Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

296 reviews

nancykz's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.25

This isn’t something I would ever pick up on my own. I don’t know why. I love to read anything and everything and despite myself knowing this, I am certain I’ve had passed over it. 

Caroline and James are about to enjoy two weeks in London as a celebration of their tenth wedding anniversary when Caroline sees a text that unravels their marriage. Taking her best friend’s advice, Caroline goes on the trip solo to have the space she needs to figure things out. 

Told along two timelines, Caroline is intrigued by a glass vial etched with a bear she finds while mudlarking — a complete whim brought her to join a group. As she traces back the origin and story of the vial in real time, we move through the vials owners in the past. 

Well written and executed. The last chapter could have been removed — felt like it was there for readers who may have missed the point. I like to be trusted as a reader. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Suicide

Personally I thought the sensitive/triggering things were handled gently. That’s not to say others’ reactions won’t be different.

makayla_radford's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Child death, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy

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

leirarae's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Minor: Child death, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

heresyourletter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

As a sucker for Kate Morton-esque books with multiple narrators set in different time periods and a strong mystery element, I enjoyed the book. I found the prose a tad repetitive, but the audiobook format meant I could zone out during the “recaps” and tune back in once the plot resumed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Infertility, Sexism, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Blood

One character’s job is supplying women with poison to kill the men in their lives. Beetles are killed to make a poison. One minor character is an alcoholic. Infidelity is a prominent theme. An upperclass character uses her privilege to bully another character into doing her bidding. One character believes in ghosts and mentions feeling haunted by a character who died before the novel begins. Two different characters discuss trying (and failing) to have a baby.

One character miscarries after she is deliberately fed poison and grieves the loss of her unborn child throughout the book. Another minor character, who is mentioned but does not appear in the book, is a teenager who became pregnant by her employer’s husband and died in childbirth. A twelve-year old girl is groped by her employer’s husband. He also drugs her and attempts to sexually abuse her, but is stopped before this happens. One character is shown to be in a marriage with a man who tries to manipulate her and blame all his problems on her. One character is interrogated and another two are chased by police on suspected murder charges. One character is slowly dying from an unnamed illness (possibly cancer) and coughs up blood. One character plans to die by suicide, but ultimately does not go through with it. One character jumps off a bridge in a presumed suicide attempt, but is later shown to behave survived. One character drinks eucalyptus oil and is rushed to hospital, but ultimately survives.

grace33's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Murder

Moderate: Death and Suicide

Minor: Pedophilia and Sexual assault

chanlo1994's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I've never had a book cause me so much anxiety before (for the character). So relatable, both in the realistic elements and mystical ones. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual assault

caroreads97's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Murder

eeamiller's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

I had seen this book around a few places and it falls squarely into a genre/story arc I enjoy - historical fiction with a dual present day storyline. I didn't listen super attentively to this book, but I listened closely enough to feel a little schadenfreude. This book is about an apothecary who uses her skills to help women off their deadbeat partners/husbands, and a present day woman (with a jerk husband) who is rediscovering who she is when their marriage starts to fall apart through her inviestigation into this apothecary's story. I didn't mind a little vigilante justice in my life. Everything wraps up with a neat little bow (at least for the women). It was enjoyable on audio because of the fully cast narration. I don't tend to like dual timeline books on audio because I can't flip around to remember who was where doing what, but the full cast narration helped that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, and Murder

brookey8888's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I really enjoyed this! It was a little slow and not what I was expecting so that’s why I’m not rounding up to a four. I just found the concept very interesting and the different timelines. I’m not going to lie, I did not care about the present timeline because if you know me you know I loathe cheating. I’m so happy she didn’t get back with that man. One part did make me gasp because what an idiot of a man. The ending actually did make me emotional and I teared up a bit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism