Reviews

Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz

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cobaltbookshelf's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars

Anatomy: A Love Story is a gothic romance set against the backdrop of 1830’s Edinburgh, and follows an aspiring young female surgeon, the resurrection man who brings her bodies to study, and a reclusive aristocrat who tempts them both with immortality.

There is nothing like a good thrilling story to take you out of yourself and transport you into a another time, another world and into the life of characters that are believable.

I gobbled this up and was left sad that it was over but also relishing all that I had read and looking forward to Schwartz's next great read.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

heather_boo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted tense medium-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

3.5

3.5 I love books that have old medical writings and some real historical medicine. I initially thought the trope would be commonplace. A strong intelligent Victorian woman is finding her way in a man’s world as she dreams of becoming a surgeon, and she’s not afraid to break some rules to get there. But two things to point out: the first is that Hazel isn’t a gen Z dropped into the 1800s. THANK GOODNESS! It’s a mistake too many books are making. While she is a strong woman she is also of her time. Secondly, it isn’t the standard trope because about halfway in a mystery begins to develop. The proverbial plot thickens! This was a fascinating addition.
Where the book fell short was that I didn’t know it was fantasy until well over halfway. I think some fantastical elements should be woven through so you don’t come to one specific chapter and feel so uprooted. Everything had been realistic for so long and suddenly it isn’t.
I have questions left unanswered but discovered this is book one, so I do look forward to continuing.

zkoch's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

miuwillow's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious relaxing sad fast-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? No

4.5

lustrs's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

miderova's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Great piece of historical fiction along with early days of surgeries and transplantation woven with arranged marriage and passion to change the world... Looking forward to read the second book in the series