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All-Night Pharmacy: A Novel
*A NATIONAL BESTSELLER*
Rachel Kushner meets David Lynch in this fever dream of an LA novel about a young woman who commits a drunken act of violence just before her sister vanishes without a trace
On the night of her high school graduation, a young woman follows her older sister Debbie to Salvation, a Los Angeles bar patronized by energy healers, aspiring actors, and all-around misfits. After the two share a bag of unidentified pills, the evening turns into a haze of sensual and risky interactions—nothing unusual for two sisters bound in an incredibly toxic relationship. Our unnamed narrator has always been under the spell of the alluring and rebellious Debbie and, despite her own hesitations, she has always said yes to nights like these. That is, until Debbie disappears.
Falling deeper into the life she cultivated with her sister, our narrator gets a job as an emergency room secretary where she steals pills to sell on the side. Cue Sasha, a Jewish refugee from the former Soviet Union who arrives at the hospital claiming to be a psychic tasked with acting as the narrator’s spiritual guide. The nature of this relationship evolves and blurs, a kaleidoscope of friendship, sex, mysticism, and ambiguous power dynamics.
With prose pulsing like a neon sign, Ruth Madievsky’s All-Night Pharmacy is an intoxicating portrait of a young woman consumed with unease over how a person should be. As she attempts sobriety and sexual embodiment, she must decide whether to search for her estranged sister, or allow her to remain a relic of the past.
Rachel Kushner meets David Lynch in this fever dream of an LA novel about a young woman who commits a drunken act of violence just before her sister vanishes without a trace
On the night of her high school graduation, a young woman follows her older sister Debbie to Salvation, a Los Angeles bar patronized by energy healers, aspiring actors, and all-around misfits. After the two share a bag of unidentified pills, the evening turns into a haze of sensual and risky interactions—nothing unusual for two sisters bound in an incredibly toxic relationship. Our unnamed narrator has always been under the spell of the alluring and rebellious Debbie and, despite her own hesitations, she has always said yes to nights like these. That is, until Debbie disappears.
Falling deeper into the life she cultivated with her sister, our narrator gets a job as an emergency room secretary where she steals pills to sell on the side. Cue Sasha, a Jewish refugee from the former Soviet Union who arrives at the hospital claiming to be a psychic tasked with acting as the narrator’s spiritual guide. The nature of this relationship evolves and blurs, a kaleidoscope of friendship, sex, mysticism, and ambiguous power dynamics.
With prose pulsing like a neon sign, Ruth Madievsky’s All-Night Pharmacy is an intoxicating portrait of a young woman consumed with unease over how a person should be. As she attempts sobriety and sexual embodiment, she must decide whether to search for her estranged sister, or allow her to remain a relic of the past.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published July 11, 2023
386 people are currently reading
36378 people want to read
About the author
Ruth Madievsky
3 books396 followersRuth Madievsky is the author of a novel, "All-Night Pharmacy" (Catapult, 2023) and a bestselling poetry collection, "Emergency Brake." Her work appears in The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, Harper's Bazaar, Tin House, Kenyon Review, Ploughshares, Them, and elsewhere. She is originally from Moldova and lives in Los Angeles, where she works as an HIV and primary care pharmacist.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,105 reviews
August 25, 2022
I wrote this book! It slaps.
July 27, 2023
all-night pharmacy marks yet another submission into what i call the (ever-growing) domestic dread literary niche: contemporary books following disillusioned young women flailing against their sociocultural bindings through unhealthy relationships with sex and desire (read: men, men, men, and more men—sometimes and often married men).
that makes up about the first one-third of this book. where ruth madievsky deviates (by introducing a female love interest, albeit quite clumsily), all-night pharmacy is able to briefly transcend its melancholy tropeification, first by allowing readers a glimpse of genuine and intensely terrifying desire between two women, then by setting that desire ablaze.
when set beside the narrator and sasha's developing (gay) relationship, earlier sexual dynamics with men become almost comically hollow. i have to wonder why more novels in the domestic dread niche don't attempt to answer their mc's existential conundrums by throwing queer relationships into the fray. that seems an obvious and unexplored solution to the increasingly hackneyed trend in these books wherein women seek out painful and punishing sex with throwaway men as a way to feel something (ANYTHING AT ALL) at the cost of their own safety (and bodily autonomy)—and i maintain that raven leilani's luster is one of the first and only in this niche to do so convincingly, and without making me roll my eyes.
we see a little bit of that in this book early on, though madievsky seems aware of the literary tropes she's writing her way into:
the problem with all-night pharmacy is not that its aware of its place in the domestic dread litfic landscape, or even that it attempts to subvert that in small, subtle ways. the problem is that it doesn't seem to understand its own form. it's a novel confused about being a novel, a novel told in fits and starts, a novel that relies on vignette-style narration not for stylistic purposes (as i argue luster does), but because madievsky doesn't know how long-form scene-writing works.
the book's narrative momentum is random and desultory, picking up at certain points, then trailing off into time-lapse narration to speed things along at others. for most of the novel, i got the feeling that madievsky was trucking along only to prove to herself that she could see the narrative through to the end—not because she had an actual, intimate understanding of her own storytelling.
there's a clearly delineated starting point (codependent sister goes missing) and a clearly delineated conclusion (sister mystery is solved, THE END!), but madievsky struggles to tie these two points together decisively.
nearly every character feels throwaway. the few scenes we're permitted are short and always light on dialogue. and despite the fact that debbie, the wild, chaos-driven older sister, lies at the heart of the emotional obsession and codependency driving this book, i never for a moment bought into that codependency. there wasn't enough conclusive evidence (read: scene-specific storytelling) for me to see debbie as anything but a plot device, and one that was wrapped up in a pretty bow in about 2-3 short chapters, with no actual novel-spanning development.
