I had high hopes for "Immortality: A Love Story" after reading "Anatomy" last year and I was not disappointed! This is a beautiful follow-up to the first book in Hazel's story. The character arc is strong and the story is captivating. I, personally, was so satisfied to see Hazel and Jack get their happy ending.
3.75/5

I had high hope for this one just like the first, and it did not disappoint!!
I will admit there was a point where it was losing me in the beginning, but I found it was just because I had to immerse myself if the world again.
Following Hazel into London was quite a change as well! I loved seeing her in contrast to these even more noble nobles and these fancy parties.
This one was full of so many twists and turns and truly lives up to the subtitle of “A Love Story”.

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC in return for an honest review.

What was great about the first book was it was about a woman who poses as a man to take medical classes, and she gains success despite being caught. There was some romance, gravedigging, a vial of immortality potion and an immortal surgeon nemesis to Hazel with limbs falling off. It was an intriguing story with a strong female character.

Book two started off with promise, but after Hazel makes it to London, meets a clandestine groups of immortals, and a supportive doctor to mad King George, the stakes are quite a bit lower and the suspense is replaced with a realization the story with end happily ever after for everyone. Perhaps duo logo would have been better off as one book that ended quite a bit earlier.

This brought back all the gothic feels of the first book in the duo with the dark Scottish setting and then she even brought out the royal family. It was filled with surprises and the story took turns I really didn't expect. However, we did get to dig up some bodies in the name of science and there was many a medical mystery to solve. This also had more romance than I was expecting. I do think at certain times this was a little forced but overall made the book not as dark. It was still a fantastic story and definitely unique.

Dana Schwartz did not disappoint. I really loved this book. It was intimate without being invasive and emotional without being weepy.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, & Wednesday Books for a copy of this book & audiobook.

I'm a long-term admirer of Dana Schwartz and if you haven't read her memoir, Choose Your Own Disaster, you must. Like now. Go!!

So I was quick to pick up the first book in this set, Anatomy, and found I fell so quickly into the world of eighteenth-century Scotland that she is showcasing so beautifully here. As an aside, I loved the concentration of that book in Scotland, not England. Fantastic, And the first female physician story she builds here is so well done, with beautiful examples of the transgressing of gender lines in ideological and real physical scenes. This second book takes our heroine down into London, a miraculous rescue, seemingly out of nowhere (foreshadowing alert!) which lands her as the personal physician to the future-queen of England, Princess Caroline. Cue the shenanigans!!

This was a fantastic little counterfactual history, queering the story of the sickly Princess Caroline whose Queendom had the potential to re-shape Britain. It's a fantastic reclamation for that historical figure and a welcome next chapter to Hazel, our female physician's story.

Calling all the pre-med girlies with a history minor — this is an extremely niche audience, but you will love this series! NOT for the squeamish! Medical jargon in the 1800s is truly not my thing, but I really love Hazel and Jack and this sequel was better than the OG, IMO!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my review copy! After receiving a review copy of Schwartz's previous tale, Anatomy, I was very excited to be able to read this one as well!

While I enjoyed this extension of Hazel's story, it wasn't quite as fast-paced as Anatomy. It took me a bit longer to get through, and while I truly love the writing style and description, it just felt a bit shorter for me. Still a recommended read, though, for sure!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4!

Honestly, I really enjoyed this duology. I think it's safe to say I loved the first book more, but I was so excited to see where this story would go that I don't even mind not being completely in love with this second book! Is it a perfect story? No. Could I be more critical? Sure. Do I want to remove an entire star because of Byron being made immortal? Absolutely! But all in all, the vibes for this gothic fantasy romance duology scratched an itch for me! And I still can't get enough of these gorgeous covers. I want to order them as prints and frame them!

An absolutely stellar end to this wonderful duology. I loved this book. The character development is wonderful, the new characters we meet all add to the tale, and the pacing was just the right mix so that I never really felt able to put it down even when things were calm.

