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A review by rachel_menard
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
dark
fast-paced
- 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? No
4.0
I can see why this is so popular. It's a book about a woman who had a trash boyfriend and decided to use her apothecary skills to poison other women's trash boyfriends and husbands. Huzzah!
The only downside to this book was Caroline.
Told in an alternating present/past perspective with three narrators, Caroline is the modern day woman of our story and the most unoriginal part of it. She's your typical middle-America wife who supports her career husband and wants to start a family when BAM! She's shocked to find out he's been cheating on her and now she is off on a find-yourself journey.
(It was pretty clear from our first sighting of him that he's been gaslighting her for their entire relationship, and Caroline just looked naïve for not recognizing it sooner.)
Where this book really worked was the story-telling through Nella and Eliza's perspectives, our apothecary killer and a young maid who accidentally gets mixed up with her. I was immediately hooked by Nella's tale and the unfolding question of "What is going to happen to her?" which is where the present day storytelling gained its importance.
The reveal of the events surrounding Nella and Eliza's story was flipped between their account of it and Caroline's reveal of it while she was also dealing with her own predicament. It's because of this expert story-telling and the uniqueness of both Nella and Eliza that I was able to forgive Caroline, and I ripped right through this book.
The only downside to this book was Caroline.
Told in an alternating present/past perspective with three narrators, Caroline is the modern day woman of our story and the most unoriginal part of it. She's your typical middle-America wife who supports her career husband and wants to start a family when BAM! She's shocked to find out he's been cheating on her and now she is off on a find-yourself journey.
(It was pretty clear from our first sighting of him that he's been gaslighting her for their entire relationship, and Caroline just looked naïve for not recognizing it sooner.)
Where this book really worked was the story-telling through Nella and Eliza's perspectives, our apothecary killer and a young maid who accidentally gets mixed up with her. I was immediately hooked by Nella's tale and the unfolding question of "What is going to happen to her?" which is where the present day storytelling gained its importance.
The reveal of the events surrounding Nella and Eliza's story was flipped between their account of it and Caroline's reveal of it while she was also dealing with her own predicament. It's because of this expert story-telling and the uniqueness of both Nella and Eliza that I was able to forgive Caroline, and I ripped right through this book.