madievsky wrote herself into more than a few narrative walls, though the first and most important is this: her narrator fulfills a passive role in almost every single dynamic she's in. things happen TO her. she doesn't happen to the novel. sasha careens into her life declaring that she's her psychic amulet and knows everything about her, and our narrator is content to follow along. debbie goes missing and begins her offscreen development, while our narrator sits back and occasionally thinks about her. even the "finding debbie" arc is passive.
and while there's some beautiful prose in this, after a point, the observational, simile-heavy style of storytelling began to grate. ____ reminded me of ____, ____ felt like _____, ____ seemed as though ____.....AD NAUSEAM! i don't need 100 versions of this:
or,
katy perry already beat you to that one a while ago 😫😫😫💔
this style of writing (and one i'm in no way immune to in my own work, don't get me wrong) makes me think of one of my favorite poetry quotes from angie sijun lou's "Jessica gives me a chill pill":
we should all listen to angie sijun lou's jessica more often!!!!!!!!!!!!
despite the (not inconsiderable) criticism i have for all-night pharmacy, i DO believe it's one of the stronger domestic dread submissions, simply because it has a whole lot of heart going for it (which not many in this category can say....ahem, moshfegh.....). she wrote this with a purpose. that much is clear, even if i found madievsky's craft ability lacking. she wanted to transcend her own tropes. she wanted to find meaning by the end of this book. she wanted to interrogate generational trauma and desire. and i give her props for finally spicing things up by directing her focus towards relationships between women (SICK of reading litfic take #4035830485 on cishet white woman fucking a man she shouldn't be in ways designed to make readers wince). 2.7/5.
that makes up about the first one-third of this book. where ruth madievsky deviates (by introducing a female love interest, albeit quite clumsily), all-night pharmacy is able to briefly transcend its melancholy tropeification, first by allowing readers a glimpse of genuine and intensely terrifying desire between two women, then by setting that desire ablaze.
when set beside the narrator and sasha's developing (gay) relationship, earlier sexual dynamics with men become almost comically hollow. i have to wonder why more novels in the domestic dread niche don't attempt to answer their mc's existential conundrums by throwing queer relationships into the fray. that seems an obvious and unexplored solution to the increasingly hackneyed trend in these books wherein women seek out painful and punishing sex with throwaway men as a way to feel something (ANYTHING AT ALL) at the cost of their own safety (and bodily autonomy)—and i maintain that raven leilani's luster is one of the first and only in this niche to do so convincingly, and without making me roll my eyes.
we see a little bit of that in this book early on, though madievsky seems aware of the literary tropes she's writing her way into:
I was spending most days watching SpongeBob SquarePants, reading novels about unlikable women behaving badly, and masturbating into a vegetative state.
the problem with all-night pharmacy is not that its aware of its place in the domestic dread litfic landscape, or even that it attempts to subvert that in small, subtle ways. the problem is that it doesn't seem to understand its own form. it's a novel confused about being a novel, a novel told in fits and starts, a novel that relies on vignette-style narration not for stylistic purposes (as i argue luster does), but because madievsky doesn't know how long-form scene-writing works.
the book's narrative momentum is random and desultory, picking up at certain points, then trailing off into time-lapse narration to speed things along at others. for most of the novel, i got the feeling that madievsky was trucking along only to prove to herself that she could see the narrative through to the end—not because she had an actual, intimate understanding of her own storytelling.
there's a clearly delineated starting point (codependent sister goes missing) and a clearly delineated conclusion (sister mystery is solved, THE END!), but madievsky struggles to tie these two points together decisively.
nearly every character feels throwaway. the few scenes we're permitted are short and always light on dialogue. and despite the fact that debbie, the wild, chaos-driven older sister, lies at the heart of the emotional obsession and codependency driving this book, i never for a moment bought into that codependency. there wasn't enough conclusive evidence (read: scene-specific storytelling) for me to see debbie as anything but a plot device, and one that was wrapped up in a pretty bow in about 2-3 short chapters, with no actual novel-spanning development.
madievsky wrote herself into more than a few narrative walls, though the first and most important is this: her narrator fulfills a passive role in almost every single dynamic she's in. things happen TO her. she doesn't happen to the novel. sasha careens into her life declaring that she's her psychic amulet and knows everything about her, and our narrator is content to follow along. debbie goes missing and begins her offscreen development, while our narrator sits back and occasionally thinks about her. even the "finding debbie" arc is passive.
and while there's some beautiful prose in this, after a point, the observational, simile-heavy style of storytelling began to grate. ____ reminded me of ____, ____ felt like _____, ____ seemed as though ____.....AD NAUSEAM! i don't need 100 versions of this:
My body felt like a period cramp plugged into an electric socket.
or,
The wind blew me into oncoming traffic like a plastic bag.
katy perry already beat you to that one a while ago 😫😫😫💔
this style of writing (and one i'm in no way immune to in my own work, don't get me wrong) makes me think of one of my favorite poetry quotes from angie sijun lou's "Jessica gives me a chill pill":
I / ask Jessica what drowning / feels like and she says / not everything feels like / something else.
we should all listen to angie sijun lou's jessica more often!!!!!!!!!!!!
despite the (not inconsiderable) criticism i have for all-night pharmacy, i DO believe it's one of the stronger domestic dread submissions, simply because it has a whole lot of heart going for it (which not many in this category can say....ahem, moshfegh.....). she wrote this with a purpose. that much is clear, even if i found madievsky's craft ability lacking. she wanted to transcend her own tropes. she wanted to find meaning by the end of this book. she wanted to interrogate generational trauma and desire. and i give her props for finally spicing things up by directing her focus towards relationships between women (SICK of reading litfic take #4035830485 on cishet white woman fucking a man she shouldn't be in ways designed to make readers wince). 2.7/5.
