Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

62 reviews

janicesierra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent

jenniferbowman's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Okay. So. Reviewing this is complicated, because throughout 90% of this book, I was very ready to rate this story 4.5/5 stars. Five stars if the ending wowed me (which I was hoping for). The majority of the book is compelling, and moves fairly quickly…for the most part, I don’t feel like any words are wasted.

HOWEVER…I was left scratching my head at the ending—from the quickly rolling pace of the climax on, I craved a surprise twist that would leave me reeling and chuckling with surprise. But…the loose ends, although tied up, did not feel complete.

When it comes to a book like this with multiple timelines, I want all of those timelines to be tied together in an inseparable way. This felt more like two separate stories that were related, BUT…I really wish they had been better connected as one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

lisa_hin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

mvitcn's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse

lfbennett407's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

5 stars for the historical timeline and premise
2 stars for modern day Caroline. I really could not stand her. It might have worked better for me if it felt like she’d had to work at all for her “findings” but it was the most lackluster and underwhelming presentation of “research”. And don’t even get me started on the toxic narcissist of a husband

who even at the end she is still like well maybe someday we both have work to do. No girl. He’s a narcissist who tried to poison himself so you wouldn’t leave him AFTER he cheated on you and would you allow you the space to process anything. Absolutely not. I hated Caroline but she deserved better than that.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Toxic relationship

booksoversecondbreakfast's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Overall, I loved this book, especially Caroline's (the modern character's) story. I enjoyed the fact that her story mirrored thematically the stories of the past. I also enjoyed the fact that the Nella kept her log book because she believed that women deserved to have their stories told, and I liked how this was reflected in Caroline's story in her investigation. It truly was a story of women helping other women, even if in a way that's shrouded in darkness. Everything got pulled together so neatly at the end and it was so poetic and satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide attempt

pinkupengu's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Incest, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Excrement

businesswife's review against another edition

informative sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is a book with a female lead who is so smart and we are told just how smart she is all the time who does make a lot of pretty fun decisions which I find kinda annoying. The past and present timeliness are done pretty well tho. The past plot is much better than the present tho.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Vomit, and Murder

slars12's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

amyrose16's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Infertility and Rape