by Dana Schwartz
January 18, 2022
Goodreads Summary:
A gothic tale full of mystery and romance about a willful female surgeon, a resurrection man who sells bodies for a living, and the buried secrets they must uncover together.
Edinburgh, 1817.
Hazel Sinnett is a lady who wants to be a surgeon more than she wants to marry.
Jack Currer is a resurrection man who’s just trying to survive in a city where it’s too easy to die.
When the two of them have a chance encounter outside the Edinburgh Anatomist’s Society, Hazel thinks nothing of it at first. But after she gets kicked out of renowned surgeon Dr. Beecham’s lectures for being the wrong gender, she realizes that her new acquaintance might be more helpful than she first thought. Because Hazel has made a deal with Dr. Beecham: if she can pass the medical examination on her own, the university will allow her to enroll. Without official lessons, though, Hazel will need more than just her books – she’ll need bodies to study, corpses to dissect.
Lucky that she’s made the acquaintance of someone who digs them up for a living, then.
But Jack has his own problems: strange men have been seen skulking around cemeteries, his friends are disappearing off the streets. Hazel and Jack work together to uncover the secrets buried not just in unmarked graves, but in the very heart of Edinburgh society.
Review
Maybe because the hype was very real for this book or because it's a genre I always find myself enjoying, I fully expected to love Anatomy: A Love Story. It really pains me to say I found the book lacking in many ways.
Anatomy: A Love Story, started off promising: strong writing with an invigorating female lead and an interesting mystery. Sadly the solid start did not expand into a satisfying story. A friend who'd also read the book described the plot as basic and I couldn't have agreed more. The mystery had a nice set up that kept on building but the reveal was so predictable. It was extremely anticlimactic. Nothing surprised me. I honestly expected much more.
Anatomy: A Love Story features multiple graphic scenes that did not shy away from being descriptive. It really showed the brutal nature of the crimes. In contrast, the quiet female empowerment seen through Hazel was most wonderful. "Passivity was the ultimate virtue." (ARC, p. 78) Hazel knew exactly what was expected of her and she worked her way around that to fulfill her dream. I really enjoyed her journey.
Divided by social standing, the romance in Anatomy: A Love Story was of the bittersweet variety. I liked its subtlety but found the injustice in the end hard to swallow. Hazel and Jack were good people that deserved better. Albeit realistic and fitting, the tragic end to their relationship still broke my heart a little.
Although the execution of the plot in Anatomy: A Love Story left a lot to be desired, the story had many elements I enjoy in a historical fiction novel. I'm disappointed I couldn't love this book more but maybe I'll have better luck with Dana Schwartz's next book. I still see potential in her writing!
*I received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not affected in any way. Any quotes included in my review were taken from the advance reading copy I received.
Oh bummer. I had this one on my "maybe" list as it sounded interesting, if a little like Stalking Jack the Ripper minus the Jack the Ripper part. Sad to hear it was just a little too predictable. Not sure what I'll do now. I might keep it on my backburner for now, as it's still in wishlist territory. Nice review all the same!
ReplyDeleteIt definitely has the SJTR vibe! Even though the climax didn't deliver a punch, the story was interesting enough you just might enjoy this more than me. Thanks Jessica <3
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