What do you think?
Rate this book
薬屋のひとりごと [Kusuriya no Hitorigoto] #8
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 8
After breaking a curse on the imperial heirs, a palace servant with training in herbal medicine is promoted up the ranks to food taster...and right into the thick of palace intrigue in this lushly illustrated historical mystery series!
The truth of Maomao's identity revealed?!
After losing to Maomao at elephant chess and passing out from the "poison" he drank as his punishment, La Kan dreams of a long-lost past and his affair with a certain courtesan, as well as the events leading up to meeting his daughter for the very first time.
Upon waking, he finds himself at Verdigris, where he is pressed to buy the freedom of a courtesan of his choosing and take her home as his wife! Who will he pick?!
The truth of Maomao's identity revealed?!
After losing to Maomao at elephant chess and passing out from the "poison" he drank as his punishment, La Kan dreams of a long-lost past and his affair with a certain courtesan, as well as the events leading up to meeting his daughter for the very first time.
Upon waking, he finds himself at Verdigris, where he is pressed to buy the freedom of a courtesan of his choosing and take her home as his wife! Who will he pick?!
181 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 25, 2021
223 people are currently reading
1872 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 494 reviews
March 3, 2024
this is my second time reading but i still cried over the reunion of maomao's parents
July 29, 2024
4/5
Maomao's parents reunion-
Maomao's parents reunion-
July 29, 2023
Maomao’s father, biologically speaking, has been taken down by his wily daughter and we get to learn a little more of their history. We get a little song, a little dance, a reminder of what’s in Jinshi’s pants. Then Maomao might meet her match in… Maomao?
Boy, for the amount that I think Maomao’s pops is a real piece of work, this volume does some fascinating stuff at generating some sympathy for the devil. We also see where her dislike of him stems from (massive beatings, as it happens, but not what you think).
The denouement of this storyline shows why Maomao simply doesn’t see him as any sort of father figure to begin with, yet she does him a kindness of a sort and also sidelines him for a while plus helps the place that raised her. A tidy package.
All this is helped by the gorgeous sequence where she receives a dress and dances on the roof in celebration of a courtesan who has won her freedom. The best parts of this happen when Jinshi arrives on the scene and we learn that Maomao is literally feeling no pain (though she should be) and we get the second princess carry of the series.
Without a big driving storyline we get lots of small stuff to keep the characters chugging along doing their thing and it works really well across the board. The section about fiction books coming to the court is lot of fun and lets Maomao help another friend; the historical aspects are handled deftly.
Then the cat shows up.
From a simple babysitting request comes a real urchin of a cat that Maomao gets tasked to nurse to health. This whole section is wonderfully sickly sweet and if you like cats, this is adorably wholesome to boot
Even better is the part where Maomao is describing the way cats worm their way into people’s affections to Jinshi and he is clearly conflating that description with how his relationship with our lead has evolved. I don’t see how the light novels can possibly have done this half as well.
This also leads to a discussion of feline castration and Maomao clearly still thinks Jinshi is a eunuch. While this might seem ridiculous, it’s a fun indication that Maomao might be a bit more like her father than she realizes, just without the inability to recognize faces.
No, we don’t get a mystery or a big plotline, but it’s really nice to breathe between the heavy stuff and the things sprinkled throughout these chapters are all part of the series’ charm. It may not advance a plot, but it advances the characters.
5 stars - it’s too good, honestly, just an amazing piece of historical fiction that can handle the big moments and the small moments with equal aplomb. One of my rare series where I start at five stars and work down.
Boy, for the amount that I think Maomao’s pops is a real piece of work, this volume does some fascinating stuff at generating some sympathy for the devil. We also see where her dislike of him stems from (massive beatings, as it happens, but not what you think).
The denouement of this storyline shows why Maomao simply doesn’t see him as any sort of father figure to begin with, yet she does him a kindness of a sort and also sidelines him for a while plus helps the place that raised her. A tidy package.
All this is helped by the gorgeous sequence where she receives a dress and dances on the roof in celebration of a courtesan who has won her freedom. The best parts of this happen when Jinshi arrives on the scene and we learn that Maomao is literally feeling no pain (though she should be) and we get the second princess carry of the series.
Without a big driving storyline we get lots of small stuff to keep the characters chugging along doing their thing and it works really well across the board. The section about fiction books coming to the court is lot of fun and lets Maomao help another friend; the historical aspects are handled deftly.
Then the cat shows up.
From a simple babysitting request comes a real urchin of a cat that Maomao gets tasked to nurse to health. This whole section is wonderfully sickly sweet and if you like cats, this is adorably wholesome to boot
Even better is the part where Maomao is describing the way cats worm their way into people’s affections to Jinshi and he is clearly conflating that description with how his relationship with our lead has evolved. I don’t see how the light novels can possibly have done this half as well.
This also leads to a discussion of feline castration and Maomao clearly still thinks Jinshi is a eunuch. While this might seem ridiculous, it’s a fun indication that Maomao might be a bit more like her father than she realizes, just without the inability to recognize faces.
No, we don’t get a mystery or a big plotline, but it’s really nice to breathe between the heavy stuff and the things sprinkled throughout these chapters are all part of the series’ charm. It may not advance a plot, but it advances the characters.
5 stars - it’s too good, honestly, just an amazing piece of historical fiction that can handle the big moments and the small moments with equal aplomb. One of my rare series where I start at five stars and work down.
March 21, 2023
I did not sign up for the feels in this volume! 🥲
Their love story and decisions made me cry a little. When the circumstances are not in your favor, it is really hard!
But at least there is a cute kitten here. 🐈
Their love story and decisions made me cry a little. When the circumstances are not in your favor, it is really hard!
But at least there is a cute kitten here. 🐈
Read
January 16, 2024crying real tears during my silly apothecary adventures was NOT on the list today!
April 11, 2022
Si j'aime toujours l'ambiance et les dessins, cela fait plusieurs tome que j'ai l'impression que l'histoire fait du sur-place. C'est un peu embrouillé et les faits se succèdent de manière étrange.
April 17, 2025
maomao sharing her name with the cat 😭😭
May 7, 2025
Este libro fue el más dolorosos que leí de Los diarios de la boticaria. Conocer la historia del padre y la madre de la Maomao me ha dejado el corazón destrozado. Y ni contar cuando vi el anime!!
10 ⭐️🌷♥️🎋
10 ⭐️🌷♥️🎋
October 14, 2025
Un tomo para sacar el pañuelo 🤧😢😢
May 16, 2024
Gao Shun living in my head rent free 🥰
so many good faces in this one but i need INFORMATION
i know maomao doesn't care but I DO
May 19, 2024
Did not see that coming and did not think I would be rooting for that dude but here I am.
June 20, 2024
Started reading it from chapter 41 because the anime S1 ends on chapter 40. The anime was perfect! Loving the manga as well. I’ll probably start reading from Volume 1 later.
March 3, 2024
in just a blink of an eye, this volume is finished
March 6, 2025
mao-mao has my ENTIRE heart. what a once in a lifetime kind of protagonist!
June 8, 2025
this just keeps getting better!!!! i love maomao so much, she's an amazing protagonist.
+ i absolutely cried my eyes out at maomao's parents reunion;;
++maomao the cat.. the cutest im having cuteness aggression.
+ i absolutely cried my eyes out at maomao's parents reunion;;
++maomao the cat.. the cutest im having cuteness aggression.
June 11, 2022
Covernya cantik sekali ditambah isinya cocok dong ⭐5
August 28, 2024
Jinshi either makes me giggle or causes me to stress the fuck out… there’s no in between.
November 27, 2023
We finally found out about MaoMao's parents and her upbringing. This volume was thought out well and I enjoyed reading about how everything came to light.
February 10, 2023
The backstory of Maomao’s biological father is interesting even if it’s incomplete, and Maomao and Jinshi are still my favorite thing about this, but I’m also in it for the mystery and I feel like everything is slowing down. There is no real progress in their little investigation so I feel less invested in the story right now.
June 9, 2025
Backstory and cats ? I'm sold
January 19, 2023
(3.75⭐)
Un tome qui se divise en deux parties bien distinctes : une première partie riche en révélations sur les parents de Mao Mao qui était vraiment passionnante, et une seconde partie où l'on a pas vraiment d'intrigue à proprement parler, des chapitres qui sont bien plus de l'ordre de la tranche de vie et qui ne font pas avancer l'histoire.
Cette deuxième partie n'était pas mauvaise, mais ce n'est pas ce à quoi on a été habitués, donc j'ai trouvé ce tome-ci moins intéressant que les autres. Je pense néanmoins que ce petit creux de la vague va permettre de découvrir plein de nouvelles choses dans les tomes suivants.
Et puis, avouons-le, le dernier chapitre était quand même super cute 😻😽 (vraiment donnez nous des bébés chats et nous serons comblés)
Un tome qui se divise en deux parties bien distinctes : une première partie riche en révélations sur les parents de Mao Mao qui était vraiment passionnante, et une seconde partie où l'on a pas vraiment d'intrigue à proprement parler, des chapitres qui sont bien plus de l'ordre de la tranche de vie et qui ne font pas avancer l'histoire.
Cette deuxième partie n'était pas mauvaise, mais ce n'est pas ce à quoi on a été habitués, donc j'ai trouvé ce tome-ci moins intéressant que les autres. Je pense néanmoins que ce petit creux de la vague va permettre de découvrir plein de nouvelles choses dans les tomes suivants.
Et puis, avouons-le, le dernier chapitre était quand même super cute 😻😽 (vraiment donnez nous des bébés chats et nous serons comblés)
May 11, 2024
Chapters 37-42
That redemption arc came out like a fright train and gaslit me into thinking I was the stupid one foe reading into things. They basically snape-ed him, force fed that 180 character twist down my throat, and I hated every second of that. Thanks, but Loumen is the only father we acknowledge in this house.
That redemption arc came out like a fright train and gaslit me into thinking I was the stupid one foe reading into things. They basically snape-ed him, force fed that 180 character twist down my throat, and I hated every second of that. Thanks, but Loumen is the only father we acknowledge in this house.
May 14, 2024
This one gave me some sympathy for Lakan, though he is still pretty slimy for the most part. The princess is adorable, as is the cat. It will be interesting to see if the books become a big plot point, or if it just to show the emperor's care.
Check out my YouTube channel for bookish videos and monthly wrap ups!
Check out my YouTube channel for bookish videos and monthly wrap ups!
May 4, 2022
C'est toujours un plaisir et un bonheur que de retrouver Mao-Mao ! Et cette suite est admirable et passionnante puisqu'on y a découvre le passé de ses parents ! J'ai vraiment aimé ce 8e tome, c'est toujours aussi savoureux et les dessins ne sont pas en reste !
September 3, 2023
Chyba najlepszy tom, jaki powstał na ten moment.
Dosłownie posiada wszystko to, co pragnęłam, a nie wiedziałam.
Dosłownie posiada wszystko to, co pragnęłam, a nie wiedziałam.
December 2, 2023
December 2023
Kindle edition
Manga
Aww, I didn’t want to like the guy in the end but damn that was bittersweet. The kitty was adorable. Gone back to feeling lighthearted now. lol to the books.
Kindle edition
Manga
Aww, I didn’t want to like the guy in the end but damn that was bittersweet. The kitty was adorable. Gone back to feeling lighthearted now. lol to the books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2024
Feng Xian gets a happily ever after <3.
December 28, 2024
اوه اوه چه داستانی داشت گذشته مائوئو
January 12, 2026
Disfrute más leyéndolo que en capitulo del anime con este tomo
Displaying 1 - 30 of 494 reviews