Journey to the Past: A Review of The Laboratory Assistant by Natalia Loya

Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.

I have another very special review for you today, Book Nerds. Today’s review is brought to you by Apprentice House Press. They aren’t paying me for my review, they just sent me the book for free; all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you very much to Apprentice House Press for sending me a copy of today’s read. It really means a lot to me when someone out there wants to send me books. Thank you, thank you! And what book was I so kindly sent?

Please give a warm welcome to The Laboratory Assistant by Natalia Loya! The Laboratory Assistant released yesterday, June 2, 2026.

Before I get to my review, I need to bring back an old series I did here on RHRML. It’s time I revive Books&Lewks! Books&Lewks is a little series I began years ago where I did my makeup inspired by book covers. I found The Laboratory Assistant’s cover gorgeous and just had to do a look inspired by it.

Hello, Books&Lewks. Welcome back! (Also, full video of me creating this look is on RHRML's Instagram.)

And now onto the synopsis. As always, a spoiler alert is in order. If you’ve read any other review on this site then you will know I simply love to spoil the entirety of the books I read. This is your one and only warning. I also have a quick content and trigger warning. The Laboratory Assistant is set in the 1910s and has scenes set in a mental hospital. Mental hospitals from history are notoriously bad and patients were not treated kindly in them. While the book does not go into detail about mental health treatments or the horrors of the mental hospitals at the time, I feel it is only right to mention this topic is briefly featured in The Laboratory Assistant. It should also be noted that rape and sexual assault are mentioned in the novel as well and play quite a large role at the end of the story. With that, let’s get to the synopsis.

In 1916 Russia, the sparks of revolution are igniting. With tensions high in the nation, Mariya Sokolova is much more concerned with feeding her family. The once aristocratic Sokolova family fell from grace with the death of Mariya's father. Barely scrapping by, she has an ailing mother to care for and two younger sisters to feed.

Mariya’s luck seems to be changing when she’s offered the position of assistant to one Dr. Nikolas Rodin. The very young, very handsome, and genius Dr. Nikolas Rodin who tends to run through assistants like candy. But Mariya is different and she can handle Nikolas and all his “troubles.”

They're totally going to fall in love!

First and foremost, I must applaud Natalia Loya for her beautiful prose and imagery. The dank basement laboratory was chilling, the few finer possessions of Mariya’s were stunning, and the pains of hunger and general unease of Petrogard were strongly felt. There are certainly strong passages in this novel.

That being said, there are passages in The Laboratory Assistant that do not feel as developed as others. The imagery isn’t always there. Some transitions could have been written better. There are a few that are clunky and don’t flow smoothly. One chapter will end and suddenly it’s a month later and I don’t know exactly how I got to the next scene.

I am able to live with these issues as I adore the main character. Both Mariya and her sister Sophia are strong, active characters. They are resilient, loyal, fierce, and willing to risk it all for the ones they love.

Love these two.

Speaking of love, The Laboratory Assistant is a traditional romance novel as the story is mainly about Mariya and Nikolas. But it’s a romance novel that showcases multiple forms of love. In this case, it’s proof of familial love. I think that’s why I enjoyed this book as much as I did. While it’s a love story, it’s also a story about resilience and hope.

Now, I have a major fault with this book. I greatly enjoyed it up until the final third. I was invested. And then Nikolas kidnaps a rapist and begins using him as an unwilling test subject for his consumption cure. I am still on board with this. Nikolas has entered a morally gray area, and that is fine, the Book Girlies will gladly look the other way when it comes to Nikolas kidnapping a horrible human being. But, the characters closest to Nikolas all but explicitly say “he’s done this because he’s mad.” Nikolas has an undisclosed mental illness and it feels like his mental illness is being villainized.

I am fine with Nikolas being morally gray. Morally gray villains are my favorite. I am fine with him kidnapping a rapist and doing what he does. The moment another character says Nikolas has done this due to his mental illness is where I draw the line. The decision Nikolas comes to regarding the kidnapping is one he would have made regardless of his mental health. I do not like that the other characters correlating his bad actions with mental illness. Yes, The Laboratory Assistant is set in 1916. Yes, there was a strong stigma surrounding mental health at the time. But those facts do not negate the fact that Nikolas’s mental illness is being villainized. It just doesn’t sit right with me and made me dislike the otherwise enjoyable read. It left quite a sour taste in my mouth.

Thank you once again to Apprentice House Press for sending me a copy of The Laboratory Assistant. It truly means a lot to me when someone out there wants to send me books. Thank you, thank you!

And with that, I shall bid you all adieu. Thank you very much for joining me today, Book Nerds. I hope you had a lovely time here this week. I will see you all again next Wednesday with another new review. If you can’t wait that long then I highly suggest giving Reading Has Ruined My Life a follow over on Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post on there almost daily so come back often to revel in literary goodness. Like I said, you can find the full video of me creating my makeup look over there. You can also follow the blog on Twitter and BlueSky (@RHRMLBlog). If you want something not related to books then I recommend checking out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. The show stars me and two of my dearest friends as we talk about everything and anything. I highly recommend taking a listen to our episode about Rasputin; it feels fitting given The Laboratory Assistant is set in Russia. You can currently find Nothing to See Hear on Spotify and YouTube. New episodes release every Wednesday evening.

Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.

See y'all then, bye!