London to perform a seance of her own to help the London Seance Society solve the murder of their CEO, Lenna joins hoping to kill two birds with one stone to also solve the murder of her sister.
Penner took all the best aspects of the Lost Apothecary (aka the stories set in Victorian-ish era Europe with strong female characters and super dark atmospheric settings) and turned it up a few notches with this one. I loved the spookiness behind the story… and more importantly, I am a big fan of our two main heroines, Lenna and Vaudeline. I loved that they had such starkly opposite approaches to spiritualism (and life, I suppose) and yet they balanced each other out so well.
The only critique I had revolved around the final seance around the major climax of the book. I was kinda taken out of the story a little while reading because parts of that final seance came off as slightly chaotic and a little TOO fantastical/unrealistic for my liking. I totally get that the entire book was leading up to something big, but I personally just felt that, FOR ME, final seance scenes just crossed that uncanny valley.
REGARDLESS — and I may be treading into spoiler territory but, yolo. I am a FAN of unexpected LGBT/WLW storylines and was PLEASANTLY surprised that our two heroines ended up romantically together. (thank you for that lil nugget.)
Final thoughts: if you loved the parts of The Lost Apothecary that took place in the actual Apothecary, you’ll love this one. (Lost Apothecary was my favorite read of 2021 — if that helps sway your decision at all!)
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
3.5 - I found this story to be much more compelling than The Lost Apothecary and I liked the premise a lot. The back 3rd made the read totally worth it but I think there’s just part of the writing style that feels a little juvenile at times.
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
just wow
Amazing, gripping and raw. I did not know what to expect as I was reading along. I was very pleased with everything in this book including the love between two person.
Amazing, gripping and raw. I did not know what to expect as I was reading along. I was very pleased with everything in this book including the love between two person.
This book is perfection!! 1800s women , spooky ghosts, crime/murder mystery, and lesbian romance. I couldn’t ask for more , this book has it all.
Note that there are some NSFW moments for those wondering if their preteen should read it.
Note that there are some NSFW moments for those wondering if their preteen should read it.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes