About the Book
Anatomy of a Single Girl (Anatomy #2)
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Author:
- Daria Snadowsky
Cover Story: Anatomically Correct
Mame-worthy: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 3
Talky Talk: 2 Legit 2 Quit
Bonus Factors: Keith Mars Award For Awesome Parenthood, Fishing
Relationship Status: I Don’t Want to Date This Series Anymore, But YOU TOTALLY SHOULD
Cover Story: Anatomically Correct
I totally dig these covers.
The Deal:
These two books follow Dominique Baylor from her senior year of high school through the end of summer after her freshman year of college, where she experiences her first love, sex, heartache, and healing.
Mame-worthy: Yay
Sometimes, as adult readers of YA fiction, we are unable to swear Bff loyalty to a character because that character — while he or she may be well-written — is just too whiny or intense or too young. Perhaps they remind us of ourselves at that age, or whatever painful, life-or-death (in their mind) situation they’re going through could be easily solved by the wisdom that comes with age and experience. Perhaps we want to shake them. Or hug them. Or sit down and have a chat. We may wish we could adopt them, so we could open windows and doors for them that would blow their young minds. We may want to tell them that life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death. To live, live, LIVE!
So in honor of one of the greatest movies of ALL time — and one of my personal heroes — Auntie Mame, I’ve created this new category. Because I’d love to bring Dom to my penthouse in NYC and tell her that while she’s so smart, and so driven, she’s so caught up in trying to make everything perfect, she’s not actually ever in the moment. She needs to learn how to live. That said, it’s probably better for her sake and actual YA readers that she figures this out on her own.
Swoonworthy Scale: 3
There’s a lot of sex in these books. A lot of talk about sex, a lot of thinking about sex, and a lot of having sex. However, while Dom certainly falls in love, and there are some swoony bits leading up to all of that sex, the actual sex is described with the same kind of clinical detachment she uses to tell us about a trip to a gynecologist, because Dom — like many women, if statistics are correct — doesn’t actually enjoy the sex for a long while. So for a long time she falls prey to that horrible “I love having sex for the closeness of it” thing, because she’s so freaked out about everything, including her own vagina, that she doesn’t experience an orgasm for a very long time, which (IMHO) is one of the saddest things I’ve ever heard. Of course, I’m a fan of the idea of teaching masturbation in health class, so…
Knowing that this book includes heartache might put some people off, but I loved the way the author wrote Wes, and other guys in the books — as believable teenagers who are neither outrageously swoony or assholes. Wes is a super sweet, caring, gentle, clueless guy.
Talky Talk: 2 Legit 2 Quit
If you haven’t already gotten the idea, Snadowsky pulls no punches with her voice. It’s authentic and rough and raw, and often uncomfortable. It’s a story that (I think) many women will identify with — hopefully with a shudder and a sigh of thanks for maturity. It’s a series that could demystify sex for teenaged girls in a way that neither encourages abstinence nor promiscuity, and for that it should be on the shelves of every household. As if that wasn’t enough, the author tackles obsessive/first love, jealousy, insecurities and more in the same realistic voice that keeps her from venturing into After School Special territory. Sometimes it’s hard to watch her character’s thoughts and feelings, but it’s worth it in the end to see her figure most things out.
Bonus Factor: Keith Mars Award For Awesome Parenthood
Dom’s parents are the best. They love their daughter, but are also focused on their own lives. They have fun together, even if it seems boring to their daughter, and they try to have the relationship with her that will allow her to come to them with her problems. I actually got mad at Dom for being so mean to them sometimes.
Bonus Factor: Fishing
Dom and her parents live in Florida, and one of the things they do regularly as a family is fish. It brought fun flashbacks of fishing with my own family when I was a kid, even though now (while I’m happy to eat the fish) I’ll let someone else do the catching.
Relationship Status: I Don’t Want to Date This Series Anymore, But YOU TOTALLY SHOULD
So these were a tough two books for me to get through. I found myself putting them down a lot, only to pick them right back up, because I HAD to find out if Dom ever figured shit out. A lot of the putting it down part was because I either didn’t identify with how she felt about certain experiences, or I identified with them too much, so it was shrinking back, with one eye squinted closed that I watched the story unfold. That said, I think everyone’s experience will be different, so I definitely recommend it for both young and old. Especially young.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received my review copy from the author. I received neither money nor cocktails for writing this review (dammit!). Anatomy of a Boyfriend and Anatomy of a Single Girl are in stores.
