A review by blkbltchic
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.5

It was a pretty middling book. Good for listening to while going to bed since you don't miss much if you pass out before the timer for the audio book cuts off. I was super interested by the premise and there were definitely moments when it followed through but not as interesting as it could have been.

I could have done with the 12 year old's pov. I found her obnoxious and her viewpoint not instrumental for the plot. I feel like it would have been more poignant if the necessary bits and pieces were uncovered by Nella. 

I agree with the very desperate mentions of marriage and childbearing just that, desperate. 

As far as the ending I found it overall very weak. The fight with her shitty finance bro husband at the hospital should have ultimately happened sooner and the author should have been less afraid of fleshing out the relationship between our modern pov and the cartographer/historian lady. Hell, even potentially bringing romance into the equation. What I thought was the absolute worst though, and maybe I'm biased from not liking this character to begin with, is not letting the one actually dark choice lie. The kid should have died. Period. End of story. Literally ruined what was left of Nella's life and jumped off a bridge into a freezing river. The potion she had before was a contrivance. Like why?

Anyway...I don't know if I'll be thinking about this book much now that I've finished it.