A review by lightltup
Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz

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

5.0

Anyone who says “Don’t judge a book by its cover” has never met a reader. I bought this book because I absolutely loved the cover. I didn’t read the description or anything. Just saw the cover and immediately added it to my cart on Barnes and Noble. It is absolutely without a doubt gorgeous but maybe I’m biased as someone who works in healthcare and has always loved medicine. 

The book is a gothic romance set in the 1800s in Edinburgh where modern medicine was definitely not as its finest but we were trying our best and women were not allowed to be surgeons. The poverty is vanishing, people are sick with the Roman fever. Times are not looking great. Hazel wants nothing more than to be a surgeon but when the renowned Dr. Beecham kicks her out of his class, she strikes a deal with him. If she can pass the Physician’s Exam without his help then he will allow her to be a surgeon and he will allow females join the class from now on. From there, she teams up with Jack, a resurrection man, who digs up the deceased and sells them to doctors to do an autopsy on and they try to figure out what the hell is going on in the town of Edinburgh. 

I absolutely loved this book. It was a little harder to get into for me as most historical fiction set in the 1800s are but I was hooked about halfway through. After all who doesn’t love a book about a woman breaks society’s norms? I know it’s only the 9th day in 2023 but this book will definitely be in my top reads of the year. If you love a quick gothic historical romance read, go check this book out!
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