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plumpaperbacks's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This wasn’t a bad book, there’s nothing inherently wrong with it, but good grief, I was bored out of my skull. Also, the fact that I read and fell in love with the Stalking Jack the Ripper series earlier this year and thus went into this book expecting something similar was my downfall. I kept comparing Hazel to Audrey Rose, Jack to Thomas, [whatever the hell Hazel and Jack’s ship name is] to Cressworth, and every time, I was disappointed. SJTR is superior in every way. In comparison, Anatomy offers characters that aren’t as fleshed out, a romance with considerably less build-up and hardly any chemistry, a story that drags, and a mystery introduced far too late that took far too little effort for me to solve. The ending didn’t clear things up, only muddle them further, and although I’ll read nearly any book at this point, including sequels to books I wasn’t the biggest fan of, I have no interest in the upcoming sequel to this one. All this book did was intensify my desire to reread SJTR, sorry not sorry.
If I had more energy, I could write about how disappointing it was to see Hazel scoff at the other girls her age for being feminine when Audrey Rose embraced both her femininity and her love for forensics. To see Hazel and Jack go from accomplices that didn’t care about one another to wanting to kiss each other nearly fast enough to give me whiplash when Audrey Rose and Thomas had one of the best slow-burns I’ve ever read, with lots of yearning and lingering glances and stolen kisses.
But I don’t have the energy for that, so I won’t. And maybe that’s better, because I really don’t think I’m supposed to be comparing the two books so strongly anyway. I just can’t help it. Sorry, Dana Schwartz, but Kerri Maniscalco did it first and did it better. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
((I briefly debated giving this a lower rating, but I couldn’t bring myself to be mean. If SJTR hadn’t already taken over my life, I probably would’ve liked this more. Maybe. We’ll never know. So, three stars it is.))
If I had more energy, I could write about how disappointing it was to see Hazel scoff at the other girls her age for being feminine when Audrey Rose embraced both her femininity and her love for forensics. To see Hazel and Jack go from accomplices that didn’t care about one another to wanting to kiss each other nearly fast enough to give me whiplash when Audrey Rose and Thomas had one of the best slow-burns I’ve ever read, with lots of yearning and lingering glances and stolen kisses.
But I don’t have the energy for that, so I won’t. And maybe that’s better, because I really don’t think I’m supposed to be comparing the two books so strongly anyway. I just can’t help it. Sorry, Dana Schwartz, but Kerri Maniscalco did it first and did it better. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
((I briefly debated giving this a lower rating, but I couldn’t bring myself to be mean. If SJTR hadn’t already taken over my life, I probably would’ve liked this more. Maybe. We’ll never know. So, three stars it is.))
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Medical content, Blood, Gore, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Death and Incest
Terminal illness - a plague spreading through Edinburgh. Death - said plague killed the protagonist’s brother prior to the story. Incest - protagonist is supposed to marry her cousin. Also contains a scene where the protagonist delivers a baby, though it’s not especially graphic and both the baby and the mother survive.semi's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Classism, Blood, Gore, and Medical content
Minor: Incest
hannah_steven's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexism, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Pregnancy, Classism, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal death and Incest
binreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I picked this book up because I saw Neil Caiman’s lil review on it. And I was not disappointed.
I wish I could give it a 5 but the beginning was a bit slow. Then the ending was rushed and I felt deserved more time to hash things out. I would LOOOVE a sequel!!!
This was very different. I had no clue when I started reading it took place in the 1800’s which totally made sense for the subject matter.
With all the medical talk, it makes me wanna look up how surgery really began…I wouldn’t be surprised if in real life there was some type of “resurrection men”.
One issue I had is that, it’s called Anatomy: A Love Story but to be honest, there wasn’t enough romance for me!!! Just when I thought we’d get to see more of Jack and Hazel together, it’d go back into Hazel’s work. Which the medical stuff was just the right about if gore by the way. My imagination was running wild with this one. Very descriptive and easy to build the world in your head. I would definitely read again tbh.
I wish I could give it a 5 but the beginning was a bit slow. Then the ending was rushed and I felt deserved more time to hash things out. I would LOOOVE a sequel!!!
This was very different. I had no clue when I started reading it took place in the 1800’s which totally made sense for the subject matter.
With all the medical talk, it makes me wanna look up how surgery really began…I wouldn’t be surprised if in real life there was some type of “resurrection men”.
One issue I had is that, it’s called Anatomy: A Love Story but to be honest, there wasn’t enough romance for me!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Gore, Medical content, Blood, Death, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror
Moderate: Classism, Murder, Grief, and Incest
Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy
shel_bay11's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Gore, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Incest, Medical content, Murder, Torture, and Sexism
cammiem8's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
My favorite historical era to read about, so I think I went in with expectations that were too high. Still an enjoyable read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Medical content, Medical trauma, Classism, and Murder
Moderate: Trafficking, Incest, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
A character is engaged to her cousin, period accurate.spacedoutsophie's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Very much driven by the female lead and her ambition. For a book called Anatomy: A Love Story there isn’t much romance. I like both of the leads but the progression of cute flirting to undying love feels very stunted. And the ending feels rushed, with some plot points disappearing into thin air. BUT THE COVER 😩
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Medical content
Moderate: Incest
A brief child birth sequencesunnybopeep's review against another edition
2.25
Some parts of this were charming, but overall, it wasn’t great. I thought the romance was cute in a very basic “girl meets boy and they get into shenanigans” kind of way. Towards the end, it seemed to be trying for more depth… but didn’t quite manage. I liked Hazel and Jack’s small interactions and childish flirting. I thought the incest was completely unnecessary. The newspaper and reference book excerpts were forgettable, and I didn’t think they suited the tone of the rest of the book. For historical fiction, it didn’t seem thoroughly researched. This was definitely one of those books that relied on “shock factor” and a few gruesome descriptions, but they weren’t impactful because the grotesqueness was a little soft. The writing was neither particularly good nor distinctive, but it wasn’t so bad that it detracted from the fairly interesting plot. I also thought that the ending was a little wishy-washy, like the author couldn’t decide between a happy one and a tragic one so she stuffed them both in the book. All in all, the total package was interesting but undeniably juvenile.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest and Murder
How has Jack been a resurrection man for YEARS but he’s only 16 or 17 years old?? Was he a 13-year-old resurrection man? That’s just a resurrection BOY. Make it make sense.arthur_ant18's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Pregnancy, Incest, and Kidnapping
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