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Sarah Penner

Författare till Giftmakerskan

5 verk 4,590 medlemmar 189 recensioner

Verk av Sarah Penner

Giftmakerskan (2021) 3,763 exemplar
The London Séance Society (2023) 824 exemplar

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Recensioner

This is a novel that follows two parallel timelines - one set in 1791 and one contemporary.
With books like this, there is always a chance that one of the timelines will drag the other down. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened.

While the part set in late 18th century London was intriguing, the part set in modern times was incredibly dull. It doesn't help that Caroline is simply a boring character and her plotline distracting. Towards the end I found myself skipping parts of the text because it was just boring and weighed down the main story.

Instead of the modern story, I wish I had more time with Nella and Eliza. I wish I could get to know more about Nella's work, maybe a few more cases. It felt like not much happened and everything peaked too soon.

To top it all up, there were some elements of magical realism/fantasy in this story that I felt were unnecessary. The whole novel seems like a work in progress in need of a much better editor.

2.5 stars rounded up.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
ZeljanaMaricFerli | 161 andra recensioner | Mar 4, 2024 |
⚠️ WARNING: I am not a professional book reviewer, I just enjoy recording my thoughts about books as a read them. My review contains spoilers and bad language, so read at your own risk. I am in no way attacking the author, just the characters within the book (shout out to the author because she also lives in Florida 🐊)

Now, I chose this book from Book of the Month because it had a really cool cover and Apothecaries are interesting. Plus I really like media set in the UK. However, this book did my fucking head in. Don't get me wrong, it was well written and quite interesting, but one of the main characters, Nella, made me want to game end myself. I don't hate this character, I just want to... slap her around. A lot. At first, I thought this was going to be a feminist pushing book which is just... ick. But I'm not disappointed by the ending at all.

When I first started this book, I was fucking HEATED man. I thought it was total bullshit that Nella was perfectly fine murdering men just because she was betrayed by one but she's firmly against the murder of men. I thought she was so fucking stupid. When a man cheats, he's not fully to blame. The woman he cheats with is also to blame. Now, sometimes the woman may not know that he has a partner, but more often than not, the woman knows and just doesn't care. This "we help women, we don't harm them" bullshit is completely laughable. So, it's perfectly fine for women to be total douchebags and murderers but it's not okay for men to be douchebags and cheaters? This book was on the verge of killing me, I swear.

《Every woman has faced a man's wickedness to some degress.》

Ex-fucking-cuse me, bitch. What about the wickedness of women?? They are not innocent, not even back then in the 1800s. Sure, they may hide it way better than men do, but they are just as capable of wickedness, against both men AND women. Seriously, how is turning women into murderers "helping" them, anyway 🙄 I get that she was seriously hurt but her moral compass is seriously fucking screwy.

Now, you may be thinking something along these lines: "well, women didn't have rights back then. They were treated like property and worse than dogs." And you're totally right, I understand that. I also understand that, while it sucks how shitty they were treated back then, it's highly unlikely that they were all innocent creatures without sin. This is a fact, one that Nella clearly does not understand. And this bitch is really out here passing on her shitty beliefs to a 12 YEAR OLD GIRL. Bruh 😑 I feel for her, I really fucking do. Not only was she lied to and betrayed, but she lost the baby that she wanted so terribly. However, you can't take sides like this.

Male or female, both are human beings and humans are weak, selfish, and cruel. As a woman, I know that we can be just as fucking cruel as men, sometimes more so. We just hide it better and most people refuse to believe that women are capable of such cruelty and violence, especially against a man which is just 🙄💅 No. You cannot tell me that, even back then, that every single woman in existence was kind and never betrayed or hurt anyone. Am I too invested in this? Maybe. Am I sorry? Fuck no.

《A husband to love, children to feed, all the things I would never have for myself.》

I mean, maybe you could have it if you'd stop wallowing in self-loathing, hatred, and murder, Nella.

《Was it not my own fault for bringing the girl into this shop of poisons in the first place?》

YES. YES IT FUCKING IS YOUR FAULT. You deadass taught a 12 year old girl how to get away with murder and you saw NOTHING wrong with this I - 😑

《Why did we go to such lengths to protect the fragile minds of children?》

Bruh, what fucking lengths?? You mean teaching her poisons to kill men? Giving her a poison knowing she would give it to a man? Teaching her that murder is perfectly acceptable as long as it ain't a woman? Oh yeah, great lengths, my girl. Great fucking lengths.

I... am speechless. I can't believe Eliza jumped I dhsksgsjgs I knew Nella would probably do that but ELIZA WHY 😭 I almost started crying at this. Almost, but I held it back because I am an adult.... technically. Also, I JUST FUCKING REALIZED - the vial that Caroline found is the vial that Eliza was fucking holding when she jumped oh my god I'm a detective ya'll 🕵️‍♂️

Okay so, when Caroline found James on the bathroom floor, the thought crossed my mind that maybe, just MAYBE, he had ingested it on purpose because let's be real, who is dumb enough to drink eucalyptus oil unless you're a child? But then I was like, nah nah nah, he wouldn't be that manipulative, hey? AND THEN -

《James, did you ingest the oil on purpose?》

Oh my GAWD. This man is a psychopath.

《Healing by way of vengeance. But no such thing existed; it never had. Hurting others had only injured me further.》

Can we get a round if applause 👏 for this character development? I was so fucking scared there would be none, bro. It's a shame all it took was the death of countless men and the suicide of a 12 year old little girl but better late than never, I guess? 🤷‍♂️

........hold up a damn minute...... SHE FUCKING SURVIVED?! Bitch HOW? I - I don't think I care I'm just happy she got to live a full life 😭🤌

Overall, this book wasn't bad. I mean, I seriously struggled with Nella in the beginning to the point that I took a break and took ages to finally return to the damn thing, but I'm thankful that she had a really good character development. It came late as hell and at a serious price, but... it happened! Finally, I will leave you with this:

《The hardest truths never rest on the surface. They must be dredged up, held to the light and rinsed clean.》

Oh right, forgot about Caroline oop. I'm glad she didn't get back together with James and I'm glad she also didn't murder him (my jaw dropped when they accused her though.) She also grew and became a better person. Good on you, Caroline ✌
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
AnnoyingTiger888 | 161 andra recensioner | Feb 21, 2024 |
This book juxtaposes Caroline who is visiting London on what should be her tenth anniversary and Nella, an 18th-century woman who runs an apothecary specifically for women who want to get rid of the men in their lives. Caroline discovers a bottle from the old apothecary and pieces together the story of its owner and its location in modern-day London with the help of an archivist. Then her soon-to-be ex shows up, full of contrition, and proceeds to drink eucalyptus oil instead of rubbing it on and then Caroline is a suspect in his poisoning.… (mer)
 
Flaggad
mojomomma | 161 andra recensioner | Feb 20, 2024 |
Boring, unexciting, weakly developed.
½
 
Flaggad
Jenniferforjoy | 161 andra recensioner | Jan 29, 2024 |

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Associerade författare

Lorna Bennett Narrator
Helena Johansson Translator
Lauren Irwin Narrator

Statistik

Verk
5
Medlemmar
4,590
Popularitet
#5,481
Betyg
½ 3.6
Recensioner
189
ISBN
73
Språk
9

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