The Healer’s Apprentice

Quotes

Genre

• Historical Fiction
• Romance
• Young Adult
• Fairy Tale Retelling
• Fantasy
• Christian Fiction

Trigger Warnings

• Ableism
• Blood
• Toxic relationship
• Child Death (minor)
• Christian
• Mild Language
• Alcohol
• Unchivalrous behavior toward women

*There may be spoilers in this review. I will try to avoid major spoilers but some need to be brought up to be discussed.

Summary

Two Hearts. One Hope.

Rose has been appointed as a healer’s apprentice at Hagenheim Castle, a rare opportunity for a woodcutter’s daughter like her. While she often feels uneasy at the sight of blood, Rose is determined to prove herself capable. Failure will mean returning home to marry the aging bachelor her mother has chosen for her—a bloated, disgusting merchant who makes Rose feel ill.

When Lord Hamlin, the future duke, is injured, it is Rose who must tend to him. As she works to heal his wound, she begins to understand emotions she’s never felt before and wonders if he feels the same. But falling in love is forbidden, as Lord Hamlin is betrothed to a mysterious young woman in hiding. As Rose’s life spins toward confusion, she must take the first steps on a journey to discover her own destiny.

Characters

• Rose Roemer – a poor girl apprenticed to the healer
• Wolfie – Rose’s dog
• Hildy – Rose’s best friend
• Lord Hamlin/ Duke Wilhelm Gerstenberg – The
• Lord Rupert Gerstenberg
• Moncore – Evil sorcerer dude
• Frau Geruscha – Rose’s mentor and a healer

Setting

Saxony (Germany, 1386), Hagenheim, Lower Saxony

Overview

So I did not realize when I saw this on a fairy tale retelling list that it was going to be so religious. I don’t have anything against religion in literature, in fact it can be a good way to learn about aspects of a faith, I just wasn’t prepared. It was pretty heavy-handed in this one and could be distracting from the narrative.

I didn’t… hate it. I just got bored and found myself thinking of other things in the middle of the story.

Pros

I liked the aspect of Rose being a healer. I like how the injuries were handled and how she took the work seriously. She struggles with self-doubt and with handling blood but has a lot of respect for the profession. A part of me felt she rode the Mary Sue line a little bit but I didn’t find it incredibly distracting.

I liked the idea that the Sleeping Beauty was hidden right under their nose. It’s an element that can add a lot of drama. One of the reasons I like reading all these retellings is seeing how authors can get creative with the structure of the story. *Spoiler warning – I caught on that she was the fiancée pretty early on but I wanted to see how they would play out the reveal.

Making it fit in real world was an interesting way to work with fairy tales. I’m not super versed in Germanic history so I have no idea if any of it is accurate or if any of the characters were real. I felt that Dickerson really put a lot of effort in her worldbuilding, trying to make her town and castle feel real while remaining entertaining as well.

Wolfie is a good boy.

Cons

Abrupt perspective changes were a downside for me. I was listening to the audiobook so I didn’t have any visual cues that it was switching and I found myself trying to get my brain to pull out of the thought process of the previous segment. Then my brain decided to give up because well honestly because it wasn’t invested.

The characters were honestly kind of boring to me. They would use the same three notes throughout the whole story and I found myself rolling my eyes more often than not at Lord Hamlin’s pining. I can get into some angst and the slow burn but it felt like he couldn’t think of anything but Rose all the time.

Most of the story, world, and other characters felt like they were there just to show how wonderful Rose was. I mean, again, I didn’t dislike her but the world made me want to. It sincerely felt like the world couldn’t handle just how beautiful she was. Sheesh.

Final Thoughts

I was kind of underwhelmed. There isn’t anything really wrong with it. nothing super offensive or unforgiveable just not really my cup of tea. I didn’t know walking in that it was going to be Christian based so that threw me for a loop at first. Everything felt kind of flat to me. I am trying to tell myself to pick up the second book in the series because I DO love fairy tale retellings I just… Maybe later.

That being said I do think those out there trying to find clean YA with more of a fantasy feel this would be a good option.

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