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A review by jaysbookiverse
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
3.0
"Twelve minutes. A fraction of a lifetime, yet enough to alter the course of it." -Caroline, The Lost Apothecary
I gave this book 3.5 stars. I had seen it being advertised all over bookstagram and I loved the cover. I decided to buy it from Book of the Month, that way I got to try out Book of the Month alongside getting this book that I kept seeing and hearing about. Many people were having mixed feelings about the book. I think I can see why many people have issues with this book, as it was not my favorite, but I still enjoyed the reading with what the author gave us. I think that the synopsis made me believe there was going to be more to the book, but it did not go in the way I was expecting.
The writing style of the book was not bad, I actually enjoyed the way it was written. The plot was interesting, as there were two different stories happening at once. Caroline's story was dramatic. She is basically trying to piece together her life and the story of the apothecary. Nella did not have as much development as I would have hoped, while the other two characters were definitely more interesting and had appealing qualities. For Nella being the apothecary, she seemed to lack in character a lot of the time for me. I really wanted more out of her, but I didn't really get much from her throughout the whole book.
I think that the most appealing quality about this book is the parallel of the present to the past. The author does a great job weaving these stories together, and I feel that is what makes this book unique (at least to me) as this is the first historical novel I have read with this sort of fictional element. While I hoped that there would be more murder and suspense, the story in itself was not bad. I still enjoyed the read and had a good time getting some good moments that I liked from it.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction, multiple POV, and light suspense and murder.
I gave this book 3.5 stars. I had seen it being advertised all over bookstagram and I loved the cover. I decided to buy it from Book of the Month, that way I got to try out Book of the Month alongside getting this book that I kept seeing and hearing about. Many people were having mixed feelings about the book. I think I can see why many people have issues with this book, as it was not my favorite, but I still enjoyed the reading with what the author gave us. I think that the synopsis made me believe there was going to be more to the book, but it did not go in the way I was expecting.
The writing style of the book was not bad, I actually enjoyed the way it was written. The plot was interesting, as there were two different stories happening at once. Caroline's story was dramatic. She is basically trying to piece together her life and the story of the apothecary. Nella did not have as much development as I would have hoped, while the other two characters were definitely more interesting and had appealing qualities. For Nella being the apothecary, she seemed to lack in character a lot of the time for me. I really wanted more out of her, but I didn't really get much from her throughout the whole book.
I think that the most appealing quality about this book is the parallel of the present to the past. The author does a great job weaving these stories together, and I feel that is what makes this book unique (at least to me) as this is the first historical novel I have read with this sort of fictional element. While I hoped that there would be more murder and suspense, the story in itself was not bad. I still enjoyed the read and had a good time getting some good moments that I liked from it.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction, multiple POV, and light suspense and murder.