Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

21 reviews

phantomgecko's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Caroline is frustratingly naive. (Maybe that's the point?) But naive to the point of unbelievability.  Like, yeah, trespassing is a crime, but so is jaywalking. It's not that big of a deal.

And then the whole scene with trying to look at her trespassing pictures on her phone...... Girl. Guess what. If you're on your phone in the same room as another person.... they probably cannot see what you're seeing. And if they do....it's blurry pictures of a book. If they ask about it....lie.

Naive and stupid tbh.

Spoiler

I'm glad she left her controlling husband though. Piece of garbage man.

The narrative with Nella and Eliza was definitely more interesting. (Though I still have complaints about believability.) The unfolding of the narrative was well done, at least.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, and Infidelity

bahamamama's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious tense

5.0

I could not put this down. Ironically, the author wrote of one of the main characters, "she wasn't a witch, and this wasn't Harry Potter," but I disagree. According to the author, this story was about "embracing magic" (or "magick" as spelled in ye olde times). There were whisperings of a hidden, magical world—similar to the wizarding world with Snape's potions class, as well as the more shadowy realm of Dark Arts, Knockturn Alley, and Borgin and Burke's. And that is precisely what drew me into this story and kept me captivated.

All that aside, this story had a mystery that slowly unraveled between past and present perspectives. Loved the twist at the end! I've already reserved the author's next story from my library/Libby. 

5 ⭐

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Mental illness, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Infertility, and Abortion

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Child abuse

huntress's review against another edition

dark informative reflective slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexism, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Blood, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Murder, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Infidelity, Infertility, Grief, Medical content, Abortion, and Death of parent

kelisabeth's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

annniina98's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

ariquesito's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Abortion

cady_sass's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

Every time I read historical fiction I’m tempted to say “usually I don’t like HF but…” but at this point I think that’s a lie, and I actually love it. This is SO good! It certainly helps that we are following two storylines: one of Nella and her secret business that exclusively caters to women and dispensing with their shit husbands in the late 1700s (absolute queen), and one of Caroline and her shit husband in the current day, uncovering the secrets of the ~*lost apothecary*~. And then there’s Eliza, the absolutely precious 12 year old who inserts herself into Nella’s life and unknowingly puts many tragic pieces into motion. The two storylines unfold beautifully, poetically, tragically; individually and together.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

rai's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Death, Miscarriage, and Grief

pipcorn's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Classism

Minor: Pedophilia and Adult/minor relationship

kbairbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

I swear I have been reading so many dark books recently and it’s messing with me a little bit so I’m gonna try and pick up some lighter things for a little bit to lift me out of this mood. This story was told from three different perspectives and had three different narrators and I enjoyed that it was a dark feminist dual timeline story about betrayal and murder and coming to terms with Feelings and the important things in life and the people that matter but also damn that plot twist at the end

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Gaslighting, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Gore, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Abortion, Blood, and Infidelity

Moderate: Classism, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Alcohol, and Alcoholism