Review by emmalaure - The Lost Apothecary

emmalaure 's review for:

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

3.0

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I borrowed this book from my library as an audiobook to accompany me while moving apartments. It did the job! It had an interesting story, but at the same time was not too complicated that if I had to bring my attention elsewhere for a minute or two, I never really missed anything. Had I not listened to this while moving, though, I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much.

There are a lot of unnecessary descriptions of actions. For example, (and I'm paraphrasing here) Caroline grabbed her phone, put in her passcode, opened her photo app, and looked at the pictures. There were a lot of tiny details and step by step descriptions of actions like that that could have been cut for smoother reading.

I enjoyed Nella and Eliza's story. It was compelling and they were both lovely characters. Nella is struggling with what her job truly entails yet knows the importance of it for so many women, and Eliza is a child full of wonder and curiosity who wants to learn about the magic of what being an apothecary entails. I can't say I enjoyed Caroline's story as much. Her storyline was pretty basic. Her husband cheated on her, which means marriage issues, so she travels abroad and gets lost in a mystery a couple centuries old. Super basic. Hundreds of variants to this premise exist out there. The problem is simply that Penner doesn't go anywhere new or interesting with it. Caroline also has this weird obsession with secrets for reasons that just do not make sense; I was frustrated with her ending because I cannot understand why she would want

to keep Eliza's story secret (somehow not piecing together that that is why she is the last entry in Nella's register)

after spending days working to unveil it. What, just to

have a secret of her own

? I don't know. This paragraph is losing its meaning. TLDR: I liked Nella and Eliza (two lovely and complex characters), I didn't like Caroline (who's just sad about her life and

wants to keep secrets for the sake of keeping secrets

).

Nella and Eliza carried this story, hence the 3-star rating I'm giving this book.

Content Warnings