Hazel is such a great protagonist and her story with Jack is so lovely you can’t help but love them both, individually and as a couple. The setting change from Edinburgh to London was interesting too, thrusting Hazel into a bigger role and making her decisions history-changing.

I received a free ebook copy of the novel as a reviewer but I enjoyed it so much that I’ve already ordered a physical copy of my own. I can’t give a better endorsement than that. I absolutely recommend this book to any historical fiction or romance reader.


Note: I received a free electronic edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for the honest review above. I would like to thank them, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to do so.

This is a 3.5-star rating!

The story was exciting and definitely enjoyable. I was honestly expecting more, and it was slightly disappointing after the hype. I enjoyed the lore but wished it was more apparent.

The love aspect of the story was lacking. If that would've been better developed, I may have enjoyed it more. I wouldn’t have minded had it not been labeled “a love story.” I think it should have just been a fantasy book, but that's me! I'll definitely be reading book two because I'm interested.

I had a nice time reading this book. I needed continuation after the ending of the previous book. It's a perfect read for someone who loved Anatomy.

When I got to the end of Anatomy, I KNEW there was going to be another one just from the way it ended. I knew that they wouldn’t do us like that. And sure enough, this was announced soon after. But noe that this one is over, I’m a little sad because I don’t like the way this ended either. Not because it was bad, but because she wrapped everything up and there doesn’t need to be another one. It finalized that this was a duology, and I don’t like that lol

Although I did enjoy it, I still don’t think it was as good as the first. For instance, one of the things that really drew me to the first one was the grave robberies. Well it wasn’t in this one at all except once. It wasn’t really needed by them, and I get it, but I would have enjoyed it more. Everything else was still the same. And I really liked that. The writing style, the small mystery, all of it, felt familiar to the first one and I really enjoyed being back in her world. And the historical part. Y’all know I’m usually not a fan, but this one hardly had anything historical in it, so I thought it was ok.

As for the plot, I thought it was actually really enjoyable. I guessed what the princess’ “illness” was before Hazel did lol But everything else that followed was a surprise lol I wish I could have filmed the way my mouth dropped open when all the secrets begin to be revealed. I was not expecting things to go there. (I really need to start looking at the synopsis) It did get a little slow in the middle when she was trying to figure things out, but once it finally got past the hump, it was ok.

The characters were also still good. I was very surprised when Jack wasn’t there tho. I just KNEW from the ending of book one that he would be. But unfortunately, he wasn’t there. But it was ok because there were other new characters. I liked all the new additions. Even the villains.

But for the most part I enjoyed this. I do wish there was going to be another one. I know it said a duology, but I really want another from them. Maybe just from the villain. If you know, you know lol But whatever Dana Schwartz writes, I will give it a shot. If nothing else to be able to report back to my teens and the branch librarians.

Thank you so much to the publisher! This was a fun sequel to anatomy and kept me engaged! Loved being back in this world!

I loved Anatomy by Dana Schwartz, so I was very excited to read the sequel as I was left with so many unanswered questions after the ending of the first book.

Immortality picks up right where Anatomy left off with Hazel dealing with the aftermath of the events that occurred in the first book. The writing was just as compelling and the plot was very entertaining, which made this an easy read. The last 30% of the book had me completely hooked and wanting to know what happened next. I was overall really content with how this book wrapped everything up in the end.

This book is definitely worth reading if you liked Anatomy, as it gives closure to Hazel’s story. However, it was a little underwhelming as it wasn't as great as Anatomy in my opinion.

Immortality concludes the Anatomy duology, and I’m so happy I was able to read these two gothic young adult books fairly close together.

Hazel Sinnett has faced off with Dr. Beecham, who has disappeared. She knows her beloved Jack has been hanged, Beecham’s crimes pinned on the lowly resurrection man. Her heart is broken, but life has to move on. So she is staying busy treating sick and injured people in Edinburgh, most often the poor.

Then after she saves one woman’s life, she ends up in prison and is facing hanging herself. Fortunately, at the last minute she is rescued and taken to London. The Prince Regent himself is employing her to diagnose his sick daughter, Princess Charlotte. Hazel’s circumstances and the focus of her work have changed dramatically. She meets a handsome young doctor and is introduced to the brilliant and influential members of a secret club called the Companions to the Death.

