Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Atalla has written a disturbingly realistic post-apocalyptic novel about the lengths we go to for survival, and what might be sacrificed in the process. Wolfe's decisions seem like ones most people would make, under the circumstances, which perhaps makes reading this novel even more difficult. Not a rival to other dystopic novels like The Handmaid's Tale, but an interesting take on the subject.

I can see exactly why others would love this book - the slow build of unease that things are wrong, but not what, is well done and the heavily removed style mimics the wearying effect of living in a tightly controlled world for a claustrophobic effect. However, it wasn't enough to engage me with this book.

While the slow build was done well, there wasn't enough of a hook at the start to draw me in and keep my attention through that build. The events felt too mundane (for the world), not promising enough to snare my attention and make me wonder where it was going to go. There weren't any questions I desperately wanted an answer to.

Honestly, I don't think I had any questions at all about the plot at any point, questions about what would happen later. And questions are the biggest driver of narrative tension, the thing keeping you going because you just <em>have</em> to know how it's resolved.

This is because Wolfe didn't have any obvious goals - she wasn't striving for anything, didn't desperately want anything. While it matches the lethargy of the world inside the bunker, it made it hard to root for her as there was nothing to root for, nothing to hope she got in the end. Plus it bottomed out the momentum because I didn't have anything to measure success by. I didn't know if events were getting her further or closer to goals.

The formatting was also a little weird, and I don't think it was just an eARC thing. It wasn't strange line breaks all over the place - that was all fine - but instead there were no speech marks. It made it so hard to follow what was being said and what was being thought (particularly as it was written in first person.) That added a layer of confusion and having to read sections several times to work out what was happening - and who, if anyone, was speaking.

A gripping read, worth checking for readers interested in claustrophobic narratives, deep characterization, and clever plots. Highly recommended.

I began this book & I wasn't sure where it was taking me but I was not disappointed. What a book!
the book is set in a bunker, where people are living after a nuclear bomb has devastated the country. Everyone is known by their surnames & ID number. The place is run by a leader that no one sees or has contact with. Not is all it seems. Wolfe is a pharmacist & she works in the pharmacy, dispensing medication for everyone. She also helps with minor ailments too.
I was gripped from the beginning. So much detail, so much going on, so many emotions. The characters are at times difficult to like but they are living in such dreadful circumstances & not in a normal life.
I want to read more about what happens next. There has to be a sequel!
Recommended read.

Wow! You would not know this is a debut! This is one of my fave thrillers of the year and I will be recommending this to everyone! Rachelle has written such a fabulous book that kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat til the very end! Can’t wait to see more of her work!

I was intrigued by the premise of this book and couldn't wait to read it. Unfortunately I found it difficult to read and I didn't warm to any of the characters.

In the pharmacist we follow Wolfe as she goes about her day to day life in the grim reality of life in a nuclear bunker. As the pharmacist she works to ensure people receive the medication they need, but when the mysterious leader asks her to spy on some of her fellow inhabitants will she retain her principles?

This story was engaging and I felt claustrophobic and drawn in from the beginning as the author described the life led by the bunker inhabitants. I didn’t really like any of the characters but a story such as this does make you wonder what you would do in a similar situation. One that I will be thinking about for a while.

A post-apocalyptic novel told from the perspective of Sarah Wolfe, a pharmacist in a bunker designed to keep people safe from nuclear fallout in the outside world. But does the bunker itself hold the greater danger?
Atalla creates a bleak setting — people crammed together, eating rations of tasteless food, battling boredom and taking tablets for depression. Sexual violence, paranoia and suicide are abundant. And a claustrophobic sense of disquiet draws you into the escalating tension.
But when the leader (who is reminiscent of Trump or Johnson) shows Sarah a different way to live, how much is she willing to give to achieve it?
Accomplished prose, darkly comic at times, combined with the moral question of how far you would go to stay alive, makes The Pharmacist compulsive reading. Very much a book that reflects our own fractured world and you can’t help but draw comparisons.
A stunning debut, perfect for fans of literary books like The Power.

This book is set in the not too distant future in the aftermath of a nuclear fallout. Chosen people are living below ground in a bunker with their leader ND. The situation is very well described and we meet The Pharmacist, Sarah who has no family and the story unfolds from her perspective. This is a scary scenario made even more so by a very well written and tightly plotted storyline. I’m off to find out if Rachelle Atalla has written anything else as I think she’s one to watch out for.