June 22, 2025
—— 𝟒.𝟐𝟓 ☆ 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬. 💊
❝𝐵𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠.❞
📖┆ 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐲: 𝐀 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐛𝐲 𝐑𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐬𝐤𝐲
🏷️┆𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝕎𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟’𝕤 𝔽𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟
📆┆𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 𝟞/𝟙/𝟚𝟝 - 𝟞/𝟚/𝟚𝟝
📋┆𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬
「 “Our unnamed narrator has always been under the spell of her alluring and rebellious sister, Debbie. On the night of her high school graduation, she follows Debbie to Salvation, a Los Angeles bar patronized by energy healers, aspiring actors, and all-around misfits. After the two share a bag of unidentified pills, the evening turns into a haze of risky interactions, which is nothing unusual for these two sisters, bound in an incredibly toxic relationship. Then, Debbie disappears. Ruth Madievsky's All-Night Pharmacy is an intoxicating portrait of a young woman consumed with unease over how a person should be. As she attempts sobriety and sexual embodiment, she must decide whether to search for her estranged sister, or allow her to remain a relic of the past.”」
❝𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑘𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘. 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑘𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑒.❞
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: ★★★★.𝟐𝟓
ɢᴏᴏᴅʀᴇᴀᴅꜱ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: 𝟹.𝟻𝟶 ☆ ꜱᴛᴀʀꜱ
ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴ: ☀️
ᴘᴀɪʀ ᴡɪᴛʜ: ᴏxʏ-ᴀᴛɪᴠᴀɴ-ᴠᴏᴅᴋᴀ-ᴀᴄɪᴅ ᴄᴏᴄᴋᴛᴀɪʟ 🍸
ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴅ?: ʏᴇꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ᴀ ɴɪᴄʜᴇ ᴀᴜᴅɪᴇɴᴄᴇ
lıllılı.ıllı.ılılıılıı.lllııılı.
ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: [ꜱᴛᴀʏ ʜɪɢʜ ♪ ᴛᴏᴠᴇ ʟᴏ]
1:02 ———♡——— 3:29
◁◁ ▐ ▌ ▷▷
‧₊˚♪𝄞࿐₊˚⊹ 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 ℎ𝑎𝑧𝑒, 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑛𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑒 𝐼 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛. 𝑔𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝐼'𝑚 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢.
ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
💊 ꜱɪꜱᴛᴇʀʜᴏᴏᴅ
🦎ᴅᴀʀᴋ ʜᴜᴍᴏʀ
💊 ᴡᴇɪʀᴅ ɢɪʀʟ ʟɪᴛ
🦎 ᴜɴʜɪɴɢᴇᴅ ᴡᴏᴍᴇɴ
💊 ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ᴏꜰ ᴀɢᴇ ꜱᴛᴏʀɪᴇꜱ
🦎 ᴅʏꜱꜰᴜɴᴄᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟɪᴇꜱ
💊 ᴍᴇɴᴛᴀʟ ʜᴇᴀʟᴛʜ ʀᴇᴘʀᴇꜱᴇɴᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ
⚠️TW: sexual content, substance abuse, miscarriage, animal death, sexual assault
❝”𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔
𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠.”
“𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑗𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔.”
“𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙. 𝑌𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒
𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑈𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟.”❞
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
💬┆𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
• This book does INDEED slap! Another one to add to my unhinged women collection. ✔️
• All Night Pharmacy is not gonna be for everyone. It’s one of those books where it’s no plot, all vibes. If you’ve read The Guest by Emma Cline or any of Ottessa Moshfegh's novels, you will inhale this like I did.
• Wanna know the reason why this book stuck out to me in the first place? Besides the cover. Because it has the word pharmacy in it. & if you’re new here or just plain forgot (it’s ok I’ll forgive you), I’m a pharmacy technician, so here I am, thinking I’m going into a novel about ~pharmacy life~ but then I read the blurb & found out that it’s actually about an addict & her sister. Then when I started reading, I also realized that it is one of my favorite genres: weird girl lit & if you know, you know 🙂↔️
• I didn’t expect this book to hit like it did. I found myself relating to our unnamed narrator A LOT, especially when it came to her mental health. We both have panic attacks & take some of the same anxiety medications 🫶🏼 twinsies! Throughout the book, we saw how in her head our unnamed narrator was & how she was often described as too sensitive for this world, again me to a T. Yo, Ruth Madievsky, were you in my head when writing this? Cause girl you made me feel seen & I’m sure a lot of other people who struggle with anxiety/depression disorders might feel the same after reading this.
• I loved our unnamed narrator, I only wanted the best for her & despite myself, I even wanted the best for Debbie too. At the end of the day, these two girls endured so much, whether they were situations that they caused themselves or situations beyond their control. I wanted them to get their happy ending. And spoiler alert: they did. 🥹
• I still don’t understand Sasha’s deal. Was she a psychic? Was she a grifter? How did she know to randomly show up to our unnamed narrator’s job? I had a hard time trusting her. I’m glad she was able to heal a part of our unnamed narrator & help her get clean, but I really felt like she just took Debbie’s place & was another person for our unnamed narrator to become addicted to.
• Everyone in this book suffered with their mental health in some way, even Apples the iguana had to be on Lexapro.
• The author’s writing was so beautifully descriptive, it really gave you the feel of a hazy, gritty, fever dream, summer in L.A.. I highlighted the fuck out of this book.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
❝𝐼’𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑆𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑎’𝑠 𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝐼’𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝐷𝑒𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑒’𝑠. 𝐼 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑚𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡-𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑘 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑎, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐷𝑒𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑒. 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑙𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟. ❞
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
✒️𓂃 ᴍᴏʀᴇ Qᴜᴏᴛᴇꜱ ɪ ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ
❝𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑦.❞
❝𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓. 𝐵𝑢𝑡, 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜, 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑦𝑠���𝑙𝑓, 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒.❞
❝𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒, 𝑤𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔.❞
❝”𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑖𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑝 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑦 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑜 𝑖𝑛 𝐸𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑜, 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐴𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑒. 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑜 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑚𝑎 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛 𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑚è𝑠 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑓.” 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑚è𝑠 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑓.
𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑑. “𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛’𝑡 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔.”❞
❝”𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔,” 𝑆𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑎 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛. “𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒. 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑌𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡.”❞
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── ─
❝”𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ,” 𝐼 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔.
𝑀𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑘 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑.
“𝑃𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑.”
“𝑆𝑜 𝐼 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟. 𝑀𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒’𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔.”
“𝑊𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑒?” ❞
January 4, 2023
what a lovely first read of the year. it’s about sisterhood and generational trauma and finding a way to live beyond the shadow of family: both those closest to you and those who came long before.
more queer girl coming of age stories pls 💖
out 7/11!
more queer girl coming of age stories pls 💖
out 7/11!
October 15, 2023
3.5 stars
I deeply resonated with certain elements of this book and found other parts more boring. To start with the positives, I think Ruth Madievsky did a great job portraying the difficult cycle of addiction, both in regard to substances and relationships. Our unnamed protagonist struggles with pills and with a toxic, codependent relationship with her sister – all until her sister disappears. Madievsky highlights how the recovery process isn’t linear and that sometimes healing means you feel worse before you feel better.
One element of the book I *loved* was how Madievsky showed that in some relationships, you really need time apart from the other person to grow and recover on your own. I felt emotional reading about the intensity of our protagonist’s relationship with her sister Debbie, then Debbie’s disappearance, then the ending which moved me in its subtlety and its restrained hopefulness. The characters’ growth in this novel felt messy and hard-won and not like a salve that cured all wounds, which made it feel realistic.
The reason why I give this book a slightly lower star-rating is that I do think lots of the narrative kind of felt a bit lackusterly-written? There are large swaths of the novel where our protagonist makes self-defeating decisions. That’s totally fine and part of her life story, though the writing in these sections felt either overwritten or monotonous (or at times both). Despite these limitations, I can see why this novel would resonate with folks and draw people in giving its attention-grabbing subject matter.
I deeply resonated with certain elements of this book and found other parts more boring. To start with the positives, I think Ruth Madievsky did a great job portraying the difficult cycle of addiction, both in regard to substances and relationships. Our unnamed protagonist struggles with pills and with a toxic, codependent relationship with her sister – all until her sister disappears. Madievsky highlights how the recovery process isn’t linear and that sometimes healing means you feel worse before you feel better.
One element of the book I *loved* was how Madievsky showed that in some relationships, you really need time apart from the other person to grow and recover on your own. I felt emotional reading about the intensity of our protagonist’s relationship with her sister Debbie, then Debbie’s disappearance, then the ending which moved me in its subtlety and its restrained hopefulness. The characters’ growth in this novel felt messy and hard-won and not like a salve that cured all wounds, which made it feel realistic.
The reason why I give this book a slightly lower star-rating is that I do think lots of the narrative kind of felt a bit lackusterly-written? There are large swaths of the novel where our protagonist makes self-defeating decisions. That’s totally fine and part of her life story, though the writing in these sections felt either overwritten or monotonous (or at times both). Despite these limitations, I can see why this novel would resonate with folks and draw people in giving its attention-grabbing subject matter.
January 2, 2023
i can’t decide how i feel about this??? on one hand, the writing was really good and compelling enough that i read the whole thing in one day. but on the other, i didnt really care about any of the characters and feel betrayed by the summary on the back misrepresenting the book and the core ideas explored in it. but i think i liked this??,,,
August 16, 2023
Being Debbie’s sister was obliterating. It was also the closest thing to knowing who I was.
All-Night Pharmacy follows an unnamed narrator who, shortly after she graduates from high school, becomes addicted to pills, following in the footsteps of her older sister Debbie, whom she idolizes. Then Debbie disappears, and our narrator finds herself adrift until she meets a mysterious woman named Sasha who claims to be her spiritual guide. As she and Sasha become involved – first as friends, then as something more – the narrator must decide if she wants to search for Debbie, or leave her in a past she’d like to forget.
The blurb for All-Night Pharmacy is not inaccurate, necessarily, but it does set unrealistic expectations for Ruth Madievsky’s debut novel. What is marketed as a David Lynch-esque fever dream of a book is instead a somewhat generic character study about a young woman who moves through life aimlessly while things happen to and around her. The missing sister aspect feels tacked on just to give the narrative some sort of cohesive structure; Debbie’s disappearance is nothing more than an afterthought for most of the novel while the narrator wanders through disjointed events in her life. Madievsky didn’t really make me believe in Debbie and the narrator’s toxic codependent relationship, which I expected to be at the center of this novel.
Madievsky’s writing is strong, and she makes some thoughtful, interesting observations about life as a Jewish refugee as she explores themes surrounding dysfunctional family dynamics, mental health issues, drug abuse, toxic relationships, and sexuality. But for me, all of this got lost in a meandering narrative about a character I could never really emotionally connect with. Thank you to HighBridge Audio and NetGalley for the complimentary listening opportunity.
on-hold
September 28, 2022on hold @ 30%
whoever wrote the summary for this book...i have some notes. i am 30% in and debbie (the 'wild' sister) is still in the picture...i genuinely thought that that first opening scene where the sisters are drinking and getting high, well, i thought that would be the classic opening for these type of psychological suspense stories, where we are lobbed with the boring half of a sister/friendship duo. dare i say that this dynamic is a tired one, and i was hoping that madievsky would spice things up but so far no luck. some authors can make it work (for instance in the ya book the house of hollow) or even subvert our perception of said dynamic (like jessie cave does in sunset). but anyways, so far this is trying to be as gritty and edgy as say something by gillian flynn. the book tries to be self-aware by having the mc read books about women-beahving-badly but ends up using the same tired tropes and aesthetics of those books.
i will pick this up again because i am hoping that the narrator becomes more compelling and believable once debbie goes mia. for now however i am sidelining this. maybe if the summary had avoided revealing that debbie would go missing i would have found the story more intriguing...
whoever wrote the summary for this book...i have some notes. i am 30% in and debbie (the 'wild' sister) is still in the picture...i genuinely thought that that first opening scene where the sisters are drinking and getting high, well, i thought that would be the classic opening for these type of psychological suspense stories, where we are lobbed with the boring half of a sister/friendship duo. dare i say that this dynamic is a tired one, and i was hoping that madievsky would spice things up but so far no luck. some authors can make it work (for instance in the ya book the house of hollow) or even subvert our perception of said dynamic (like jessie cave does in sunset). but anyways, so far this is trying to be as gritty and edgy as say something by gillian flynn. the book tries to be self-aware by having the mc read books about women-beahving-badly but ends up using the same tired tropes and aesthetics of those books.
i will pick this up again because i am hoping that the narrator becomes more compelling and believable once debbie goes mia. for now however i am sidelining this. maybe if the summary had avoided revealing that debbie would go missing i would have found the story more intriguing...
July 20, 2023
What even was this??? I should have followed my first mind and stopped reading this when i started to. Now having finished it, reasoning beyond me, I'm harboring resentment.
From the description and the sample i read of the book, I was overly excited to read it. And boy oh boy was i severely disappointed. NOTHING HAPPENS "oh i went to work I got off i was on the bus, where's my sister?, my psychic mayb potentially gf, went to Russia nothing happened, came home still nothing, is my sister alive?, oh nevermind she moved to Boston and is a psychic now, the end.
I honestly want my time back, very underwhelming.
From the description and the sample i read of the book, I was overly excited to read it. And boy oh boy was i severely disappointed. NOTHING HAPPENS "oh i went to work I got off i was on the bus, where's my sister?, my psychic mayb potentially gf, went to Russia nothing happened, came home still nothing, is my sister alive?, oh nevermind she moved to Boston and is a psychic now, the end.
I honestly want my time back, very underwhelming.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2023
In our household, when noting something that is quite remarkable but without necessarily applying a specific value judgment - let’s be honest, it’s usually some kind of canine behavior, since we seem to spend most of our time focused on the dog - we often say something like - “Well, he’s…he’s SOMETHING, all right.”
Likewise with this book, it was really SOMETHING! But it also left me at a bit of a loss for words.
The talent - especially if this is a debut author? - well, I won’t hesitate to put a value judgment on that: this author is certainly super talented. This author is definitely capable of writing a book that makes major waves, and I hope she keeps writing.
The writing itself is super vivid, with scenes and characters that are challenging to the palate in a mostly good way. The book often feels seasick-surreal, like you want the characters to stop doing so many damn drugs because you’re starting to get a contact high and it’s kind of a bad trip. However - there is character growth and evolution, so this is not gratuitous and the payoff is there.
Some reviewers have described this as yawn, yet another entry in the “depressed/lost young women” subgenre, and to this I respectfully disagree. I read a lot of these, and while I did not personally “enjoy” this book as much as some other recent entries in this genre that were just a bit more relatable to me for some reason (I loved: My Year of Rest and Relaxation; The Guest; Ripe), I definitely admired this one and consider it a standout or outlier in the field - it isn’t just “same old same old.”
(I also object to the whole notion there can be “enough” or “too many” of these books, when other categories involving more privileged populations will never cease spawning additional submissions and still finding an audience and acclaim. It’s not easy to be a young woman and damned if it’s not getting harder, so let’s keep hearing about it, shall we.)
To accomplish what it does, the book’s aforementioned and often (but not always) drug-induced, mildly queasy semi-surrealism also includes some elements that toe the line of magic realism. Specifically, there is a key character introduced who may or may not have some extrasensory powers, and also really grated upon me as a kind of slightly updated manic pixie dream girl archetype that I’ve still had my fill of even in this feminist, queered 2023 iteration. And to follow the twists and turns the book and the protagonist take on the journey from this point forward, you have to just kind of swallow and accept everything associated with this character, who becomes a kind of Beatrice to the protagonist’s Dante. This was difficult for me to do at times, but ultimately possible, as the book definitely explores impacts of generational trauma and healing in a very notable and unique, if oblique, way that was well worth pursuing.
One final note - I’ve seen some understandable critiques that the book’s cover copy/description are inaccurate or misleading, especially with the emphasis on the character of the protagonist’s sister. In part, I think this is because we’re just really dealing with a hard-to-describe-and-summarize, interior-journey-of-a-book here. But, also and again, the book really isn’t “about” the sister, or really about anything other than the protagonist’s personal working through of family and intergenerational trauma, and it often operates on the level of symbol and metaphor. The sister and other characters primarily work in service of this project: it’s not really a “novel about sisters.”
The book is pretty brilliantly written yet still somehow rough around the edges and so felt at times a bit like reading a “rediscovered classic” from sometime between the 60s and earliest 90s - which, again, seems like a pretty remarkable feat.
Likewise with this book, it was really SOMETHING! But it also left me at a bit of a loss for words.
The talent - especially if this is a debut author? - well, I won’t hesitate to put a value judgment on that: this author is certainly super talented. This author is definitely capable of writing a book that makes major waves, and I hope she keeps writing.
The writing itself is super vivid, with scenes and characters that are challenging to the palate in a mostly good way. The book often feels seasick-surreal, like you want the characters to stop doing so many damn drugs because you’re starting to get a contact high and it’s kind of a bad trip. However - there is character growth and evolution, so this is not gratuitous and the payoff is there.