Hazel has to use all her skills (medical and etiquette training, persuasion, thinking on her feet) to solve the conundrums that face her. And there’s more at stake than may appear on the surface — the future of the monarchy, the happiness of a couple of people who come to mean a lot to her, even her own future all ride on her stepping carefully.

Immortality is a fine conclusion to Hazel’s story. She is a character who’s a pleasure to be around: she’s smart, determined, ahead of her time, and perfectly happy to flout social norms to pursue her dreams and help others. This book does have some distinctly perilous segments, and some dark threads of the story are kept hanging for a while, but it’s a bit lighter than the first. Hazel gets to keep learning medicine, soaking up readily available information like a sponge. And she gets to be in the company of people who give her a lot to think about. She blossoms even more in this story, in the environment of the finest social circles of London.

But that doesn’t mean she necessarily intends or wants to stay there. That depends on a number of things that happen in the story. I won’t spoil it, though! Suffice it to say I enjoyed it a lot and recommend it. Immortality (and Anatomy) bring together lots of elements I love and do it well: romance, historical fiction, Regency times, medicine, fantasy, and gothic setting and tone. Great stuff.

This was the sequel I needed but was absolutely not expecting. The setting was completely different yes, slightly less gothic, but just as historically interesting to me. The premise was surprising and interesting and I found the new cast of characters enjoyable. Hazel was the same strong FMC we fell in love with before, and seeing her confront a whole new set of circumstances was thrilling.

I'm still thinking about this one a week later. Loved it!

The first book in this duology held me spellbound, and I finished it in one sitting. When I learned another book was coming, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

I missed Hazel. Highly intelligent, determined, ambitious, independent – she’s on my list of favorite female protagonists. In 1817 Edinburgh, Hazel is a surgeon, something unheard of for women in that time period. But she’s never been one to bow to society’s expectations of her. This story begins immediately after the events of Anatomy, and she’s unsure of what happened to Jack and doesn’t even know if he’s alive or dead. Being practical and focused on her work, Hazel continues to treat her patients and write her book. And treating one of her patients gets her thrown into jail. Luckily for her, she’s soon summoned to treat the granddaughter of King George IV of England and is released from prison.

No spoilers here, so I’ll say this novel is just as compelling as the first. A lot is going on at court, not all of it good, and members of a social club Hazel is invited to join may not be what they seem. She also meets Dr. Simon Ferris, who’s treating the king for a mysterious illness. I liked Simon and the way he interacts with Hazel – he respects her as a colleague and her abilities as a surgeon. Her patients come first, and she goes to extreme lengths in this story to prove it.

I can’t go without mentioning both covers in this duology – they’re truly works of art. If you enjoy strong, intelligent female protagonists, historical fantasy, and mysteries, I can’t recommend this series enough.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This sequel was disappointing after such a stellar first book. It wasn't as gory or focused. Hazel feels like she doesn't have a goal, and the plot is very unfocused. We have Jack as a potential in the universe and that is in the background, but otherwise she is just wandering around the world bumping into plot lines, but nothing sticks. There isn't anything solid to keep us attached to the plot and it couldn't keep my attention. I really wanted to love this after being so attached to the first book.

3.5 stars - As with the first book, I love the main characters in this book and the charm that Dana Schwartz infuses into her novel. The themes in this one were spot on - and not once did they deter us from the overall narrative but they added to what Schwartz was already bringing forth. I think sometimes sequels to books can lack the charm that made you fall in love with the first book, but as soon as I opened the first page of the book, I fell right back into the world and the writing style. That being said, I had some issues with the way that this novel ended. I think the first book integrated science and immortality in an interesting way that felt mysterious whereas in this one, it felt silly [ (especially with Miss Marie Zombie Lavoisier at the end lol) (hide spoiler)]. It's still a really fast and fun read and I cannot wait to see what Schwartz writes next!