Scan barcode
mysterymom40's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Death, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Sexism, Classism, Pregnancy, and Animal death
unreadbass's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book is now at the top of my list. I read this for a book club, and I honestly wasn’t expecting that much. but wow, was i wrong. I loved this book so much. To be honest, I guessed some of the plot twists, but there’s was one that i did not see coming. Usually when i’m reading at night and i finish a book, i start another one to get into it. but i couldn’t do it. i had to lay in my bed for a good 30 minutes to absorb what happened. highly recommend 5/5 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Grief, Gore, Classism, and Death
sbauer2894's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Medical content, and Pregnancy
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
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
3.0
Rating: 3/5 stars
Hazel Sinnett is a teenage noblewoman living in Regency-era Scotland—she also longs to become a surgeon, despite the limitations placed on her by the time in which she lives. When renowned Dr. Beecham agrees to make Hazel his apprentice if she can pass the Royal Physician’s Examination, Hazel enlists the help of “resurrection man” Jack Currer to procure corpses for her studies. But the poor are going missing all over Edinburgh, and things may not be exactly what they seem…
Honestly, this one let me down a bit. The synopsis sounds amazing, but ultimately the book itself felt a bit rushed and I never connected to it the way I hoped. The characters were interesting but not fully fleshed out, and some of the plot points seemed either unrealistic or unnecessary. I won’t spell out some of my biggest issues because of spoilers, but ultimately I was also pretty unhappy with how the story resolved.
All that said, there are definite highlights here—the book is a fast read with a lot of action and some cute romance scenes, the physical copy of the book is absolutely STUNNING, and the concept/setting is a great one. I also think I’d probably have loved this book when I was a bit younger and reading a lot more YA. All in all, I won’t be shouting about this one from the rooftops, but still recommend giving it a try if the synopsis sounds good to you!
Recommended if you like: YA historical fiction; strong women characters; a hint of fantasy.
CW: Blood/gore/death; body horror/medical content; pregnancy/childbirth; unwanted romantic advances/kissing.
Hazel Sinnett is a teenage noblewoman living in Regency-era Scotland—she also longs to become a surgeon, despite the limitations placed on her by the time in which she lives. When renowned Dr. Beecham agrees to make Hazel his apprentice if she can pass the Royal Physician’s Examination, Hazel enlists the help of “resurrection man” Jack Currer to procure corpses for her studies. But the poor are going missing all over Edinburgh, and things may not be exactly what they seem…
Honestly, this one let me down a bit. The synopsis sounds amazing, but ultimately the book itself felt a bit rushed and I never connected to it the way I hoped. The characters were interesting but not fully fleshed out, and some of the plot points seemed either unrealistic or unnecessary. I won’t spell out some of my biggest issues because of spoilers, but ultimately I was also pretty unhappy with how the story resolved.
All that said, there are definite highlights here—the book is a fast read with a lot of action and some cute romance scenes, the physical copy of the book is absolutely STUNNING, and the concept/setting is a great one. I also think I’d probably have loved this book when I was a bit younger and reading a lot more YA. All in all, I won’t be shouting about this one from the rooftops, but still recommend giving it a try if the synopsis sounds good to you!
Recommended if you like: YA historical fiction; strong women characters; a hint of fantasy.
CW: Blood/gore/death; body horror/medical content; pregnancy/childbirth; unwanted romantic advances/kissing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Gore, Grief, and Classism
Minor: Sexual assault
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
jessgreads's review
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⬜⬜
Title: Anatomy: A Love Story
Author: Dana Schwartz
Genre: YA / Historical Fiction
Setting: Edinburgh, Scotland
Month Read: March 2022
Book Type: Audiobook
Publication: 2022
Publisher: Wednesday / Macmillan
Pages: 338
* March Books and Brews Book Club Pick
TRIGGER WARNING-
Death / Gore / Surgery / Cadavers
"It was an impossible situation, a trick of society as a whole: force women to live at the mercy of whichever man wants them but shame them for anything they might do to get a man to want them."
No Spoiler Summary:
In 1817 Edinburgh, Hazel Sinnett is a lady, but she wants to be a Doctor. She doesn't care for marriage, especially the one arranged to her cousin since their births. She wants to read, to learn, to do surgery, and other procedures that women of the time shouldn't even be thinking of.
Jack is a resurrection man, doing what he can to survive day to day where it is certainly not easy o be poor.
When the two meet, they realize they can each help each other reach goals that might have seemed impossible just before. When Hazel can't practice medicine in classes because she's a woman, she's mighty lucky to know someone who digs up bodies for a living.
Review:
I'm a huge fan of Dana's podcast Noble Blood, and when I heard she had a new book coming out I preordered it fast. I ended up having a pretty hard time getting into it, and regret going audiobook over physical book (which I think I would have liked a lot more.)
I liked the characters, and the plot was really interested and different from what I'm used to reading (especially in YA), but the ending realllllllllly took me out of the novel. The last third, maybe?, felt rushed, and out of place, and I wish so badly that we didn't introduce magic into the end. It was not the right choice for me, and invalidated a lot of the storyline that I was enjoying beforehand.
I don't want to spoil anything, so I need to keep this vague, but I really wish we could have a spinoff novel about Dr. Beecham. Such a weird, interesting character, and I'd like to jump into his head more than any other character we were introduced to in this book (since we got a lot of Hazel and snippits of Jack).
Overall, most people at bookclub rated this book a 4, and that's one of our higher rated picks recently! I'm glad I jumped out of my literary comfort zone and tried something new, as well.
See more reviews at: https://jessgreads.wixsite.com
"Someone should tell you you're beautiful every time the sun comes up. Someone should tell you you're beautiful on Wednesdays. And at teatime. Someone should tell you you're beautiful on Christmas Day and Christmas Eve and the evening before Christmas Eve, and on Easter. He should tell you on Guy Fawkes Night and on New Year's, and on the eighth of August, just because."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Blood, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Infertility, and Sexism
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
rose68's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
Was very proud that I didn’t pass out during the surgery scenes! I really enjoyed the main character Hazel, she was ahead of her time but not in an unrealistic way, she was written very well, but at time Jack felt like a manic pixie dream boy overall, even though his character and dialogue did still seem realistic. It was interesting that I went into it thinking it was a romance book but it was really just a medical history type book which was really cool that the romance wasn’t the focus. I’m excited for the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Pregnancy, and Murder
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.frantically's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
As a fan of both women's and medical history, I was so excited to read this book!
Hazel was really a character you could feel for and with — she's got her goals and she's trying so hard to get to them but the world around always makes that harder. She gets frustrated, she makes stupid decisions but it's all really understandable.
I wasn't really feeling the romance — I liked the characters individually but I didn't see enough chemistry between them. I don't like how their story ended, which is one of my few complaints. I was happy enough, though, to ignore the romantic aspects, as long as I got my history 😉
The ending was a bit rushed imo, there were just too many conclusions in to little time, which is why this isn't a clean 4 stars.
P.S.: The audiobook was amazing, so if you can, please listen to it!
Hazel was really a character you could feel for and with — she's got her goals and she's trying so hard to get to them but the world around always makes that harder. She gets frustrated, she makes stupid decisions but it's all really understandable.
I wasn't really feeling the romance — I liked the characters individually but I didn't see enough chemistry between them. I don't like how their story ended, which is one of my few complaints. I was happy enough, though, to ignore the romantic aspects, as long as I got my history 😉
The ending was a bit rushed imo, there were just too many conclusions in to little time, which is why this isn't a clean 4 stars.
P.S.: The audiobook was amazing, so if you can, please listen to it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Classism, Kidnapping, Child death, Medical content, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Trafficking, and Blood
Minor: Pregnancy and Abandonment