A review by alana_is_booked
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

2.0

I wanted to love this one, but it was honestly just a letdown for me. I thought about DNF'ing it, but ultimately pushed through, and while I'm not mad that I read it, I also wouldn't be mad to pass it up if I had the choice again, overall, it bored me.
This is written in dual timelines, and while I enjoy that concept, Nella and Eliza's timeline (past) felt deeper and more developed and interested me a lot more than Caroline's timeline (present). Caroline's timeline felt like if you were to write a book with the intention of teaching a bunch of clichés to a preteen girl (follow your dreams, you don't need a man to be worthy, surround yourself with people who care about you) all good lessons, all completely cliché in this book.
The writing also treated the reader like they were stupid. Everything is so blatant and spelled out, like a reader is unable to make inferences or form opinions of their own. It made the book significantly less enjoyable for me.