The Pharmacist by Rachelle Atalla (eARC Review)

Format Read: eBook (eARC)

Source: NetGalley

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Genres: Fiction, Post Apocalyptic

Publication Date: 12th May 2022

Synopsis/Blurb (Taken from Goodreads):

“THE BUNKER IS DESIGNED TO KEEP THEM ALL SAFE.

In the end, very few people made it to the bunker. Now they wait there for the outside world to heal. Wolfe is one of the lucky ones. She’s safe and employed as the bunker’s pharmacist, doling out medicine under the watchful eye of their increasingly erratic and paranoid leader.

BUT IS IT THE PLACE OF GREATEST DANGER?

But when the leader starts to ask things of Wolfe, favours she can hardly say no to, it seems her luck is running out. Forming an unlikely alliance with the young Doctor Stirling, her troubled assistant Levitt, and Canavan – a tattooed giant of a man who’s purpose in the bunker is a mystery – Wolfe must navigate the powder keg of life underground where one misstep will light the fuse. The walls that keep her safe also have her trapped.

How much more is Wolfe willing to give to stay alive?”

My Thoughts

The Pharmacist is a post-apocalyptic dystopian novel that follows inhabitants of a bunker. In particular it follows one of the inhabitants Sarah Wolfe. Sarah Wolfe is one of two pharmacists who has been chosen to live in the bunker. However she is unsure as to why she was chosen and why only chosen inhabitants were allowed in the bunker. Life in the bunker is not as plan sailing as everyone thought it would be, food is rationed and the inhabitants have to follow some strict rules in order to survive, but Sarah is now faced with a dilemma of whether to meet the demands the bunker’s leader is putting on her in exchange for some real fresh food and to stay alive.

Sounds good right!! Well to an extent it was. I was intrigued by the premises and really enjoyed the first part of the book, but then the book started getting heavy and slow. At first, I was really interested in learning about Sarah but as the story progresses I found it more and more difficult to care about Sarah. I also found the ending a little disappointing, as it left me with way too many unanswered questions.

At the beginning I really liked the writing style and pace but sadly as the story progressed it started to feel a little problematic. Everything started to feel like it was just going around in circles. Maybe it was intended to be like that as the story is set in a bunker, and it’s supposed to feel realistic as possible but it just didn’t work for me.

I really liked the idea of this book and although it has a very slow plot I think it wasn’t a bad read. Even though I wasn’t blown away by this book like I was expecting to I think it’s worth giving a go!!

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers Hodder & Stoughton for my eARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review!!

My Rating