Some reviewers have described this as yawn, yet another entry in the “depressed/lost young women” subgenre, and to this I respectfully disagree. I read a lot of these, and while I did not personally “enjoy” this book as much as some other recent entries in this genre that were just a bit more relatable to me for some reason (I loved: My Year of Rest and Relaxation; The Guest; Ripe), I definitely admired this one and consider it a standout or outlier in the field - it isn’t just “same old same old.”
(I also object to the whole notion there can be “enough” or “too many” of these books, when other categories involving more privileged populations will never cease spawning additional submissions and still finding an audience and acclaim. It’s not easy to be a young woman and damned if it’s not getting harder, so let’s keep hearing about it, shall we.)
To accomplish what it does, the book’s aforementioned and often (but not always) drug-induced, mildly queasy semi-surrealism also includes some elements that toe the line of magic realism. Specifically, there is a key character introduced who may or may not have some extrasensory powers, and also really grated upon me as a kind of slightly updated manic pixie dream girl archetype that I’ve still had my fill of even in this feminist, queered 2023 iteration. And to follow the twists and turns the book and the protagonist take on the journey from this point forward, you have to just kind of swallow and accept everything associated with this character, who becomes a kind of Beatrice to the protagonist’s Dante. This was difficult for me to do at times, but ultimately possible, as the book definitely explores impacts of generational trauma and healing in a very notable and unique, if oblique, way that was well worth pursuing.
One final note - I’ve seen some understandable critiques that the book’s cover copy/description are inaccurate or misleading, especially with the emphasis on the character of the protagonist’s sister. In part, I think this is because we’re just really dealing with a hard-to-describe-and-summarize, interior-journey-of-a-book here. But, also and again, the book really isn’t “about” the sister, or really about anything other than the protagonist’s personal working through of family and intergenerational trauma, and it often operates on the level of symbol and metaphor. The sister and other characters primarily work in service of this project: it’s not really a “novel about sisters.”
The book is pretty brilliantly written yet still somehow rough around the edges and so felt at times a bit like reading a “rediscovered classic” from sometime between the 60s and earliest 90s - which, again, seems like a pretty remarkable feat.
January 17, 2025
We follow an unnamed narrator who becomes addicted to pills while searching for her missing sister Debbie, wandering into the arms of a hot lesbian psychic. This book was a lot of fun! I liked the sleezy, hazy vibes it gave off. Our narrator gets herself into a lot of trouble in this novel, as she navigates queerness, deep-seated trauma, family, and sobriety. It has been compared to Lynch, but I found it to be more like Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut (which is a good thing as I love this film). I strongly recommend you to check it out!
July 31, 2023
The GR description for this book says that it has elements of David Lynch. Let me save you the time and say that there is absolutely nothing Lynchian about this novel. The marketing flat out lied. It did make me purchase and read it more quickly, so I guess it worked, but that was a dishonest tactic.
What you will get with this book is an aimless story with minimal catharsis. The main character/narrator has a strong addiction to pills and struggles with Depression and other negative behaviors. Her sister Debbie is a shithead in general. Typically when I read a book like this, (set in Los Angeles, narrated by a jaded and messed up character that can’t be bothered to get their life together, etc.), I still expect a certain level of entertainment and thoughtful speculation. And most of all, I just didn’t care, which sounds harsh and I do apologize. This book was okay, but not great. It felt like when you go back to a restaurant you’ve enjoyed in the past but you try a new dish and it’s edible but not as good as the one you had the last time.
Trigger Warnings: Sexual assault, *Miscarriage, substance abuse, dead animals
What you will get with this book is an aimless story with minimal catharsis. The main character/narrator has a strong addiction to pills and struggles with Depression and other negative behaviors. Her sister Debbie is a shithead in general. Typically when I read a book like this, (set in Los Angeles, narrated by a jaded and messed up character that can’t be bothered to get their life together, etc.), I still expect a certain level of entertainment and thoughtful speculation. And most of all, I just didn’t care, which sounds harsh and I do apologize. This book was okay, but not great. It felt like when you go back to a restaurant you’ve enjoyed in the past but you try a new dish and it’s edible but not as good as the one you had the last time.
Trigger Warnings: Sexual assault, *Miscarriage, substance abuse, dead animals
November 3, 2022
Ruth Madievsky's "All-Night Pharmacy" manages to consider raucous depravity, toxic co-dependence, tepid romance, wild sex in a bathtub, a mysterious disappearance, queer love, diasporic longing, pill addiction, a salty iguana named Apples. In short: this book has it all. Where so many other books might pursue these even just a few of these topics in pat or dull or exhausting ways, every one of these pages gives off sparks. Madievsky's compelling images ("The water was pale pink, like someone had dipped a bloody finger into it") and powerful plot make it hard not to inhale this book in a single sitting.
June 26, 2023
god damn - this was good. The writing was sharp and I kept coming across sentences that made me gasp. And the plot kept exceeding my expectations It kept me guessing, it made me empathize deeply with each (messy) character. I cringed severa times, and the second to last chapter made me cry. I accidentally read 200 pages in one sitting, and I’m really sad it’s over.
If you’re looking for a fast paced, psychedelic summer read tackling toxic family dynamics and the messiness of your late teens/early twenties, this one is for you.
If you’re looking for a fast paced, psychedelic summer read tackling toxic family dynamics and the messiness of your late teens/early twenties, this one is for you.
December 25, 2022
inhaled it !!!!!!
September 10, 2023
A book being vaguely weird and set in LA is NOT enough for it to be considered "Lynchian." just saying!!!!
Want to read
August 24, 2023Hmm, stepping out of my comfort zone... This caught my attention.
January 2, 2024
An absolutely gorgeous journey into the darkest corners of the narrator's mind as we experience her fraught relationship with her older sister and its subsequent implosion. I definitely went into this book expecting more of an action-packed thrill ride, and while the story is intense, vivid, and unique, the actual progression is much more understated and internally violent. The unnamed narrator finds herself untethered and volatile in the wake of her chaotic sister Debbie, and her resulting impulsive spiral leads us into her insularity. I loved the way we experience her identity as an immigrant from the former Soviet Union and her emboldened queerness amidst LA nightlife. The setting is so rich, the characters fascinating, and the prose stunning, and the resulting story heavily impactful. A new favorite!
November 10, 2025
This had some tender moments, but had far too many structural issues for me to overlook. There is a strong opening that sets the stage for a compelling narrative, but the extremely short chapters are a stylistic choice that I don't think works particularly well here. There's an aversion to committing to a scene for more than a handful of pages (perhaps intended to mirror the narrator's disassociation from her life), but it results in a fragmented narrative desperately needing cohesion.
Looking beyond the constant jumps in both time and location, the individual chapters are overly focused on style rather than substance. Every feeling or emotion the narrator experiences is explained with a simile or metaphor, several of which are wholly unnecessary (i.e., describing the color of the sky as resembling toilet bowl cleaner). The secondary characters are introduced with pre-built, immutable personalities that help push the narrative along until they exit stage left and are seldom mentioned again. I also struggled to 'believe' the core mystery here. The protagonist's sister goes missing, and her passivity is largely explained, but the complete lack of urgency or interest from anyone else feels a little...odd?
I appreciated the themes Madievsky tackles in All-Night Pharmacy, and the moments where the discussions of heritage and addiction come together are where this book shines best. These moments come and go so quickly that we never get the opportunity to sit with them. The characters and problems this book explores are messy, personal, and nuanced, and I wish there were more commitment to that. As a reader, I felt bombarded by so many different conflicts (the narrator's struggle with her sexuality, her childhood, her paranoid mother, her intergenerational trauma, her sister, her addiction...) that needed a higher page count to facilitate their exploration and resolution. As it stands, the resolution was far too clean for what the preceding pages offer.
Looking beyond the constant jumps in both time and location, the individual chapters are overly focused on style rather than substance. Every feeling or emotion the narrator experiences is explained with a simile or metaphor, several of which are wholly unnecessary (i.e., describing the color of the sky as resembling toilet bowl cleaner). The secondary characters are introduced with pre-built, immutable personalities that help push the narrative along until they exit stage left and are seldom mentioned again. I also struggled to 'believe' the core mystery here. The protagonist's sister goes missing, and her passivity is largely explained, but the complete lack of urgency or interest from anyone else feels a little...odd?
I appreciated the themes Madievsky tackles in All-Night Pharmacy, and the moments where the discussions of heritage and addiction come together are where this book shines best. These moments come and go so quickly that we never get the opportunity to sit with them. The characters and problems this book explores are messy, personal, and nuanced, and I wish there were more commitment to that. As a reader, I felt bombarded by so many different conflicts (the narrator's struggle with her sexuality, her childhood, her paranoid mother, her intergenerational trauma, her sister, her addiction...) that needed a higher page count to facilitate their exploration and resolution. As it stands, the resolution was far too clean for what the preceding pages offer.
July 19, 2023
4 stars. The writing in this was fantastic. I liked the dark humor and the way the author chose to tackle its heavy subjects. And there are a lot of heavy subjects in this. All of the characters are a hot ass mess but I had no trouble empathizing with them. I think this book thrives on the vibes of it. The plot is super thin as the mystery of Debbie’s disappearance 1) takes a while to get to that point and 2) isn’t the main focus of this novel so the synopsis isn’t all that accurate. This is mainly a character focused story as our main character develops and learns to overcome past traumas. It’s a bit of a chaotic read but in the best way possible and I will keep an eye out for the next book by Madievsky.
Want to read
September 6, 2023"With prose pulsing like a neon sign, Ruth Madievsky’s All-Night Pharmacy is an intoxicating portrait of a young woman consumed with unease over how a person should be." - Okay, sold!
August 24, 2023
A sharply written exploration of codependency, family, toxic relationships, trauma seem through the narrators destructive choices and interaction with others.
It felt a little aimless at times although the writing
beautiful, it was more character study then anything else.
There was no real peak for me in this.
I'm going to give this a think and a reread( I listened to the audio )
#netgalley
It felt a little aimless at times although the writing
beautiful, it was more character study then anything else.
There was no real peak for me in this.
I'm going to give this a think and a reread( I listened to the audio )
#netgalley
July 22, 2023
This is like 3 books in one, but for me, it never really followed through on any of them. On the one hand it is an unhinged female narrative (trigger warning for drug abuse and addiction). It began here and was really hard to get through. On the other it’s a coming out queer narrative. And on the other, it’s an ancestral trauma narrative. I guess all together it’s a coming of age narrative. But overall, the narrative was messy. And the style or mood wasn’t chaotic enough for that to be on purpose. I think I was most interested by the discussion of Jewish ancestral trauma and grief reverberating into the lives of descents and the things we deal with might be a reminder or extension of them. I’ve never read or heard anything like that, but it seemed shoehorned into this story. To me, the ending was unsatisfactory. Which is probably the point in the sense that our narratives live on beyond us in our ancestors. But the messy sister relationship was just magically fixed, like the author ran out of time quickly needed a resolution. I also feel like Sasha’s storyline and purpose was not adequately tied up.
But the more I sit with it, the more I realize that despite the above, I did like it. It’s a thinker for sure. Overall, it had some interesting tidbits and I enjoyed the writing style.
Thank you, Ruth Madievsky. #AllNightPharmacy and #NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book
But the more I sit with it, the more I realize that despite the above, I did like it. It’s a thinker for sure. Overall, it had some interesting tidbits and I enjoyed the writing style.
Thank you, Ruth Madievsky. #AllNightPharmacy and #NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book
May 24, 2023
This book does INDEED slap! I inhaled it. A coming of age story that is reminiscent of Ottessa Moshfegh's novels.
