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A review by rubeusbeaky
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
2.0
A B movie of a book. It had... something: Some sympathetic characters, some psychology, some intrigue, some themes...
But mostly, it had a lot of people acting /dumbly/!
Exhibit A) Why, if you are a purveyor of poisons, do you keep a ledger of your victims AND their assailants?! And WHY do you sometimes, wisely, traffic your poisons in discreet vessels, like eggs, and other times in completely traceable and obvious vessels, like bright bottles with bear logos on them? And why do you think your shop is safer hidden behind an empty room, than in plain sight as a NORMAL apothecary, medicines and more dangerous mixtures shelved side-by-side, or one in the front room and one in the back - either way, it's easier to claim client ignorance and overdose if you pretend you intended medicinal help only, than it is to explain why you're fleeing from your little shop of horrors!
Exhibit B) Why, after learning that your husband is having an affair and simultaneously trying to knock you up, do you blame /yourself/ for being too boring?! Why do you decide that the solution to your marital strife is to invent and then solve a 200 year old murder mystery, which - if the conspiracy exists, and you're not just reading too much into finding a bottle in a river - was probably already solved years ago, but the documents relevant to the case aren't digitized (exactly like your librarian friend says!). WHY, when doing your own amateur Google sleuthing, do you take notes, but the WORST, most useless notes possible, like, "How much poison required to murder someone?" and "List of poisons: Arsenic?" OBVIOUSLY, you will get caught and look loopy!
Exhibit C) Why did you jump in a river?! That river is polluted! That river has a bridge over it; cross it! Nobody, in either timeline, should be getting in that river!
Okay, rants about characters' choices aside, I found the book boring at times. It suffered from redundancies. The various characters in both timelines repeat and explain, almost verbatim, events to each other, stalling the pace of the book. Often, discoveries are made in Pride & Prejudice fashion, i.e. letters, newspapers, PRINT of some kind... Don't know if writers know this... But reading about someone else's Google search history is NOT riveting.
Other times, I found the book upsetting because it didn't have a universal message. The great takeaway is that the relationships between women can be profound and immeasurable... But the women in this book, besides discussing the INORDINATE number of cheating husbands, discuss mundane or pretty typical things: Hey, I got my period. Hey, I want a baby. Hey, my arthritis is acting up, can /you/ make the tea? I found the relationships realistic, but I guess... alienating to a reader. What would a male reader get out of this book? What would a woman who has suffered trauma, or felt repressed, or felt /alone/, get out of this book? Who is this book for? Yeah, certainly there are readers who have been through a rough marriage, or the loss of a baby, or a handsy employer, who might identify with one of the characters... but I don't feel like enough catharsis comes from following these characters around. I didn't cry for understanding them, I just sort of sighed and shrugged and said, "That's rough. We've all got our problems." Some emotional punch was missing from this book, despite its adult subject matter.
In the words of another hissy individual, "I confess myself disappointed."
But mostly, it had a lot of people acting /dumbly/!
Exhibit A) Why, if you are a purveyor of poisons, do you keep a ledger of your victims AND their assailants?! And WHY do you sometimes, wisely, traffic your poisons in discreet vessels, like eggs, and other times in completely traceable and obvious vessels, like bright bottles with bear logos on them? And why do you think your shop is safer hidden behind an empty room, than in plain sight as a NORMAL apothecary, medicines and more dangerous mixtures shelved side-by-side, or one in the front room and one in the back - either way, it's easier to claim client ignorance and overdose if you pretend you intended medicinal help only, than it is to explain why you're fleeing from your little shop of horrors!
Exhibit B) Why, after learning that your husband is having an affair and simultaneously trying to knock you up, do you blame /yourself/ for being too boring?! Why do you decide that the solution to your marital strife is to invent and then solve a 200 year old murder mystery, which - if the conspiracy exists, and you're not just reading too much into finding a bottle in a river - was probably already solved years ago, but the documents relevant to the case aren't digitized (exactly like your librarian friend says!). WHY, when doing your own amateur Google sleuthing, do you take notes, but the WORST, most useless notes possible, like, "How much poison required to murder someone?" and "List of poisons: Arsenic?" OBVIOUSLY, you will get caught and look loopy!
Exhibit C) Why did you jump in a river?! That river is polluted! That river has a bridge over it; cross it! Nobody, in either timeline, should be getting in that river!
Okay, rants about characters' choices aside, I found the book boring at times. It suffered from redundancies. The various characters in both timelines repeat and explain, almost verbatim, events to each other, stalling the pace of the book. Often, discoveries are made in Pride & Prejudice fashion, i.e. letters, newspapers, PRINT of some kind... Don't know if writers know this... But reading about someone else's Google search history is NOT riveting.
Other times, I found the book upsetting because it didn't have a universal message. The great takeaway is that the relationships between women can be profound and immeasurable... But the women in this book, besides discussing the INORDINATE number of cheating husbands, discuss mundane or pretty typical things: Hey, I got my period. Hey, I want a baby. Hey, my arthritis is acting up, can /you/ make the tea? I found the relationships realistic, but I guess... alienating to a reader. What would a male reader get out of this book? What would a woman who has suffered trauma, or felt repressed, or felt /alone/, get out of this book? Who is this book for? Yeah, certainly there are readers who have been through a rough marriage, or the loss of a baby, or a handsy employer, who might identify with one of the characters... but I don't feel like enough catharsis comes from following these characters around. I didn't cry for understanding them, I just sort of sighed and shrugged and said, "That's rough. We've all got our problems." Some emotional punch was missing from this book, despite its adult subject matter.
In the words of another hissy individual, "I confess myself disappointed."