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jhbandcats's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
This is a fascinating novelization of the history of Burke and Hare, infamous murderers who provided fresh corpses to Dr Knox’s anatomy school in Edinburgh in the 1820s. Many of the minor characters, in addition to Burke and Hare, are real.
The book is narrated by an impecunious gentleman who has fled stuffy Oxford to study medicine at the best school in Europe. His desperate financial situation prompts him to start working with a crew of grave robbers who provide corpses to another anatomy school.
The story itself is interesting, providing a lot of detail about the medical schools in the early 19th C and the resurrection business in particular. I didn’t find the use of the narrator, his romance, and his gang very successful but I grew fond of the character and his closest friends, and was invested in them by the end, worrying during tense sections of the tale. I also felt the sudden appearance of the angry relative was unlikely and their interaction could have been stronger.
I was bothered by poor editing: repetitive words and anachronistic language. Every time I’d encounter a modern phrase, I’d lurch out of the flow with annoyance. I wanted to like this more but the poor writing detracted too much from the story despite how intriguing it was.
The book is narrated by an impecunious gentleman who has fled stuffy Oxford to study medicine at the best school in Europe. His desperate financial situation prompts him to start working with a crew of grave robbers who provide corpses to another anatomy school.
The story itself is interesting, providing a lot of detail about the medical schools in the early 19th C and the resurrection business in particular. I didn’t find the use of the narrator, his romance, and his gang very successful but I grew fond of the character and his closest friends, and was invested in them by the end, worrying during tense sections of the tale. I also felt the sudden appearance of the angry relative was unlikely and their interaction could have been stronger.
I was bothered by poor editing: repetitive words and anachronistic language. Every time I’d encounter a modern phrase, I’d lurch out of the flow with annoyance. I wanted to like this more but the poor writing detracted too much from the story despite how intriguing it was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism