This was a very interesting expansion into the life of Hazel Sinnett and how she fights to become a doctor. I will admit that this sequel was very slow but the expansion of the world and science kept me interested throughout.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Wednesday Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Immortality: A Love Story releases February 28, 2023

This is the follow up to <i>Anatomy: A Love Story</i> and the conclusion to this YA historical fiction duology.

Set in Edinburgh in 1818, we again see Hazel navigate being the first woman physician/surgeon in the region where she resides.
With most of her family away in London, and as Hazel has recently rejected the marriage to her cousin, she has found herself rather lonely.
To bide her time and strengthen her work, she has been working on her own treatise which she hopes to publish in the future — tailored to all households and written in a way that is approachable for anyone to understand.

Shortly after a woman comes knocking on Hazel’s door in the middle of the night out of desperation and on the brink of death, that same woman then decides to throw Hazel under the bus on false pretenses of being the one to provide the means for an abortion.
This whole debacle leads to a short period of time where Hazel is in jail, only to then be assigned as the physician to London’s Princess Charlotte who is mysteriously ill and refuses to accept care from anyone else. It is their hope that because Hazel is of the same sex and a similar age, that she will be able to figure out what is wrong with the Princess.


If you came to this book directly from <i>Anatomy</i> hoping for immediate gratification pertaining to Jack and Hazel, I think you’re going to be very disappointed like I was.
It’s not until 60% that Jack even makes a reappearance in the story, and even then, the character development was off.
For two characters that pretty much professed their undying love for each other, they mostly acted like polite strangers which really bothered me. The tonal shift between the two (around 84%) was way too sudden, out of left field, and didn’t feel natural compared to the pacing for the rest of the story.

In this sequel, what you will find is a new cast of characters, a secret society group called the Companions to the Death, and a secondary love interest/love triangle situation that leads nowhere but yet had so much potential with the great rivalry banter.
There’s also a sideplot of wlw.

With the way the first book ended, I expected much more. This didn’t quite feel like it was planned out thoroughly in advance to benefit the overarching character development.
In short, I believe that this duology could have and should have been left as an open-ended standalone.
There were also a few major continuity errors that shouldn’t have slipped past editing stages.

cw: mentions of purposely inducing an abortion, gun violence, attempted murder


“Royal court might be a friendlier prison, but it is a prison all the same.”

“But the Tincture to a soul is like milk into tea: you can stir it in, but no matter how vigorously you stir in the other direction, the milk will never separate. The tea is changed, fundamentally.”

Thank you to St Martins Publishing, Wednesday books and NetGallery for the ARC copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. Once again high marks for Dana Schwartz her writing style is right up my alley. She makes me invested in her character. This love story is swoon worthy. Hazel as a character is smart, strong, bold and just perfection. I couldn’t stop thinking of Anatomy which is book one ( since it was a cliffhanger) and now that I’ve finished Immortality I want more!

A HUGE thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me both an eARC and advance audiobook of my most anticipated release of 2023.

Dana Schwartz reached into my chest, ripped my heart out, forced me to drink a vial of purple liquid, and stuffed my heart back into my chest. And I thanked her..... Or at least that's how reading this book made me feel.

Immortality: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz is a historical fiction sequel to Anatomy: A love story. Which follows the life of Hazel Sinnet as she navigates a society that demands to negate what she can and cannot do, due to her being a woman. Such as her inability to be a surgeon or anything related to the medical field. But Hazel finds a way in dressing in her brother's clothing and enrolling herself in the most pristine medical school in Edinburgh. And it all goes horribly wrong when her identity is discovered, but it slowly goes right as Dr. Beecham sees her talent as a lovely surgeon. Now, Hazel must not loose her head with all the big wig surgeons or her heart to the lovely grave digger, Jack Currer. Who might just be who she needs in the end.

All I have to say, is that I am most grateful said character lived. And though I very much wanted to simultaneously want to punch and kiss them upon their reentry into the story. I will gladly forgive Schwartz for the characterization, upon review of the grave yard kiss.

Immortality: A Love Story was an absolute rollercoaster. Our story opens with Hazel, practicing medicine from her home and recovering from the loss of Jack in her life. After being so invested in Hazel’s story in Anatomy, seeing her do what she loves made me feel like a proud mother.

After a sequence of events leads to Hazel being imprisoned for her “crimes”, Hazel is shocked to find that she has been brought to the royal family to save the beloved princess. This is where our new casts of characters enters and Hazel is thrown into a whole new world.

This story was thought provoking and emotional. I shed so many tears!!! Hazel and her love story just completely have my heart. She is kind, intelligent, and so brave. It has been such a pleasure to read her story.

~Special thanks to NetGalley And Wednesday Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

A perfect sequel! I love historical fiction/fantasy, and this was a great addition to the genre. A little slow at parts, but the writing had such a great flow that it was a pleasure to read from front to back.

Hazel is going through it! After the ending of book one, this sequel begins with hazel getting into a really tough spot. However, she finds herself rescued and set to serve as a physician for Princess Charlotte. Many things happen at Pall Mall, but of utmost importance is (finally) Jack's return.

This was a great read, and I loved how nicely the strings were tied up at the end, leaving me feeling very fulfilled.

Out February 28, 2023!

This was such a fun and satisfying follow up to Anatomy: A Love Story. It was wonderful to be reunited with Hazel and to get closure for the loose ends we were left with in the first book.
Some early reviews have indicated the first half of the book is slow, and that the reviewers didn't enjoy the twisting of history/historical figures, however, I disagree.
The first half was spent reimmersing the reader into Hazel's world and jogging our memory of the first book. Dana Schwartz is excellent at writing descriptions and creating ambience with her words. She could write a whole book about Hazel just chilling in her lab doing nothing and I would read it cover to cover.
The second half of the story moves to London and brings in historical figures and includes the coolest concept for a secret society. I enjoyed the liberties taken in regards to the history- it was genuinely fun to read.
It was so good to have closure to the story and to meet the new characters. The ending was exciting, and sweet, and hopeful. I loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for an early copy. Now I'm just waiting for release day so I can get my preordered copy!