Madievsky manages to effortlessly balance so much within this novel; both a story of a dysfunctional and codependent relationship between the unnamed narrator and her sister and a journey of self-realization to how she wants her life to be. Within this journey, the narrator navigated through an opioid addiction and debauchery in general, sobriety, falling in love with a psychic, and befriending an iguana named Apple.
This is wonderful, entrancing, beautifully written and you should absolutely read this and be exposed to the masterpiece that this book is 🌟
Madievsky manages to effortlessly balance so much within this novel; both a story of a dysfunctional and codependent relationship between the unnamed narrator and her sister and a journey of self-realization to how she wants her life to be. Within this journey, the narrator navigated through an opioid addiction and debauchery in general, sobriety, falling in love with a psychic, and befriending an iguana named Apple.
This is wonderful, entrancing, beautifully written and you should absolutely read this and be exposed to the masterpiece that this book is 🌟
February 2, 2023
Heady and fearless, All-Night Pharmacy takes us through Los Angeles and beyond on a journey to find family, love, and self-reclamation. From Apples to Sasha to Salvation, the bar that starts it all, Madievsky crystallizes each image into poetry and imbues her characters with both yearning and humor. I wish I could go back in time and spend another weekend falling for these characters for the first time. If you’re looking for a book to capture you, devastate you, resuscitate you (basically, all the feelings), look no further!
July 11, 2023
NOW AVAILABLE
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another one to add to my unhinged women collection. this one was about a girl living in the shadow of her sister, addicted, and finding addiction too.
it was also about who she decides to become whenever her sister disappears after one toxic interaction between the two. it's about love, but also about living for someone else and learning to live for yourself and not the trauma of family.
i highlighted the fuck out of this book. it is, in fact, a banger.
little plot, mostly vibes.
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another one to add to my unhinged women collection. this one was about a girl living in the shadow of her sister, addicted, and finding addiction too.
it was also about who she decides to become whenever her sister disappears after one toxic interaction between the two. it's about love, but also about living for someone else and learning to live for yourself and not the trauma of family.
i highlighted the fuck out of this book. it is, in fact, a banger.
little plot, mostly vibes.
July 5, 2023
YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 15, 2025
June 25, 2023:
The hype is real for ALL-NIGHT PHARMACY by Ruth Madievsky! I loved this book! What an amazing debut novel! It’s about a young woman who has some complicated relationships with her sister, her boyfriend, and then her new girlfriend. I loved the witty writing that perfectly captured the time in your life where you’re finding yourself. This quote from page 6 stood out to me: “Being a person didn’t come naturally to me the way it seemed to for others”. A stunning coming of age story that has an element of mystery and some sexy and funny moments. I really enjoyed the Los Angeles setting and I love the cover! The stellar writing really shines in this novel!
Thank you to Catapult for my advance review copy!
January 14, 2025:
I loved All-Night Pharmacy by Ruth Madievsky when I first read it in 2023 and I was so excited to reread it now on audio! The audiobook narrator Moniqua Plante was excellent. The exploration of the sister relationship between the protagonist and her sister Debbie was stellar. I loved the witty writing. I hope this author writes another book!
Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for my ALC!
The hype is real for ALL-NIGHT PHARMACY by Ruth Madievsky! I loved this book! What an amazing debut novel! It’s about a young woman who has some complicated relationships with her sister, her boyfriend, and then her new girlfriend. I loved the witty writing that perfectly captured the time in your life where you’re finding yourself. This quote from page 6 stood out to me: “Being a person didn’t come naturally to me the way it seemed to for others”. A stunning coming of age story that has an element of mystery and some sexy and funny moments. I really enjoyed the Los Angeles setting and I love the cover! The stellar writing really shines in this novel!
Thank you to Catapult for my advance review copy!
January 14, 2025:
I loved All-Night Pharmacy by Ruth Madievsky when I first read it in 2023 and I was so excited to reread it now on audio! The audiobook narrator Moniqua Plante was excellent. The exploration of the sister relationship between the protagonist and her sister Debbie was stellar. I loved the witty writing. I hope this author writes another book!
Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for my ALC!
August 18, 2023
Have I finally gotten my fill of sad girl novels? Two years ago, I would’ve devoured this and likely loved it. Today, I found almost nothing compelling about it, nor anything to set it apart from the countless others novels featuring the same angst, self-destruction, and passive behavior.
I wasn’t convinced by the characters, nor any of their relationships with each other and the storytelling itself felt disjointed. The writing wasn’t bad and I would maybe pick up Madievsky’s next book, depending on if it steps outside the box a bit.
If you liked Etter’s Ripe and Broder’s Milkfed, you might like this. If you, like me, are starting to feel weary with the fast growing succession of similar novels, pass on this one.
p.s. read the physical & skip the audiobook!
I wasn’t convinced by the characters, nor any of their relationships with each other and the storytelling itself felt disjointed. The writing wasn’t bad and I would maybe pick up Madievsky’s next book, depending on if it steps outside the box a bit.
If you liked Etter’s Ripe and Broder’s Milkfed, you might like this. If you, like me, are starting to feel weary with the fast growing succession of similar novels, pass on this one.
p.s. read the physical & skip the audiobook!
September 27, 2023
This fell really flat for me. It felt like the author was writing an imitation of a “first person unnamed narrator vaguely coming of age” writing style rather than actually writing well. I couldn’t get immersed in the story because I could feel the author’s eyes on the page, almost. Or like I was reading it through the author’s eyes? I don’t know how to explain it. Every sentence felt like it was trying so forcefully to be “good writing” that it just … wasn’t. Every character was painfully flat and every scene was so devoid of emotion that I felt like I was getting the life sucked out of me while reading it. I did think her approach to exploring generational trauma was well done though, or at least it was the most genuine feeling element of the book. (2.5 stars, generously rounded up)
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