Jill lives in Toronto, Canada. She has studied English, Creative Writing, and Publishing. Jill is the creator and content producer of Jill’s Book Blog, where she has published a blog post every day for the last four years, including 5-7 book reviews a week. She can usually be found with her nose in a book.
Title: The Lost Apothecary Author: Sarah Penner Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Park Row Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: March 2, 2021 Rating: ★★★★★
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 woman.
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 poisons 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 husband’s infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vial 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.
Review:
In 1791, Nella is a secret apothecary who dispenses poisons to her female customers. She had two rules: the poison can never be used against a women and she must record all transactions in her record book. One day, her customer is a young girl named Eliza. She visits the apothecary to get a poison for her mistress to administer to her husband who has suddenly taken an interest in Eliza. This meeting creates an unlikely friendship and threatens to destroy Nella’s entire life’s work. In present day London, Caroline is on her ten year anniversary vacation by herself. She discovered her husband’s affair right before leaving, so she decided to take the vacation alone to have time to think. Caroline goes searching on the banks of the Thames for hidden treasures, and finds a mysterious vial. She takes it upon herself to research the history of the vial, and discovers the two hundred year old mystery of the apothecary murders.
This was such an amazing debut! It was fast paced and I couldn’t put it down. The narrative alternated between Eliza and Nella in 1791 and Caroline in the present. The two stories slowly unraveled together. All of the narratives had exciting cliffhangers that made it almost impossible to stop reading. I usually have a favourite narrative in a story with dual storylines but each of these women’s stories were so exciting, I can’t choose a favourite.
London was an important setting in the story. The two time periods had very different versions of London but they were both connected to the apothecary. Caroline had to use historical maps to figure out where the apothecary would have been in today’s London. Even though the city has been bustling since the time of Nella’s apothecary shop, the secret behind the shop had reminded hidden within London.
This was such a great story! I highly recommend it!
Thank you HarperCollins for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown
The Gown by Jennifer Robson
About the author:
Sarah Penner is the debut author of The Lost Apothecary, to be translated in eleven languages worldwide. She works full-time in finance and is a member of the Historical Novel Society and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. She and her husband live in St. Petersburg, Florida, with their miniature dachshund, Zoe. To learn more, visit slpenner.com.
Have you read The Lost Apothecary? What did you think of it?
This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!
What I just finished:
This weekend I finished The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner.
What I’m currently reading:
I’m currently reading Gutter Child by Jael Richardson.
What I’m reading next:
Next I will be reading Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi.
What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner.
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 woman.
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 poisons 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 husband’s infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vial 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.
Title: Hall of Smoke Author: H.M. Long Genre: Fantasy Publisher: Titan Books Source: Publisher Format: Paperback Release Date: January 19, 2021 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
An epic fantasy featuring warrior priestesses and fickle gods at war
Hessa is an Eangi: a warrior priestess of the Goddess of War, with the power to turn an enemy’s bones to dust with a scream. Banished for disobeying her goddess’s command to murder a traveller, she prays for forgiveness alone on a mountainside.
While she is gone, raiders raze her village and obliterate the Eangi priesthood. Grieving and alone, Hessa – the last Eangi – must find the traveller, atone for her weakness and secure her place with her loved ones in the High Halls. As clans from the north and legionaries from the south tear through her homeland, slaughtering everyone in their path, Hessa strives to win back her goddess’ favour.
Beset by zealot soldiers, deceitful gods, and newly-awakened demons at every turn, Hessa burns her path towards redemption and revenge. But her journey reveals a harrowing truth: the gods are dying and the High Halls of the afterlife are fading. Soon Hessa’s trust in her goddess weakens with every unheeded prayer.
Thrust into a battle between the gods of the Old World and the New, Hessa realizes there is far more on the line than securing a life beyond her own death. Bigger, older powers slumber beneath the surface of her world. And they’re about to wake up.
Review:
Hessa is an Eangi, a warrior princess of Eang the Goddess of War. Hessa was instructed by Eang to kill a traveller to her town. When he arrives and Hessa doesn’t kill him, she is banished from the town. But while she’s gone, her home is invaded and her family and friends are killed. Hessa must try to regain her goddess’s trust while also avenging her people.
This was an incredibly detailed fantasy world. I was drawn into the world right away, and I was rooting for Hessa. The story started out with just a couple of characters being introduced in the story so that the reader can get comfortable in this story.
There were a lot of characters to keep track of by the end of the story, and their names were similar so I found it confusing. There were multiple layers of gods as well as the characters in their world. Hessa went through many different groups on her journey, so she met recurring characters along the way. If these characters had names that weren’t so similar, it would have been easier to keep them straight.
This was a great fantasy debut.
Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
The Lost Queen by Signe Pike
Have you read Hall of Smoke? What did you think of it?
Title: The Lives of Saints Author: Leigh Bardugo Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Short Stories, Audiobook Publisher: Macmillan Audio Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Audiobook Release Date: October 6, 2020 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Enter the world of the Grishaverse and Shadow and Bone, soon to be a Netflix original series!
Dive into the epic world of international bestselling author Leigh Bardugo with this beautifully illustrated replica of The Lives of Saints, the Istorii Sankt’ya, featuring tales of saints drawn from the beloved novels and beyond. Out of the pages of the Shadow and Bone trilogy, from the hands of Alina Starkov to yours, the Istorii Sankt’ya is a magical keepsake from the Grishaverse.
These tales include miracles and martyrdoms from familiar saints like Sankta Lizabeta of the Roses and Sankt Ilya in Chains, to the strange and obscure stories of Sankta Ursula, Sankta Maradi, and the Starless Saint.
This beautiful collection includes stunning full-color illustrations of each story.
Review:
The Lives of Saints is a collection of short stories from the Grishaverse. Each story tells the origin story of a saint in that series. This book was actually mentioned in the Grishaverse books, so it was like reading a book that the characters have read too.
This audiobook was short at just over two hours long. The narrators were great. There were two narrators that alternated between chapters. The male narrator was Ben Barnes, who is one of the stars of the upcoming Shadow and Bone show. This is a great way to connect this new book to the upcoming show.
I’d love to see a physical copy of this book one day because it is supposed to have beautiful illustrations. I highly recommend this audiobook!
Thank you Macmillan Audio for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.
Here are my first lines:
“The servants called them malenchki, little ghosts, because they were the smallest and the youngest, and because they haunted the Duke’s house like giggling phantoms, darting in and out of rooms, hiding in cupboards to eavesdrop, sneaking into the kitchen to steal the last of the summer peaches.”
Do you recognize these first lines?
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And the book is… Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #1) by Leigh Bardugo
Goodreads synopsis:
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.
Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy.
