I'm honestly kind of conflicted about how to rate and review Anatomy: A Love Story. On the whole, I did enjoy the time I spent with it, and read it quickly, as it held my attention easily. The resolution is legitimately bonkers, in mostly a good way? (But also in a way that feels a little unfair to the reader, maybe? I suspect the unexpected last minute supernatural element felt more jarring to me because of how the book has been marketed than anything else, but I really didn't expect it going in.) Character development could be better, especially for Jack, who doesn't really have much discernible personality beyond being hot for Hazel - but it all moves along fast enough that that isn't a total dealbreaker. It does mean, though, that the romance feels pasted on, with instant chemistry built on too little. I’m mostly irritated that I kept stubbing my brain on both significant and trivial historical anachronisms, no matter how hard I try to not be That Reader. (I'm trying SO HARD, I promise.) But the resolution feels a bit too out of the blue, perhaps, and it’s all a bit vibes over coherency. On the other hand, it does nail the vibes (if you’re looking for the novel equivalent of that trivia fact about Mary Shelley losing her virginity on her mother’s grave, by Jove, this might just be the book for you)…so it’s got that going for it.

This is one of those books that, while I had problems with it, I can totally see other readers being way more into it than I was. Still, I had high hopes for this one, and despite more or less liking things about it, it was also a pretty frustrating read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advance review copy.

Anatomy: A Love Story is such a great story. It is about a woman named Hazel who wants to become a doctor but they don't allow women in those roles yet. She meets Jack a resurrection man who digs up bodies for people. and hires him to bring her some to study. The relationship takes time to develop, but man is it a good one. I loved the characters and the way they interacted. The atmosphere is amazing and you really can get the gloomy sense of the town and the ominous graveyards. The surprise was truly just that, I really had no idea. It is an amazing story and cannot wait to read more by this super-talented author.

Hazel Stinnett, titled on her mothers side, wants nothing more than to be a physician. Her father is away serving with the Royal Navy and her mother is too busy caring for Percy, her young son, to be concerned with Hazel. This novel was powerful, exciting, and thought provoking. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my review.

Gothic Edinburgh, Scotland. Check. Regency era. Check. Mystery. Romance. Check and check. Female surgeon. Extra check. This book has literally checked off so many things that I love to read about and it was so beautifully and expertly done! I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this exquisite piece of literature. The YA genre, once again, gets another standout story.

I WANT A #2 ALREADY!!!

I have so many feelings about this book. Throughout the first part of this story, I definitely thought the love was between our main character and surgery/medicine. Then bring in Jack. That totally flipped this thought around. It is a true love story and the miracles of medicine in the 1800s, I believe. The time period was really brought out by the sexism and the women standards back in history.

I believe Schwartz did a phenomenal job at making such a time period still seem relevant and to also cultivate that hope for our main character. I was rooting for our main character, especially once she was on her own and developing who she was though the story. I wanted her to find a cure and to prove the male physicians wrong! It was a powerful story and I’m so lucky to have gotten a chance to read it!

I highly recommend reading it once it’s released in February 2022!

4/5 stars for a terrific read and a great anatomy lesson ;)

**Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a free review copy! I’m leaving this review voluntarily!

If you're a fan of the podcast, Nobel Blood, then the host's new book Anatomy: A Love Story is for you. This book follows Hazel, a young, bright surgeon want to be in Edinburgh. The problem is, Hazel is a woman and women can't be doctors or surgeons. Jack is a poor man who makes a living digging up dead bodies and selling them to the hospital. The unlikely duo collide when Hazel needs bodies to study for her anatomy exam. This story has plagues, death, medicine, blood, life, love, and more. You can tell it is well researched and puts you right into the time period. If you're a history buff or just a curious, dark mind, check this book out!

Okay, listen. I know this book is not perfect and I can very well see why some may not enjoy it. The relationship isn’t quite as fleshed out as I would like and it can come off badly. However, this couple has my whole heart.
This books accomplished getting me to hate certain characters and love others. The ending, while to some can be frustratingly ambiguous, was perfect in my eyes. Our main character could be irritating but also so incredibly endearing. I loved it, flaws and all.

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this! I thought the writing was good and the story was interesting. I do think it was more historical fiction than romance, but that was fine by me. I liked that the romance wasn't the main plot of the book, or even the secondary! I'm looking forward to other novels that Schwartz writes.

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.

Now, Hazel and Jack must work together to uncover the secrets buried not just in unmarked graves, but in the very heart of Edinburgh society.

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I have always had an interest in human anatomy, going as far to create a whole series of artwork based on medical illustrations during my first few years of art college. I even considered going into forensic/crime illustration at one point! So, you can see why I needed to get my hands on ANATOMY: A LOVE STORY (plus, this gorgeous cover doesn't hurt..)

Although the story went in several unexpected directions (ie. some magical realism) I thoroughly enjoyed Jack and Hazel's story. Full of adventure, daring escapades in graveyards and a little bit of romance, I am hopeful for a potential sequel! There were definitely a few loose ends that could be explored...

Thank you to netgalley, the author and publisher for my review copy!

This had a fair bit of promise, and since it's a debut, I'm thinking Dana Schwartz has some potential! Sadly, this didn't end up being a book for me, but I'll start with the things that worked!

The dialogue was quick and natural, never feeling like something that wouldn't come out of the characters' mouths. There was only one instance (that I recall) where the dialogue was altered to fit a typical Scottish accent, and while that left me forgetting where the book was taking place (a couple slang words probably would have helped), it was much better than when all the dialogue poorly molds itself to an accent.

I liked the premise a fair bit - it feels reminiscent of Stalking Jack the Ripper, of course, but we can always use more books about plucky women who want to do the more gruesome bits of science.

One of the issues isn't entirely to do with the book itself, but the synopsis provided online for it - spoilers for the book will follow this line.

The synopsis gives the books premise as such: "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." This reads like a typical catalyst for a story. The problem is this part of the synopsis happens between 36 and 47% of the ARC I read - twice as far into a book as I'd expect. Which means so much of the book is already "gone" before the hook that pulled me in finally gets going.

I didn't like the "magic" or "alchemy" inclusion of this - it was apparent that was going to be where we were going but it didn't really feel like it "fit." The book relies on it so little, if stakes had been raised gradually throughout and there had been a bit more explanation for how the "magic" worked (maybe involving the root that Hazel had been using), I would have been very pleased with it.

The romance didn't entirely work for me, and it felt a little shoehorned in. There is a moment where Jack and Hazel are doing something intense and he's like "now's the moment, kiss her!!" and I was like "wait what??? you want to kiss her?" it felt like Avril says - he was a boy, she was a girl, and thus, romance! I wanted a bit more than that.

I would have liked the ending to be more ambiguous. The book has three separate parts where it takes the ambiguity of the ending away and each of them felt more and more unnecessary than the last. I would have preferred if only the "horse" one was mentioned and the rest left, it would have been more thrilling of an ending for me.

Also this is small, but there is a side character who loses their uterus to the shady body snatching going on, and Hazel becomes aware of it, but no on page explanation to the girl happens, and it feels weird. I would have liked to see that explained to her, but that's a personal preference.

As you can see, most of my preferences were stylistic choices, and not on the technical writing of the book, so I thinks Schwartz has potential to write a story I will love, even if this one missed its mark with me. I hope other people like this story, though, and I'm sure some people will completely disagree with everything I've said.

It's pretty much a given that I will at least try any book that takes place in Scotland, and especially Edinburgh. That, coupled with history and mystery and a story that sounded so interesting meant that I was very excited for this! I quite enjoyed it! There were some parts that felt a bit slow, but overall it was something I truly enjoyed, and I want to listen to the author's podcast now.

There were some parts that made me feel uneasy (as intended), so just be on the look out for that.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read this book!

In 1817-Edinburgh, Hazel Sinnett's desire to be a surgeon is far from the norm. Seriously, a woman being a surgeon?

It's true. It was the times. Women of a certain standing were meant to look pretty, take on inconsequential hobbies, be quiet and care for a husband and household. Hazel isn't interested in all that, but unfortunately, she knows the realities of her circumstance. In order to protect her position within society, she will need to be married.

In a way, Hazel is lucky. She's been betrothed to her cousin Bertrand since the two were children. They've known each other forever and get along quite well. Hazel feels that Bertrand may even learn to understand her passion with anatomy and helping people. At least that is what she hopes.

Jack Currer is a resurrection man, digging up recently deceased bodies and selling them to doctors and anatomists within the city. It's a dangerous job, but when Jack's main source of income, his position at a local theater, gets taken away due to circumstances outside of his control, he has no other choice. Jack doesn't come from wealth and has no family nest to crawl back into.

When their mutual arts of dealing with the dead bring them into contact with one another, Jack and Hazel are each set on a new course that will change their lives.

Anatomy: A Love Story reminded me a lot of my time spent with Down Comes the Night last year. Not because of its content, but because of its darkly gothic vibe that pleasantly took me by surprise.

I really enjoyed this. It had just the right 'romance to darker bits' ratio for my taste. There is mystery, intrigue and a very slow-burn romance. Jack and Hazel are from different worlds, but together they work. They support one another in a way that neither of them have ever experienced before. It was so comfortable watching their relationship blossom. It seriously filled my heart.

Another strong comparison would be to Stalking Jack the Ripper. Again, not so much for the content, but for the overall vibe.

Hazel is compelling, she doesn't back down to convention. I always love that. Jack has a good heart in spite of his chosen profession. We stan a bad boy with a heart of gold. They shouldn't work, but you know you're going to root for them.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Wednesday Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I was really impressed with this and look forward to reading more from Dana Schwartz.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The synopsis of this book sounded intriguing to me so I requested a copy to read.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during this 2nd attempt, I have
decided to stop reading this book
and state that this book just wasn't for me.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

Unfortunately, the best thing about this book is the cover. The characters are bland, the worldbuilding is barely there, and the plot is practically non-existent. The plot doesn’t even begin until 45% of the way through, and even at that stage there’s barely anything happening. Hazel, and the rest of the characters, are completely unremarkable. There is nothing unique or interesting about them, and every one could be replaced with a character from any number of similar books, and absolutely no difference would be made. Maybe I’m just not a fan of the “Victorian girl who doesn’t want to be a fancy lady but wants to be a surgeon” trope, but it is obnoxious here. Hazel’s only desire and character trait is that she wants to be a surgeon, but there’s no explanation as to why. When she does take action to achieve her goal, she faces almost zero consequences, and ends up getting what she wants anyway. The “love story” aspect of this book is practically nonexistent. The two love interests have zero chemistry, and have barely any interaction until the book is nearly half way through. This book reads like one long winded exposition.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for access to this arc.

I had high hopes for this book. What a plot description! A heroine who wants to be a doctor in early 19th century Edinburgh who gets mixed up with a resurrection man? Yes, I wanted to read it.

The opening scene was eerie and atmospheric. Then - the focus switched away and we met Hazel and then Jack. Things were zipping along but as the story progressed, I began to notice that historical accuracy was not going to be strong in this book. Little errors piled on top of each other until I decided to treat the book as historical fantasy/AU. After a while, I just stopped bookmarking all the pages of things that were either historical wrong or which just made no sense.

Then in the last 60 pages of the story things went to hell in a handcart and I began skimming. With 20 pages to go, I stopped. I just couldn't take anymore. Neither the romance (Seriously? Their first kiss is in the open grave that they've just robbed while the disintegrating body lies near by then they fall asleep in the grave??) nor the medical parts (just too weird) of the book ended up working for me.

I just couldn't get into this book and decided to DNF. As such I did not leave a review anywhere. It seemed like it'd be the kind of book I'd enjoy but it just didn't grab me.

I don't believe in leaving bad reviews so I've opted to tell yall that I was glad for the opportunity but sad that this book wound up just not being up my alley after all.

The pacing is a bit over the place. It takes nearly half the book for one of the main motivators—which is in the summary attached to the book itself—to present itself, and while interesting, I think there's a bit too much table-setting before the plot begins in earnest (which is much more interesting). The characters are engaging, as is the setting, and the research into early 19th century Edinburgh and the state of medicine at the time is apparent on the page. Not quite sure some aspects of the ending work, but it's a fascinating turn, so to say.

Once I got past the initial hump, it was a speedy read, and overall, I would recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 5
Pace: 4
Plot development: 5
Characters: 5
Enjoyability: 5
Ease of Reading: 5

Overall rating: 5 out of 5

I will be upfront and acknowledge that this book may not be for absolutely everyone, and I will break down why it worked for me.

