Book Review: ‘Letters From the Last Apothecary’ is Not the Romantic Fantasy You Might Be Hoping For
If you’re hoping this book is every bit as lyrical and romantic as Divine Rivals, I’m afraid you’ll be sorely disappointed. Letters from the Last Apothecary by Bita Behzadi is a quick read set in a magical city of Tressport (which feels loosely like a magical London), and there’s definitely an air of historical fiction vibes to it. While it is part epistolary format, which is why it got the Divine Rivals comp, I didn’t feel the letters to be very romantic or interesting. They were simply a plot device to reveal backstory to the characters. They’re also told out of order, and while non-linear storytelling doesn’t usually bother me, this felt disjointed, and the pacing of this novel struggled for it. I was really hoping to love this cozy fantasy, but I feel it was trying to do too much. There’s a murder mystery that comes out of nowhere, and the romance wasn’t super believable for me. Both main characters are trying to get into a magical university masters program, and that seems to be the most important thing to them, but then it isn’t even that big of a plot point. They also immediately dislike each other, but there’s not really a good reason for it in my opinion, so the dislike felt a bit forced. I also wish the magic system would have been a bit more explained. There’s essentially two types: intuitive and one you study (pagan vs. academia), but it doesn’t really go into how different people are born with certain abilities. Overall, I was expecting a more romantic story and it just fell flat for me. But let’s get into why else…
Things to Know:
Cozy Fantasy (sort of?)
Magical historical fiction vibes
Epistolary
Non-linear storytelling
Romantic Fantasy
Rivals to lovers
Murder Mystery
***SLIGHT SPOILERS BELOW***
Josie Pinova is a bit of an annoying FMC. She’s a know-it-all, and miraculously gets a job at a failing magical apothecary after dazzling the owner with her knowledge. Aufidius Reid, aka Reid is just a grump. He’s constantly negative, and he immediately doesn’t like her, but again, there’s not really a good reason for it, other than I didn’t really like her either. So of course, the two of them have no idea they’ve been anonymously writing back and forth to each other through library books for months, and falling for each other.
She realizes it first and there is a ‘You’ve got Mail’ moment that’s almost bar for bar the scene from the movie, which was cute, I guess. But the miscommunication and keeping secrets from each other was dragged out way too much. Then the MMC has a mafia background?! It’s like we’re trying to fit every possible thing in this short book.
I wish this would have been more romantic, but the FMC even says he’s not that good of a kisser compared to others. I’m sorry, what?! And then he asks her, “Are we still in love?” That’s possibly the most unromantic thing he could have said at that moment. Another quote that made my eyes roll: “You’re serious?” “As a heart attack.”
And another thing…Why does every modern fantasy book now have to talk about women’s “time of the month”. Can we not? It’s becoming an ick of mine. I read to escape and the last thing I want to read about is periods. We have to deal with them adversely affecting our lives in the real world, why would I want to read about them in my fantasy books?! I get that some people may like that there’s a ‘realness’ to this, but I’m just personally not a fan.
The side characters were all inconsequential to me. They aren’t ever really developed, and they’re all promiscuous, dealing with their trauma by sleeping around. And then there’s some weird purity culture mentioned that felt out of place. What do you mean you’re getting married after one kiss? By the end of this book, I’d come to the conclusion it just isn’t for me. I know this book may find its fans, and I’m just sad I couldn’t be one of them. 2.75 stars
The audiobook is a multi-narrator, but I’m not the biggest fan of the FMC narrator. I’ve heard her do a couple other books and she has this very annoying habit of ending every sentence on an uptick, like everything is a question and she’s out of breath. If you’re an audiobook reader, and you still want to give this book a try, you can find the audiobook on Audible or Libro.fm (ProTips: Audible is 99 cents/mo for three months (3 books for $2.97) right now AND you can get two free audiobooks on Libro.fm with the code SWITCH right now).
Favorite Quote:
“I wouldn’t mind waiting an eternity if she were at th end of it.”
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