The Lost Apothecary
By: Sarah Penner
Released: March 2nd, 2021
Pages: 320
My Rating: 4/5
Goodreads Synopsis:
A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them - setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course. Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another women. Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary's register.
One cold February evening in 1791, at the back of a dark London alley in a hidden apothecary shop, Nella awaits her newest customer. Once a respected healer, Nella now uses her knowledge for a darker purpose - selling well - disguised potions to desperate women who would kill to be free of the men in their lives. But when her new patron turns out to be a precocious twelve-year-old named Eliza Fanning, an unexpected friendship sets in motion a string of events that jeopardizes Nella's world and threatens to expose the many women whose names are written in her register.
In present day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, reeling from the discovery of her husbands infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vile near the river Thames, she can't resist investigating, only to realize she's found a link to the unsolved "apothecary murders" that haunted London over two centuries ago. As she deepens her search, Caroline's life collides with Nella's and Eliza's in a stunning twist of fate - and not everyone will survive.
My Review:
When I first read the synopsis of this book, I thought to myself what a great book to read during women's history month - a book about fed up women avenging the men who have wronged them. While the synopsis makes this book seem a little more exhilarating than what it was, I am still so happy I chose this as my March pick from Book of the Month.
This is a very fast paced read, in fact I pretty much read the entire thing on a Sunday afternoon. I thought the back and forth between past and present time was executed very well and enjoyed flipping between both storylines, especially once they really started to mirror one another. I found all the characters to be extremely likable and as much as I wanted to dislike someone at times I still found myself drawn to them and connected to each one for different reasons. I think this book did a good job at giving each main character a quick origin story that resonates with the reader. And OMG don't even get me started on the ending, I absolutely adored it!
I will say, I have read some reviews and had some discussions from people who thought it to be just okay due to the fact that it was just not what they thought it was going to be, which I can agree with but I still found this to be a very fun story. It is marketed to be historical fiction and fantasy and there is not a ton of fantasy going on here, so if you came looking for that I could see where you may be disappointed but if you are looking for a quick, fun, empowering read this is a great book to check out! Have you read this one? Let me know what your thoughts are!
Catch you later,
Molly
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