In the vein of Lydia Kang’s historical novels on medicine (see Quackery), Anatomy: A Love Story is very much, well, on anatomy and surgeries. But unlike what we may think of as modern day surgeries, the early 1800s was a scary place if you needed to be operated on. Think dirty conditions, hospitals packed for the poor while the rich had doctors come to their own homes, and operations conducted with no anesthesia.

In such a time like this, we meet our protagonist Hazel. I absolutely adored her! She had a lifelong passion to be a surgeon, which was an inconceivable notion for a woman, let alone a lady of her status. Surgeons were also considered a lesser profession than physicians because they cut into bodies, something a *gasp* woman could never do with her sensitivities (insert heavy sarcasm). Nonetheless, she fought every obstacle in her way and this is what was the heart of this story. If this excites you, then congratulations, this book will make your heart leap for joy at her successes and rave at everyone when those obstacles grew so large.

This is a story about defying the boundaries and expectations placed on you in order to achieve what you’re meant to do. It reminded me a lot on the fight for woman’s rights (such as found in A Mad, Wicked Folly) and I wanted to fight with Hazel so much as a woman in science myself.

Now, there are two other elements in this story that were just as lovely but were not as represented as one may have initially expected from the synopsis.

Meeting Jack and partnering with him comes a little later in the book, probably closer to the halfway point. We do get POVs from Jack prior to this decision, and Jack and Hazel do also meet at some point before as well, but this doesn’t develop for a while. There was a lot of foundational set up of the time and Hazel’s desperation to become a licensed surgeon.

But once we do have this potential relationship going, it was just all hearts from there! Jack is such a gem, and it helped that we got to know him outside of his interactions with Hazel at first. He’s had a rough life on the poorer outskirts of society, but he’s worked hard to care for himself. Although he and Hazel could not be more different in many ways, their love story filled my heart and I just yearned for the very best for them. I will admit that I wanted MORE of this precious relationship on the pages, but I can understand why it wasn’t necessarily the focus.

There is also the mysterious element regarding disappearing people. This was a little predictable to me – perhaps I read too many thrillers and mysteries – but it connected with the overall story well and didn’t feel like a throwaway.

It is by far the least of these 3 focal points of the book so please don’t come in thinking it plays in a super major way. It’s present and definitely comes to the forefront at some point, but this isn’t a mystery book. I will say I enjoyed its connection to the story but it’s not suspenseful or particularly thrilling to my standards.

So if you have a love of science (even in a minuscule way) and stories about overcoming all the obstacles to achieve your goals, this is the book for you. The romance was beautiful and the story flowed together, albeit less focused on these areas.

I got to the end and my heart needed a moment to stop and take a deep breath. I was so immersed in the story and just wished I had more. I thought the ending was beautifully written with the right amount of open-endedness for interpretation.

Overall Recommendation:

Anatomy: A Love Story delivered well on its central theme of overcoming obstacles to do what you love. Hazel was the perfect protagonist in this situation, a young lady who wanted to be a surgeon in a purely male-dominated field. It really immersed us into early 1800 Edinburgh as she fought so many obstacles in her way to pursue her dream and passion. The romance with Jack, a resurrection man aka a grave digger, happened later in the book but their partnership was just the cutest and most wholesome thing ever! There was also a mystery in play but these elements were not the focal points, although they were all connected well with the main part of the story. This may not be for everyone, especially if you thought it was purely a great romance novel, but I personally loved the historical science of it. Dana Schwartz is definitely being added to my list of writers to look out for.

I had such high hopes for this but was ultimately disappointed. The romance element, which is literally in the subtitle, was underdeveloped. The love interest was flat, underdeveloped. The protagonist was interesting but her GMC was weak/underdeveloped—I had no idea what her motivation was, even at the end. As a result, she was flat, too, and I wasn't very invested in her journey. There were also some random POV switches mid-scene that were distracting.
I really liked the setting and the anatomy details, but I think this book tried to be too many things at once. The magic/fantasy element felt random and stuck in at the beginning and end, and the reveal didn't make much sense to me considering the story as a whole.