• Home
  • About
  • Archives - Wading Through
  • Archives - The Craft Sea

Wading Through...

  • Home
  • About
  • Archives - Wading Through
  • Archives - The Craft Sea

Immortality by Dana Schwartz

Title: Immortality

Author: Dana Schwartz

Publisher: Wednesday Books 2023

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 389

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Books Club - Includes a Funeral

Hazel Sinnett is alone and half-convinced the events of the year before—the immortality, Beecham’s vial—were a figment of her imagination. She doesn’t even know if Jack is alive or dead. All she can really do now is treat patients and maintain Hawthornden Castle as it starts to decay around her.

When saving a life leads to her arrest, Hazel seems doomed to rot in prison until a message intervenes: Hazel has been specifically requested to be the personal physician of Princess Charlotte, the sickly granddaughter of King George III. Soon Hazel is dragged into the glamor and romance of a court where everyone has something to hide, especially the enigmatic, brilliant members of a social club known as the Companions to the Death.

As Hazel’s work entangles her more and more with the British court, she realizes that her own future as a surgeon isn't the only thing at stake for her. Malicious forces are at work in the monarchy, and Hazel may be the only one capable of setting things right.

A successful and satisfying follow up to Anatomy. I was very annoyed by the cliffhanger at the end of the first book, but thankfully, this volume closes that storyline. We re-encounter Hazel continuing her work alone in her family’s house in Edinburgh. This story line is all fine and good, but the book finally picks up once Hazel is transported to London and meets Princess Charlotte. I loved the royal intrigue aspect of the story and Hazel’s relationships with Charlotte and Eliza. We don’t get quite as much medical talk in this one as the last, but it’s still there. This book did feel like a bit more of a stretch by including so many real characters into the plot line. Most of it was fine, but there were a few parts that I was a bit incredulous by the actions taken by some characters. As such, I still have issues with the supernatural aspects of this duology. A nice quick read, but it’s not going to make my top 10 of the year.

52 book club.jpeg
star-rating-remains-the-most-important-part-of-a-review-cad0047.cad0047.png

Next up on the TBR pile:

jujutsu 9.jpg jujutsu 10.jpg how to be eaten.jpg swept away.jpg liminal.jpg enchantra.jpg alley.jpg deserter.jpg water moon.jpg black paradox.jpg tombs.jpg gyo.jpg soichi.jpg uzumaki.jpg book of the most.jpg great big.jpg jujutsu11.jpg jujutsu12.jpg jujutsu13.jpg jujutsu14.jpg jujutsu15.jpg seoulmates.jpg twisted1.jpg lore7.jpg jujutsu16.jpg twisted2.jpg twisted3.jpg uzumaki.jpg twisted4.jpg
tags: Dana Schwartz, horror, young adult, 4 stars, fantasy, 52 Book Club
categories: Book Reviews
Friday 07.28.23
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

Anatomy by Dana Schwartz

Title: Anatomy: A Love Story

Author: Dana Schwartz

Publisher: Wednesday Books 2022

Genre: Horror

Pages: 338

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spring TBR

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, Beecham will allow her to continue her medical career. Without official lessons, though, Hazel will need more than just her books―she’ll need corpses to study.

Lucky that she’s made the acquaintance of someone who digs them up for a living.

But Jack has his own problems: strange men have been seen skulking around cemeteries, his friends are disappearing off the streets, and the dreaded Roman Fever, which wiped out thousands a few years ago, is back with a vengeance. Nobody important cares―until Hazel.

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.

Apparently, historical fiction with a medical history theme is my catnip. I’ve read a few in the past and always enjoy them. This particular book definitely hit the spot this month. I loved Hazel and Jack and their different perspectives and stations in life. I loved seeing each of them learn as they navigate Edinburgh. There were a few scenes that I wished had been expanded, but this is a fast moving young adult novel. (I did get very confused as to the exact physical relationship between Hazel and Jack. It was very hand-wavy.) And then we get to the interesting plot lines of becoming a doctor and body snatching. I loved getting into the weeds of Hazel learning and then opening up an ad hoc clinic in her home. My one issue with this book came towards the end. I was not super into the supernatural explanation of the mystery and the very ambiguous ending. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this novel.

Spring RC 2022.png
star-rating-remains-the-most-important-part-of-a-review-cad0047.cad0047.png

Next up on the TBR pile:

jujutsu 9.jpg jujutsu 10.jpg how to be eaten.jpg swept away.jpg liminal.jpg enchantra.jpg alley.jpg deserter.jpg water moon.jpg black paradox.jpg tombs.jpg gyo.jpg soichi.jpg uzumaki.jpg book of the most.jpg great big.jpg jujutsu11.jpg jujutsu12.jpg jujutsu13.jpg jujutsu14.jpg jujutsu15.jpg seoulmates.jpg twisted1.jpg lore7.jpg jujutsu16.jpg twisted2.jpg twisted3.jpg uzumaki.jpg twisted4.jpg
tags: Dana Schwartz, young adult, horror, 4 stars
categories: Book Reviews
Wednesday 05.04.22
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

Powered by Squarespace.