A review by kaitie_reads
The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap

dark funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

๐Ÿชฆ Grave Robbing 
๐Ÿ’€ M/M Romance 
๐Ÿชฆ Macabre... but sweet 
๐Ÿ’€ Funny banter 
๐Ÿชฆ A pinch of murder mystery 

This wasn't exactly what I expected, but I had a good time. 

This story follows a young man named James in Victorian-era Edinburgh who is studying to become a surgeon/physician, but hands-on work is hard to find...

So I kind of expected more of an atmospheric and gothic vibe from this book, but it's almost more of a dark comedy and historical crime read. I love learning about grave robbing and resurrection men, so the actual historical tie-ins were well done and informative but in a fun way. 

It's at times grotesque but more in a humorous macabre way than overtly dark. The actual grave robbing and dissection portions earlier on in the story were my favourite aspects. I did find the romance element in this kind of took over the plot for me, but I still feel like I enjoyed the story overall. The m/m romance, however, was very sweet (it is closed-door). It was one of those stories where the first 1/3 packs a greater punch than the rest of the book, I did find I lost interest here and there, but it also has a very unique overall vibe. 

I think it was a really good debut, but it's not as horror-esque as I was expecting. It's like macabre: but make it lighter & fluffy.

๐“ฃ๐“ฑ๐“ช๐“ท๐“ด ๐”‚๐“ธ๐“พ ๐“ฝ๐“ธ ๐“๐“ฎ๐“ฝ๐“ฐ๐“ช๐“ต๐“ต๐“ฎ๐”‚ ๐“ช๐“ท๐“ญ ๐“š๐“ฎ๐“ท๐“ผ๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฐ๐“ฝ๐“ธ๐“ท ๐“Ÿ๐“พ๐“ซ๐“ต๐“ฒ๐“ผ๐“ฑ๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฐ ๐“ฏ๐“ธ๐“ป ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ ๐“๐“ก๐“’ ๐“ธ๐“ฏ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฒ๐“ผ ๐“ซ๐“ธ๐“ธ๐“ด ๐“ฒ๐“ท ๐“ฎ๐”๐“ฌ๐“ฑ๐“ช๐“ท๐“ฐ๐“ฎ ๐“ฏ๐“ธ๐“ป ๐“ถ๐”‚ ๐“ฑ๐“ธ๐“ท๐“ฎ๐“ผ๐“ฝ ๐“ป๐“ฎ๐“ฟ๐“ฒ๐“ฎ๐”€.