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gummifrog's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
I actually felt the modern day story was enjoyable if you consider that Caroline was meant to be the overall protagonist of the book - her life and journey is shaped by the joy of discovery based on this one tiny piece of history. It's about the idea that even the smallest thing can have an impact on someone hundreds of years from now, that our legacy ripples through time in ways we can't predict.
That being said, I have never wanted a character to leave her husband more quickly. Caroline and Gaynor are my ultimate OTP from this book, you can't change my mind.
Graphic: Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Abortion, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Infidelity, Pedophilia, and Murder
Minor: Infertility and Medical trauma
crystal83087's review against another edition
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Classism
robin_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
The second POV is of the apothecary, Nella, in 1791 and how she is running her shop and how a 12-year-old girl changes everything.
It was slow to get into but once it did, I was hooked. I loved to learn what really happened in 1791 vs. what Caroline thinks has happened.
I think I know why so many people didn’t like it because it’s focused on a rather unpopular trope for a while.
The audiobook was lovely to listen to. The different characters and timelines were easily distinguished.
Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
lemonwrlds's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
2.5
Minor: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
tanyafrey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Chronic illness, Death, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Grief, and Medical trauma
xandra_lyn's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Examples of Caroline not acting like a real woman:
1. Planning her 10 year anniversary trip when her period is due. Like, women know these things...they'd plan NOT to be on their period then. Also, she then eluded to wanting to make a baby on the honeymoon, and even IF a woman wanted to have sex on her period, she definitely wouldn't be making a baby. That's not how women's bodies work. I'm wondering if she wasn't expecting her period at first and then the author changed it...but that should have caught that in editing.
2. Not taking a pregnancy test. I get the author wanted to build suspense, but a normal woman would just take it. even if it was negative, the author could still have built suspense with a late period, because until you get the period or get a positive test, there IS a slight chance you might be pregnant. (For those who don't know, positive tests are like 100% accurate, but negatives have some wiggle room).
3. Keeping Eliza a secret at the end. No one - especially woman, who are so often invisible - deserves to be erased from history. As a woman AND a historian, I would never have kept a story of an interesting woman to myself. I don't think any woman would.
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Body horror and Blood
Minor: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Emotional abuse: Caroline's husband Blood: a character struggles with an illness and spits clots of blood Pedophilia: Eliza's employer comes into her (she's 12) and begins to touch her stomach, legs, and thighs before a commotion interrupts him. It doesn't seem he raped her, but it's implied he did so with a previous maid. As awful and scarring as this would be, it was not detailed in graphic ways and so I put it low on the list. Medical trauma/content: it's about poison, so there's a fair amount of medical issues that happen Miscarriage: memory of a character, not graphic. *Not on other users' reviews: idk why people put body horror. Other than possibly the effects of the poisons, but it's not graphicidun_aurora's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
usually_sleep_deprived's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Infertility, Medical content, Grief, and Abortion
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy
nocturnalnovel_nook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment
b_silver's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment