Release Date: January 18th, 2022

Genre(s): Young Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Pages: 352

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis

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

Anatomy: A Love Story is a young adult historical fiction novel with one of the most unique premises I’ve read in a while. Hazel’s journey to becoming a surgeon against the backdrop of 1800’s Edinburgh during a viral outbreak made for a compelling and feminist coming-of-age story. But what made this story especially compelling was the mystery that began to unravel halfway through, and the darker side of medical procedures shown in this book. Anatomy: A Love Story certainly gave me more than what I was expecting in terms of plots which was a welcome addition.

This story has romance hinted at in this title, I should note that you shouldn’t expect a typical love story from this book. And while I thought the direction this book took in terms of the romance made for an interesting change of pace, I thought the characters themselves lacked chemistry aside from a few brief moments of tension. Hazel’s character fell flat for me, and that impacted my view of her relationships.

The ending for Anatomy: A Love Story was one I really had to think about whether I liked it or not, but in the end, I was. Ultimately, I think this will depend on what readers are looking for in this book, but if you’re more invested in Hazel’s journey in this era rather than seeking a romance out of it, then I think you’ll come to enjoy Anatomy: A Love Story.

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