Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

70 reviews

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

deestreet's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

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

a_novel_craving's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

zophiebrown's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Shows the power of social history and reassembling the lives of historical women within the comfort of fiction and intriguing storytelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Terminal illness, and Murder

acarolinabelle's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

Dual timeline, history, thriller, with a touch of fantasy. The story follows an apothecary in old London with a dark secret. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

onlyvitro's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Terminal illness and Vomit

Minor: Incest and Sexual harassment

enlamont's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Misogyny, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

alentz94's review against another edition

mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Over all I found the book kind of... boring? That may not be the right word but over all I came away with a very "meh" feeling.

Caroline's thoughts were frustrating to me. So much revolved around these "giant" secrets she was keeping and I just don't feel like any of it except her true discovery was huge.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, and Blood

Moderate: Terminal illness

booking_along's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail