Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Anatomía: Una historia de amor by Dana Schwartz

7 reviews

clovetra's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

hmm. 

i don’t like comparing books because that’s like comparing art (not even “like” it literally is). but. sorry this is a worse version of the spirit bares its teeth SORRY

like yes books can have similarities! also this book literally predates tsbit so if anything that book copies this! but tsbit was magnificent…. and this was just…. good. 

like i’m sorry tsbit pulls off “afab protag in high society in the victorian era betrothed to affluent man goes rogue and pursues a career in surgery where a male relative undermines the protag and protag uncovers secret relating to murders occurring in an establishment they are studying in”. like

i know that’s suuuchhhh a niche ‘trope’ but THE OVERARCHING PLOTS ARE SO SIMILAR!!!!!

and tbh i wouldn’t even be mad!!!! if i liked this as much as i liked tsbit!!!!!! which i didn’t!!!!!!

which isn’t to say i didn’t like this!!! i did!!! just….. it was ok.

like lowkey i didn’t care about the main characters until i was like 70% deep. i think i became a tad disillusioned because the book felt “predictable” as it followed the same plot beats as tsbit? idk. but jack & hazel felt so surface level. ok yeah hazel is rich and betrothed to shithead and wants to be a surgeon. idk it didn’t feel like there was anything truly deeper. jack is just a poor boy who does some morally questionable things to survive. and he likes isabella. like ??? cmon give me more than that!!!! they felt so two dimensional!!! also there was zero buildup to their romance. it went from her meeting him to them being in love way too quickly imo. i needed more tension than that!!! make them meet sooner man idk. i just didn’t feel connected to their love story as it felt like it only happened because the narrative says it must, not that the characters actually have chemistry.

also can i just say….. the ending is pissing me off sitting here thinking about it. the ending literally concludes nothing and it’s so obvious it’s setting up for a second book. obviously i know there’s a second book but my god i would be fuming if i read this as it was released. cuz seriously there’s a big difference imo between leaving room for a second book but still having a lot of shit closed, and making it so obvious you have to read the second book for any conclusions. i don’t think i’m explaining this right but. i don’t know when everything is essentially left open-ended for another instalment it pisses me off. like agggtm still has room for sequels but many plot points are closed. so many are left open at the end of this book and it’s annoying! some of them im not mad at, like oooo what happened to jack. but like what happened with hazel & her exam? why is her family still staying away from her? why is everybody in the town not furious at hazel regarding bernard??? like idk man i would’ve liked a tad more conclusive-ness.

tbh i think the characterisation & overall plot were what let me down with this. i had heard suchhhh good things about this book (plus i get my hopes up when a book has a good cover like this!!!) but idk it felt like this did not live up to the hype……

i think i defo will finish the series simply so i can say i know what happens. but honestly im not too invested? i kinda just want to read the next book in the series to know where jack is, not how anything else actually turns out 😬

i will say tho a big positive is i love me a book taking place in scotland. SCOTLAND FOREVER!!!!!!!! jack also sounds like he’d be hot. hmu real life jack’s (please don’t it’s pride month and i’m a lesbian)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexism, Blood, Misogyny, Medical content, and Death

Moderate: Incest, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Infidelity

navayiota's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Good read! Finished it in a day. My one complaint would be that I enjoyed the parts that focused on the surgery or mystery aspects far more than the romance. It was like reading a story with multiple POVs and groaning with frustration whenever I was thrust back into the annoying character's brain. I even noticed myself tuning the narrator out at times when it got too boring and thinking "there's no way I'm going back to listen to all of that again, I'll just keep going" 
I liked the ending, though. I would certainly listen to the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Drug use, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Death, Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

Moderate: Incest, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Child death, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

Minor: Mental illness, Infertility, and Vomit

gracescanlon's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Murder, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Child death, Grief, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Classism, Death, Violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Vomit, Drug use, and Torture

Minor: Alcohol

chelle22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Excrement, Gore, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Slavery, Bullying, Confinement, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Blood, Medical content, Violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, and Sexism

electricdryad's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Classism, Death, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, and Terminal illness

Minor: Police brutality, Confinement, and Suicide attempt

sydn3ycx's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I read for the feminist and gothic aspects, not the romance. I’m also not big on history. However, I do appreciate the amount of research the author did and I find that the story was adorable, at least in the middle of it all. The pace seemed too slow for me and I used quick reading techniques to bulldoze through it after about page 80. The reflections on class are wonderfully written. I did feel that the feminism fell short at the end of the book with a certain life-saving method, and found myself on the villain’s side, despite the protagonist being a genuine hero, regarding a choice that she’d made that concludes the book. I feel that both that and the pacing are what are putting me to 3 stars. I’m interested in the sequel, to see how things go in relation to women’s oppression and medicine within Hazel’s story and further exploration of class issues with a person close to her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Torture

Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, Gore, and Animal death

Minor: Trafficking, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, War, Suicide, and Sexism

quietlex's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

At first I found this a boring read with a few interesting points/moments thrown in, but by the end of it, I’m feeling a wanting sadness. Jack and Hazel have so much chemistry, a connection that anyone would envy. Their love story is an odd yet simple tale, soiled only by others’ greed. Poor boy falls for rich girl, they are forbidden to be, yet both struggle to find a way.

It really didn’t make sense for Dr. Beecham to give up his vial of formula so easily, especially after Hazel made it clear that she wouldn’t be using it for herself, but on Jack. I know he was hoping to have an immortal partner in crime to help advance medicine, but Hazel showed no signs of giving up on her love for Jack. They also never touched back on the “burning coals” in Bernard’s eyes after he sees Hazel taking care of Jack. I know the police immediately arrest Jack, so you could conclude that Bernard went straight to the cops, but they make it seem like Bernard was on Jacks side until the viscount convinced them otherwise. Otherwise, I really enjoyed watching the two love birds fall for each other and slowly being affectionate. It really encapsulated how it feels to be young and in love for the first time. What a trip to read Jack’s letter to Hazel about his still beating heart, “beating or still,” and to close the book and see the engraved anatomically correct heart on the front, still. My heart!

Easy read, if only boring at times with a sweet streak of romance that keeps you going. Long live Jack! And medicine!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infidelity, Murder, Blood, Torture, Body horror, Violence, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Child death, Death, Gore, Classism, Grief, and Medical trauma