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A review by bluebellfallen
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
dark
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? No
1.25
This book felt like a lot of ideas of story lines or plots that an author brainstormed, added a page count to, and then published without any further thought. The characters are deeply rooted in sexism and patriarchy, even though the author seems to imply this is a feminist, women-empowering kind of novel. It isn't.
Every single plot is centered around women wanting children and whether or not they have them and how that ruins or fulfills their lives after. Every single one. All of them. (I don't get it)
There are so many flaws (and I have so few spoons right now) that I will just say - it wasn't a good book, and it certainly wasn't the right kind of bad to be worth reading. 75% or more of the book crawled by, while the last 25% did all the heavy lifting in the most annoying, James Patterson writes chapters that are max 2 pages long and then jumps perspectives / scenes entirely to keep the tension up and he inspired me - esque way.
It just wasn't (in any way) worth my time, but because it's so mildly written and the author tries to hide behind "dark murder mystery" vibes to get away with a lot of shitty things (and the book isn't even a dark murder mystery btw - that's just the vibes she's going for), it would also be so very easy to just think "wow, that book was mid, but I wouldn't mind recommending the book if someone is bored or something", and then accidentally pass on, perpetuate, and re-normalize things like baby-obsession and "casual" emotional and mental manipulation at the hands of a spouse (which - if you know, you *know*).
Every single plot is centered around women wanting children and whether or not they have them and how that ruins or fulfills their lives after. Every single one. All of them. (I don't get it)
There are so many flaws (and I have so few spoons right now) that I will just say - it wasn't a good book, and it certainly wasn't the right kind of bad to be worth reading. 75% or more of the book crawled by, while the last 25% did all the heavy lifting in the most annoying, James Patterson writes chapters that are max 2 pages long and then jumps perspectives / scenes entirely to keep the tension up and he inspired me - esque way.
It just wasn't (in any way) worth my time, but because it's so mildly written and the author tries to hide behind "dark murder mystery" vibes to get away with a lot of shitty things (and the book isn't even a dark murder mystery btw - that's just the vibes she's going for), it would also be so very easy to just think "wow, that book was mid, but I wouldn't mind recommending the book if someone is bored or something", and then accidentally pass on, perpetuate, and re-normalize things like baby-obsession and "casual" emotional and mental manipulation at the hands of a spouse (which - if you know, you *know*).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
The husband thing, for if you don't know, want to know, but don't want to read the book:
The husband literally poisons himself to try and manipulate Caroline into staying with him after he cheated on her (you know, instead of apologizing). The police think she tried to kill him herself on purpose, and she is almost arrested because of it (and honestly, she should have been - that whole scene is also b.s., and is beYOND unrealistic). When she figures this out, she is briefly a little bit angry, but otherwise? Nothing. They part ways on relatively okay terms (they're not getting back together, but they're chill somehow??), she never tells the police what actually happened, and the author makes it very clear that they think this behavior was normal and fine. Not even ONCE does the author even beGIN to imply that this man needs help or that he's abusive (and yes, two things can be true at once - he needs help for this obvious mental health crisis, AND he's an emotionally and mentally abusive f*ck).