I’m normally a squeamish person when it comes to gore and all manner of medical procedures, but I jumped into Anatomy: A Love Story eagerly. I anticipated a nice mixture of blood and love, and superficially, my needs were met. Unfortunately, there were myriad problems with the story, including pacing and an inert love triangle.
The time is the 1800’s and the place is Scotland. Hazel is a teenager with a passion for being a doctor, despite the almost insurmountable odds against her. She sneaks into an anatomy class disguised as a boy for a time, but is eventually thrown out upon discovery of her true gender. She then takes it upon herself to open up a quasi-hospital/morgue in her huge castle while both her parents are away. In need of dead bodies to practice on, she meets Jack, a “resurrection” man who digs up bodies for the medical school. Before you know it, romance blooms and they are making out in a hollowed grave next to a decomposing body. Swoon!
Sometimes after I read a book, I wonder, “Was this really any good?” and hop over to Good Reads to see what the one star reviewers say. If their complaints hold no water, I bump up my rating, but if they eviscerate the book with insight, I will dial my star rating down. That happened with this book, which I originally gave three stars but then realized after scanning the reviews that it really didn’t deserve more than two.
For one, the love story between Hazel and Jack just didn’t ring true. Even with Hazel’s stuffy fiancee putting pressure on things, there wasn’t any real tension or good explanations for why they fell so hard for one another. And it really didn’t work having them make out in an open grave next to a putrid corpse. If the book was generally humorous or outrageous, then maybe that would have flown, but it just ends up gross and baffling.
Three-quarters of the book is rather slow going, though the writing is engaging enough. But nothing really happens until the last quarter, and then it goes so fast it’s kind of ludicrous. A supernatural element is brought in out of nowhere and the book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Although I didn’t notice it, other reviewers said there was nothing that showed the author had done their research about the nineteenth century or Scotland.
This was a Young Adult book that was somewhat diverting, but in the end didn’t really hold up to scrutiny. The cover, however, was gorgeous.