*an additional note to the publisher- this book would benefit from an additional round of edits for spelling/grammatical errors.

5 stars!

This book was a perfect conclusion to the first one. I absolutely loved this duo and the characters in it! I can’t give it high enough praise. And…I don’t usually like historical books all that much. I’m so picky when it comes to that genre, but this duo was interesting and I couldn’t get enough of them!

As with Anatomy I love 95% of it.....However it completely falls apart in the last few chapters! For example she has this secret society chasing her and her secrets but she doesn't even change her name for medical school? I felt like the concept of upper v. lower class did fit the time period but it was trying to hard to be political.
Also Princess Charlotte died in 1817 but the book is set in 1818.
The secret society stuff was cool but there was a lot of pacing problems

First off let me say Thank You to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press/ Wednesday Books for the e-ARC of this book.

When I read the first one, (in one day might I add) I thought it was okay. I thought Hazel and Jack's ending was disappointing and so I am pleasantly surprised to say that I really am glad we got closure in this one.

I am sad to say that this book is the ending to the duology I would've loved a novella or something more but overall I am satisfied with this series.

I thought it was the perfect ending just wish there was more.

I am debating re-reading this duology before the end of the year (2023) as it might be contender for best sequel so watch out for an updated review later.

Immortality: a Love Story directly follows the events of the previous novel, Anatomy: a Love Story. After the epilogue of the previous installment, I wasn't sure what to expect with this one.

This book brings with it a new setting, side characters, and mystery/intrigue while still following Hazel (the main character from the first) and her journey. She is faced with a new set of challenges to overcome and mysteries to solve, almost against her will.

With both novels, I really enjoyed the author's writing style and prose. The pacing of both books felt slow in the first act, but really builds up the intrigue and makes it hard to predict the final ending. The romance helped drive Hazel's confidence but wasn't a focal point of the story in either book, though it did help drive the plot in both. While this book already felt a bit long, I wish we got a bit more time with the romance, but that's ok. Overall, I enjoyed this series, and I'd be open to reading future works of fiction from her.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved this whole thing! Being back in the world of Hazel Sinnett was so refreshing and needed! It’s a tale for the history books, and I’m so happy the author took the turns that she did. She really made Hazel work for this ending! The twists were mind-boggling, the characters relatable, and the plot was AMAZING! I’m so happy to have gotten a chance to review this book before it’s official release in a little under a month now.

For y’all wanting to read it, DEFINITELY DO! You will not regret it!

5/5 stars for death, immortality, and love!

**Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free review copy! I am leaving this review voluntarily!

This was a pleasant read. It lives up to Anatomy. What I liked both in Anatomy and here in Immortality is that Hazel was consistent in being able to stand on her own. I appreciate Hazel’s journey with and without Jack. Story has enough suspense and romance. Although I’d like more scenes with Hazel and Jack. Felt their story was a little rushed.

I am so happy that I had the opportunity to read the second part of Anatomy a love story. Immortality lived up to my expectations and left me completely satisfied. I love the overall premise of the story and the new characters were amazing. I would have been happy with so much more but then again I absolutely loved Immortality and Anatomy and I'm not quite ready to be done with these characters. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Wednesdays Books for providing me an advance copy of this book.

This book does a great job of giving closure to Hazel's story - it was an exciting entry! I struggled to stick with and suspend my disbelief for some of the supernatural surgery elements, but overall, I found this book to be a truly enjoyable second chapter in this story.

The first half of this was great but, that later half kind of let me down. Without trying to spoil it, I wanted a certain thing to happen in this and it didn't happen. I did enjoy learning more about the early 19th century and people that were apart of it.
Trigger Warnings: abortion, absent parents, mention of plague, dead bodies, dismemberment, gore, body horror, blood, graphic injuries & wounds, blood, medical procedures, violence, misogyny, gun shot, and attempted murder

Immortality: A Love Story is a wonderful followup to the first novel. At the beginning of the book, we find Hazel living at her family home in Edinburgh and working as a surgeon. She gets caught up in some trouble after attempting to help a young woman, and through a series of events, finds herself immersed in the world of London and the royal family. Hazel explores the city of London and forms friendships, as well as discovering some dark secrets.

This book does a great job of giving closure to Hazel's story, and answering the questions that were left open at the end of Anatomy: A Love Story. I never felt bored, and I felt that the story moved at a good pace. I struggled to stick with and suspend my disbelief for some of the supernatural surgery elements, but overall, I found this book to be a truly enjoyable second chapter in this story.

I really loved this sequel to Anatomy: A Love Story. It brought a decent resolution to the story. I still liked Anatomy better but I liked the opened ended, rough ending of that book (as a contrast to most books that try to make a happy ending or a horrible cliffhanger). I also though there was a bit more action in Anatomy. But this was a nice conclusion to Hazel's story.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this eARC.

I just couldn’t get into it. The story just seemed to drag on and on with nothing to keep me engaged. I will give it another shot with the audio in March, when it releases.

Please read and form your own opinions.

I liked this even though there was no real plot, lol. Nothing really happens for 300 pages and that's okay! I was happy to be back with Hazel, this time in a different location with different side-characters. (Team Charlotte!) I thought the ending was neat and tidy, which is exactly what I wanted from a "filler" sequel. Looking forward to whatever else Schwartz writes.


Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.