A very unique dystopian novel set in a bunker whilst a war goes on above ground. The inhabitants are given food pouches and are not allowed any personal effects such as clothes or even names. Only known by a number and surname. I thought the main character was weak at times but overall I enjoyed this novel

A fascinating story about living in lockdown post a nuclear fallout, told from the perspective of a pharmacist. It was an interesting choice of career for the narrator, given her proximity to the medical profession yet being outside it, and the perspective she had on everyday survival. I was left somewhat dissatisfied with the ending, but still enjoyed the book.

(Review copy from NetGalley)

The Pharmacist is an excellent example of speculative fiction and a must-read for 2022. Admittedly, this is the exact type of book I love to read. I am a sucker for dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction and The Pharmacist gave me heavy Margaret Atwood vibes.

Wolfe and a handful of other survivors are existing in a bunker whilst they wait for the world to heal. Wolfe has a job as a pharmacist in one of the two pharmacies within the confines of the bunker and this offers her a certain amount of secuirty. Then an incident occurs and Wolfe finds herself beholden to their increasingly erratic leader.

The Pharmacist has a claustraphobic feel to it and as the tension builds the reader can feel how Wolfe would feel trapped and might consider to extreme actions. From the beginning the reader is prepared for the bleak nature of the book when Wolfe is called to the aid of a suicide attempt gone wrong.

"There was no shock left in watching someone atttempt a suicide but I was struck by Templeton's originality, impressed even. I doubt it would be something I would be capable of. My whole life has been made up of these moments - envious of other people's convictions. I felt feeble in comparison."

The Pharmacist is very much a character driven narrative and I was intrigued to see Wolfe through her interactions with others. In particular, he interactions with the leader ND. Their relationship reminded me very much of the relationship between Offred and the commander in The Handmaid's Tale because it is all about an imbalance of power. Everything is a power play; the food he gives her, the films he allows her to watch, and the use of her former name.

"Ms Wolfe...Sarah. May I call you Sarah? The Sa was booming, like singing a song but the rah was long and elongated, like being called out from a distance and I didn't like it.; didn't want to be spoken to with a name that my loved ones had used so tenderly. I wanted it to stay dead with them. I would prefer Wolfe, I said."

We know that only a select number were allowed into the bunker and that the vulnerable elderly and small children were excluded. We learn that inclusion into the bunker was not necessarily done on any benefit.

"The country's best minds huddled together - but in reality it was mostly populated by politicans and bankers, the odd media mogul thrown in for good measure. They had enough money and influence to protect themselves and their loved one, but there was nothing particularly special or impressive about any of them."

The Pharmacist makes us question our own moral compass and what we would do to survive in extreme circumstances. Read and imagine what would you do to survive?

Wolfe is lucky to be here in The Bunker. She and the other lucky ones who made it to the Bunker work tirelessly for the world above to heal and grow again, and look after the people down below. It's not perfect - living on bunks, with ration packs and constantly at risk of assault from the other dwellers, but they're alive.

For now, anyway. When their leader starts to take an interest in Wolfe, asking favours she can't deny, she starts to see another side of the Bunker that could change everything - it could be a new life for her, or it could be the spark that sets everything on fire.

This claustrophic, atmospheric novel takes place in an unnamed place and time, after an unnamed event - and the whole story carries on with this sense of timelessness and loneliness, a strange alienation that sets the tone from the first few pages. We hear only from Wolfe, her perspective on the Bunker and the letting the reader find out the secrets along with her. It has that modern prose style without speech marks, which definitely added to the tone but can be very off-putting for many readers.

This dystopian fiction is exciting and pacey, but provides all too realistic speculation about the disparity of power that those in charge could gain in devastating circumstances, and the danger that could pose. This is one of those stories that will make you wonder - what would you do if you were there? And how far would you go to survive in a world that wants to kill you?

The Pharmacist is a grim dystopian novel about the inhabitants of a bunker, especially picked to repopulate the earth after a nuclear holocaust. I generally enjoy this genre but found this one heavy going, with a protagonist who was difficult to care about, a problematic writing style and a disappointing ending that left too many questions unanswered.

Sarah Wolfe is one of two pharmacists charged with dispensing medicines to the universally depressed survivors living a rigidly controlled life underground while they wait for the world to recover from an unexplained apocalypse. She’s unsure why she was chosen to survive, and feels unresolved guilt about leaving her family behind. When the bunker’s leader summons her to his quarters and offers the temptations of real food in exchange for information about her patients, she is powerless to refuse, but his escalating demands force her to question just how much she’ll compromise to survive.

