Book Review: The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner (3.5 stars)
A little more than 20 years ago, there was a shift in the wine industry. Wine once was only enjoyed by connoisseurs and people avoided wine out of fear of drinking the ‘wrong thing’. The wine industry embraced their feeling of exclusivity to keep a standard. But as more vineyards began popping up, they began to use playful and cheeky label designs.
What happened next surprised the wine industry. People were buying the wine with the playful names and labels! And soon after, the idea of drinking wine because of the label was very quickly socially acceptable. A trend that is still present today.
Literature has had a much richer history in using cover art to draw in readers. The Lost Apothecary, has been a book I had been admiring the cover of for a while. I almost picked it up a few times and felt as though it would be a good vacation or poolside read.
When gearing up for my most recent vacation, I finally picked up my copy of Sarah Penner’s book to take along with me to begin on the plane.
Immediately, I found Penner’s writing style to be a smooth read. She captured the energy of London and used a creative approach to develop her story. As a reader, I empathized with the characters and their story lines. In fact, the story could have been a bit longer to develop the characters a bit more.
The character of Nella was the weakest for me. Nella’s arch was a bit of a struggle for me as a reader, as though Penner was checking boxes to make the story come together. I wanted to feel her pain a bit more deeply, as we felt Caroline and Eliza’s. I also felt as though Nella’s story was a bit unfinished in the end.
Overall, it was a nice read and a good overall story. A good option for an easy read. I will be picking up Penner’s second book, The London Séance Society.
