Book Review: Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Gothic Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Dana Schwartz
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: January 18th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

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. 

NOT A FAN OF THE ENDING.

I love a good gory and darker YA book. This gave all of those vibes and more. [It is gruesome, please check warnings!]. Great atmosphere and I liked the writing style.

Hazel was a pretty solid YA heroine too. I liked her tenacity and that she refused to give up on her dream of becoming a doctor. Hazel might have taken some unorthodox routes to get there, but hey! I liked her and I’m cool with it.

The love story aspects didn’t really happen until the halfway point? For a smaller book that’s really hard to accomplish well and I thought it was lacking. I wasn’t as invested in the romance as I wanted to be. Hazel and Jack had some sweet moments, but I needed more.

Aaaaand that ending. Throwing in some fantasy aspects all of a sudden had me tilting my head. Seemed like an easy way to fix some of the remaining plot issues and attempt to tie everything up in a neat bow. It didn’t all come together the way I hoped.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Gothic Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Violence: extremely blood/gore
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: grave robbing (with use of the bodies in medical fields), kidnapping, organ harvesting, body dissection (with detail)

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Book Review: Kisses and Croissants by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: April 6th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Seventeen-year-old Mia, an American girl at an elite summer ballet program, has six weeks to achieve her dreams: to snag an audition with one of the world’s best ballet companies. But there’s more to Paris than ballet—especially when a charming French boy, Louis, wants to be her tour guide—and the pair discover the city has a few mysteries up its sleeve.

In the vein of romances like Love and Gelato, this is the perfect summer adventure for anyone looking to get swept away in the City of Love.

TAKE ME TO PARIS.

This was such a sweet YA read! I loved seeing parts of Paris and truly felt transported there. The writing was perfect for this and I was swept away into this story of following passions and having a summer romance.

Speaking of the romance, it was adorable. Louis and Mia were super cute and I would easily watch this movie. Louis was kind and this contrast to Mia that I loved. They both learned things from each other throughout the book and there was a realistic conflict and resolution that I am always here for.

A big focus was Mia and her ballet school. I LOVE books about dancing and this was no different. She went through some self discovery and was able to stand up in her own way. I really wish I could have watched the actual ballet scenes including Swan Lake (another point for this needing to be a movie!!).

The ending took me for a loop, but I ultimately thought it made both characters stronger and confirmed a lot of emotions and desires. There was such hope and light for it all that it gave me plenty of warm fuzzies. Definitely reminiscent of Anna and the French Kiss vibes (but, a whole different story!).

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: car accident resulting in injury/hospitalization, alcohol consumption

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Book Review: Red Rising (Red Rising #1) by Pierce Brown

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Sci-Fi / Fantasy
Length: 382 pages
Author: Pierce Brown
Publisher: Del Rey
Release Date: January 28th, 2014
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies… even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

AS ALWAYS, GOOD.

This is a reread review! I never reviewed it formally when I first read it in 2016 so what better time to write one now?

I LOVE this series. Especially the first three books. I surprised myself with how much I remembered about Red Rising and it goes to show how incredible Pierce Brown is at crafting a story that left such an impression that it is still memorable years later.

Darrow’s rise to the top contains such character depth that I can’t get enough. Anything to do with character growth is automatically a win in my book and I loved seeing his progression. Sevro is FOREVER AND EVER one of my top side characters ever and it was great seeing him at his wild beginnings.

I do remember wishing there was a touch more romance. I adore Mustang and her fierce yet kind nature. She makes the hard choices, but actually holds onto some humanity in doing so.

The villains are making themselves known and I am here for it. These are some of the most wicked and deep antagonists I’ve come across. I love the academy setting and how it really builds the rest of the series.

Can’t wait to continue this reread!

Overall audience notes:

  • Sci-Fi / Fantasy
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: very high and graphic
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: mentions of rape and sexual assault, murder, physical altercations, executions, loss of a spouse, near death experiences, weapons altercations

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Book Review: Loving a Lady (Brotherhood of the Black Tartan #3) by Nichole Van

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 366 pages
Author: Nichole Van
Publisher: Fiorenza Publishing
Release Date: September 9th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Ewan Campbell fought to free himself from his past. Quite literally. A former prizefighter, he now earns his living as an artist. But Ewan still fights more figurative opponents—dark memories that threaten to overwhelm him. Worse, when he is hired to assist a famous painter, Ewan finds himself falling for the man’s highborn niece, Lady Kildrum. Such feelings are pointless. Countesses do not fall in love with impoverished Highlanders, no matter what fairy tales say.

Violet Kerr, Lady Kildrum, struggles to make decisions. She is a countess in her own right, for heaven’s sake. Decision-making skills should flow through her blood. After all, her life’s path is clear—marry a nobleman, provide for her sisters, and see to the welfare of her tenants.

Though Violet has made one decision—

She must curb her attraction to Ewan Campbell, her uncle’s new art assistant. The lowly Highlander, no matter how alluring, is not a proper suitor for a countess. She definitely should not fantasize about the man.

Or, if she does, she should not allow such fantasies to lead to very real kissing. Because kissing could bring on the most difficult decision of all—

What happens if Violet chooses to fall in love with the one man she can never have?

LOVABLE.

Both of these characters embodied that word: lovable. I adored this third installment of the Brotherhood series and wow am I just whisked away into these stories each time.

Once again I love how unique these set-ups are. Often I feel the historical romances I pick up are pretty similar in dynamics. I looove that this had the love interest as a gentle giant who could box and paint. And even more so that the heroine was a Lady who was in a “man’s position” for the time period. It was wonderful seeing these two collide and help each other rise from some of the heartaches of the past. I do wish there was a little more focus on the romance in this book, buuut it was still amazing and the ENDING. I was tearing up and the sweetest sentiments exchanged between Ewan and Violet.

I love that throughout the series is this bond of male friendship between the brotherhood. It’s been adding mystery and intrigue with solving more of the story of the ship that sank on their prior voyage and the reveals in here have been excited to see where this series will continue to go.

This has been an amazing series so far and I can’t wait for the next!!

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of parents, near death experiences, depictions of grief, loss of siblings, substance abuse (alcohol – side character)

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