This had an interesting premise, similar in some ways to the brilliant Wool trilogy, let down by the unpleasantness of reading text devoid of quotation marks and paragraph breaks - it’s unclear how much of this is ARC formatting and how much was a deliberate style choice, but if the latter, it doesn’t work and will put off many readers who don’t appreciate having to read sentences multiple times to work out what’s dialogue versus Wolfe’s inner monologue - or even who is speaking.

The claustrophobia of life in the bunker was well done, as Wolfe describes the drudgery of supervising residents taking their daily doses of antidepressants and sedatives, trying to help where she can, but resentful of those she perceives are wasting her time. The author must have pharmacy experience herself as the medical details were spot-on. “ Everyone seemed to be on diazepam. The supply would not last our duration and I contemplated what would happen when everyone was defrosted back to reality.”

We are not told anything about the (presumed) war that caused the situation, the state of the rest of the world (since everything is told from Wolfe’s burned out POV) or the justification for ND’s behaviour other than paranoia over his predictably dwindling grip on power. It’s a depressing read, particularly at a time when the world holds its breath waiting to see what a nuclear-capable madman will do next. I’m not a fan of inconclusive endings and felt disappointed by the lack of payoff here. 2.5 rounded down .

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC. I am posting this honest review voluntarily.
The Pharmacist is published on May 12th.

This book was so promising, sounds like something that could actually happen in the future.

Unfortunately, I didn’t finish the book because of how it appeared on my kindle but after reading 25% of the book I’m inclined to purchase it to see how it continues.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

3.25 stars. I found the start of this book quite confusing and a bit of struggle to follow however once the leader was introduced the plot really took shape and it became very readable. I found myself wanting to know more about why the bunker worked in the way it did and how they all came to be there which was quite cursory. This was more of an action-based plot than a thinky novel. I enjoyed the characters and their relationships, however the plot and background could have been developed more.

Dystopian novels can really vary in terms of quality, but I am pleased to say that I found this both engaging and realistic. Sarah Wolfe is a thirty-four-year-old pharmacist, who lives and works in a bunker. Those living in the bunker are the influential or have useful skills, such as Wolfe herself. Although where the novel is set is unnamed, that helps create a sense of dissociation, claustrophobia, boredom, and disillusionment.

Atalla paints a realistic portrait of a way of life that is all too believable. Where food appears in packs, unpalatable and unsatisfying. Where everything is rationed, women are subjected to unwanted assaults, people sleep on bunks in racks and Wolfe spends much of her time handing out anti-depressants. However, when she finds herself called to speak to the Leader, she realises that not everyone is having the same experience. This novel asks interesting questions, what would you do to escape the monotony of your existence? Would a movie, or less bland food, be enough to make you consider doing something that goes against your judgement?

A really interesting read – this would be a great choice for book groups, as there is so much to discuss. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

I enjoyed the first part of this book, meeting the characters and sorting in my mind who was good and who was bad. Basically it is a post apocalyptic tale and the same characters pop up time and again. I was constantly searching for the reasons why the pharmacist had been selected to do the things she was asked to do and basically was given a very half hearted reason very near the end of the book. The plot never really got past mad dictatorial leader and everyone behaving like sheep. All in all it was not my cup of tea but I am sure it will appeal to some.

Wolfe is a pharmacist inside a bunker, a few months into a 3-year escape from fallout (the reasons for which remain unknown). It's a lonely, hard job, made more difficult by the fact she has no family in the bunker, few friends, and then the paranoid, hardly-seen leader takes a liking to her...

This is a well-written book, though there's purposely no punctuation around dialogue, which might annoy a fair few. It's also quite dark and chilling, with more of a focus on what people will do when they're desperate than on hope and happiness. The focus is tight, largely on just a handful of inhabitants of the bunker and what they do to survive over a matter of a few months. But hope, or at least a belief in change, is there by the end.

I'm glad I read The Pharmacist, though it ends quite abruptly - I actually wanted more of it by that point. I'd certainly like to return to the world for a more positive spin on what might happen next. But perhaps that's asking for too much. Right now, The Pharmacist is a thought-provoking post-apocalyptic tale of a small corner of the end of the world - and that's good enough for this reader.

An interesting premise let down by the slow narrative. The protagonist Wolfe, the Pharmacist of the title, was unlikable and the method of addressing the characters by their surnames dehumanized them. I enjoy dystopian fiction but this novel was not for me.