PRE-READING
A Western about travelling con artists selling snake oil remedies? I'm listening.
Strangebrew Apothecary promises a ragtag crew of grifters, small towns, supernatural abilities and a world that isn't particularly welcoming to anyone who doesn't fit neatly into its expectations. Add a little found family, and I was very much ready to climb aboard the wagon.
POST-READING
Ellastaria Strange - Ella to her friends, once she's willing to admit she has any - joins a travelling crew of con artists and serpent-oil salesmen because she's trying to escape poverty. Unfortunately, she has a rather inconvenient secret: unlike her colleagues, she really can practise supernatural medicine.
When a con goes disastrously wrong and Ella's abilities are exposed, the group finds itself running from people who would very much like to see them punished for being different. Their journey brings them into contact with a brewer and his sister, and gradually the motley collection of outcasts starts to become something rather more important than a group of people who happen to be travelling together.
At its heart, this is a found-family story. Only one of the characters seems particularly interested in being found at the beginning; the others more or less fall into the arrangement and spend a good while fighting it. Naturally, this only makes the eventual connections more satisfying.
The Western setting works beautifully, with its small towns, travelling salesmen and suspicion of anything outside the accepted order. There's fantasy here, too, but it complements the setting rather than overwhelming it. Ella's magic gives the story another dimension, and there are some other lovely surprises that I'll leave for you to discover.
As I expected
The characters are the heart of this book. I loved the way their relationships develop, particularly the gradual shift from people thrown together by circumstance to people who actively choose to stand beside one another.
The theming is excellent, too. This is a story about outcasts finding their place, about learning to trust people who might not fit your expectations, and about discovering that family doesn't necessarily look the way you thought it would.
There's a lovely Firefly quality to the whole thing: a collection of people with different motives, different skills and different ideas about how much they need one another, slowly becoming a crew. Add the practical, community-minded feel of Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, and you have a pretty good idea of the appeal.
I was surprised by
The pacing in the middle. The story slows down for a while, and I found myself wishing it would get moving again.
Then it does.
And when it picks back up, it REALLY picks back up. The later sections reminded me exactly why I'd become so invested in these characters in the first place, and the ending is absolutely gorgeous.
I would happily spend more time in this universe if Rustin Lovewell decides to return to it. But if this is all we get, the story has still reached a wonderfully satisfying conclusion. I love an ending that leaves me wanting more without making me feel that the book itself is unfinished.
RECOMMENDATIONS
For another ragtag found family travelling through a fantastical version of the American frontier, try The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen for a different blend of romance, fantasy and unlikely connections. And for television, Firefly is the obvious recommendation: a crew of complicated people, a journey through a rough-edged world, and the gradual realisation that these irritating people have somehow become their people.
MUSIC PAIRING
“The Parting Glass” — traditional
There's something about the song's mixture of warmth, sadness and companionship that suits a story about people who have been alone in different ways, and who find something worth holding on to together.
VIBE CHECK
Colour palette: Dusty ochre, weathered leather, sage green, faded denim and the warm amber of lamplight.
Soundtrack: Wagon wheels on a rough road, horses shifting in their harnesses, a saloon piano, the clink of bottles and the quiet sounds of people making themselves at home somewhere they hadn't intended to stay.
Season: Late summer, when the days are still hot but the evenings are beginning to cool.
Mood: Scrappy, adventurous, wry, hopeful and increasingly affectionate.
Scent: Dust, leather, brewing beer, medicinal herbs and the sharp, unfamiliar smell of something magical bubbling away.
Texture: Rough canvas, worn wood, glass bottles, dusty roads and the comfortable softness of a blanket shared around a campfire.
TAROT CARD PULLED
The Five of Pentacles
The Five of Pentacles is often associated with hardship, exclusion and the feeling of being left out in the cold. But it can also remind us that help and companionship may be closer than we realise - even when we're too proud, frightened or stubborn to ask for them.
That feels right for a group of people who begin the story with very different reasons to keep moving and very little inclination to rely on one another. Their circumstances might bring them together, but the real transformation comes when they stop treating connection as a weakness and start recognising it as a source of strength.
✦ THE TRUE QUESTION ✦
What if the people you never intended to keep are the ones who become your home?
Ella and her fellow travellers begin as a collection of people trying to survive, not as a family looking for one another. Their journey is about discovering that belonging can grow out of the most unlikely circumstances - and that choosing to stay can be just as brave as choosing to run.
Strangebrew Apothecary publishes on 29 October 2026. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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