Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Giftmakerskan by Sarah Penner

167 reviews

mattiedancer's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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

Writing: 3⭐️/5 

The writing was fine, adequate, presentable. A few times Penner had some really stunning lines, but mostly the writing did what needed to be done without too much flare or finesse. A lot of sections for backstory were lengthy, giving us a bit of information by flashback and then overexplaining the emotions of the situation. But overall the writing did enough to not get in the way.

Characters: 3.5⭐️/5

I think the characters in the historical sections were much more fascinating than our modern-day protagonist. While I appreciated that Caroline had a lot going on, I also felt like her half-telling of the story made me lose a bit of interest in what was going on. I loved her research-heavy mind, but it felt stunningly unbelievable the way in which she pursued her research so easily after so long. And, while the characters were interesting, they felt a bit surface at times, almost as though we never got a true glimpse of their whole beings.

Plot: 3⭐️/5 

Okay, so the concept? Super cool. The execution? Maybe that’s where I got lost. I loved everything about the apothecary. I even loved the slow unravelling of clues from Caroline’s side, but I also felt like that was the only thing that felt super fleshed out. All the details in the novel felt muddled, as though they were unclear and unformed. I also think that the end kind of undid some of the feminist points made throughout the novel, leaving kind of a sour taste in my mouth at the end.

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of historical books that have a split POV with modern perspective
• Someone looking for a cool concept over everything else
• Fans of witchy history who are looking for an easy read

Content Warnings? 

• Pregnancy, adultery, murder, sexism, misogyny, rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, violence, abuse, child abuse, child death, death, death of parent, self-harm, suicide, suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts, terminal illness, poison, gun violence, medical trauma, classism, injury, injury detail, fire, pedophilia, incest, infertility 

Post-Reading Rating:  2.75⭐️/5

I just… wanted more? I liked the concept so much but I think everything else fell pretty flat.

Final Rating: 3⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Infertility, Violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Self harm, Child death, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Blood, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

aimeemg155's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Grief, Murder, Drug use, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

cowahbull's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

Not my cup of tea.  I'm personally not a fan of multiple pov in first person.
 The story was interesting but rather slow paced and I didn't find that I liked any of the characters very much. Eliza was the only person I was rooting for.
The bond and relationships between women was lovely to see but it went a bit too far. It had almost no male characters and almost all of them were evil; hurting the female charcters for their own gain or pleasure and manipulating them. It's possible to tell a positive story about women empowering women without becoming anti-men, this book didn't quite manage that.

I may have listed a dozen reasons I didn't like this book but overall I had a good time reading it. The audio book had different readers for each chapter/charcter so it was more immersive.  Good story!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

crabbytaco's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Suicide attempt and Suicide

blueyogi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Murder, Miscarriage, Grief, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Infertility, and Death

Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexual harassment, and Violence

pheonixlovesbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Infidelity, Murder, Death, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Miscarriage, and Death of parent

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Violence, Vomit, and Grief

queenbee6's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Murder, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

taliatalksbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.75

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner was just as good, if not better, than I expected it to be. I tried not to let all the praise surrounding the book skew my reading experience, but I can now say it was definitely well earned (not to mention how much I LOVE the cover). Historical fiction is not a favorite genre of mine, but I loved the way this story was discovered through researching the past and filling in the pieces. I think this was a really clever framework and it made the women of this story feel as though they were interacting, even if they never could have possibly met. I love a story with a good vigilante character, and this book certainly delivered. If you haven’t had a chance to read this historical fiction gem, definitely add it to your TBR. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Infidelity, Incest, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Murder, Miscarriage, Infertility, Gore, Death, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Classism, Abortion, and Grief

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Murder, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Terminal illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Medical content and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Death, Abortion, Animal death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Death of parent

a_iocono's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious slow-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? No

2.5

Whole book in 3 words. 

Men are stupid. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Child death, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Moderate: Murder and Vomit