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A review by luluwoohoo
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
☀️☀️☀️
For a book about a historical serial killer, this was slower and more intimate than I'd expected. Those things aren't inherently bad, but a lack of depth in the worldbuilding and character development prevented me from connecting with it emotionally.
The dual timelines didn't wholly work for me when they weren't equally weighted in importance or stakes. The historical timeline was undoubtedly more interesting and didn't dissolve into melodrama as often, but jumping between the two only made the pacing feel slower and the urge to keep reading lower in both sections.
My biggest gripe with the characters is that the key concept protagonist - Nella - was incredibly passive. For a book selling itself on the idea of female empowerment and revenge, she didn't represent these values nearly enough. Modern day Caroline did have more agency but her connection to the past felt shoehorned in as an afterthought rather than having any specifically crafted mirroring going on. Eliza was the best character but she couldn't make up for the shortfalls of the others.
The writing was decent overall but I found many of the inner monologues, particularly Caroline's, overwritten and not portraying naturalistic thought patterns (people don't consciously realise that their grief is more nuanced etc).
There are lots of things to like about this book, but I was left wanting more.
☀️☀️☀️
For a book about a historical serial killer, this was slower and more intimate than I'd expected. Those things aren't inherently bad, but a lack of depth in the worldbuilding and character development prevented me from connecting with it emotionally.
The dual timelines didn't wholly work for me when they weren't equally weighted in importance or stakes. The historical timeline was undoubtedly more interesting and didn't dissolve into melodrama as often, but jumping between the two only made the pacing feel slower and the urge to keep reading lower in both sections.
My biggest gripe with the characters is that the key concept protagonist - Nella - was incredibly passive. For a book selling itself on the idea of female empowerment and revenge, she didn't represent these values nearly enough. Modern day Caroline did have more agency but her connection to the past felt shoehorned in as an afterthought rather than having any specifically crafted mirroring going on. Eliza was the best character but she couldn't make up for the shortfalls of the others.
The writing was decent overall but I found many of the inner monologues, particularly Caroline's, overwritten and not portraying naturalistic thought patterns (people don't consciously realise that their grief is more nuanced etc).
There are lots of things to like about this book, but I was left wanting more.
'"For many of these women," Nella whispered, "this may be the only place their names are recorded. The only place they will be remembered. It is a promise I made to my mother, to preserve the existence of these women whose names would otherwise be erased from history. The world is not kind to us... There are few places for a woman to leave an indelible mark." I finished tracing an entry, moving on to the next one. "But this register preserves them - their names, their memories, their worth.'