#a rae dunlap

[bookwyrminspiration]

James: body-snatching is deplorable, immoral, ungodly, and you people are demonic patrons of the devil and I will have nothing to do with you and your ilk!

James' Family: we want you to work for the East India Trading Company

James: Give me a shovel

[dont-leafmealone]

I was gonna use my book review side blog for this but fuck it I can't write a coherent post about this. Book rec on main:

I'm begging people to read The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap. For the love of god I need someone to talk to about this book because it's making me insane!

Selling points:

Very fun, morbid dark academia/gothic adventure-mystery-coming of age featuring grave robbing, romance and murder most foul

Historical fiction! Set in 1828 Edinburgh during the Burke & Hare murders. Many of the characters were real people who lived (and died) through those events - with missing information creatively filled in to entwine them with the plot

well researched, to the point where when I was looking for more information on the events presented (as one does when The Neurodivergence ignites) I just kept running into stuff that was already in the book

super immersive

Queer coming-of-age story without being a Queer Coming Of Age™️ story. Very sweet and complicated love story between two morally complex men of science

Very nice balance of tone; for all that it's a very funny book, it doesn't take away from the serious parts.

Characters are likable while retaining their complexity

Nye is peak weird girl rep despite not even being a girl. Nobody is doing it like him. I stand and respect a fellow collector of bugs and bones and dead bits.

James Willoughby is my favorite narrator ever, everyone else can go home <3

doesn't shy away from the gruesomeness of historical medicine or the moral complexities and often pretty awful shortcomings that led to the discoveries made in the period

nevertheless doesn't undersell just how fucking cool science and medicine are and how big of leaps in progress were being made!

Comes with a fun little book club question section <3 idk I just like books that have that

I gotta stress how much this book appeals to the little gothy nerd inside me. I checked it out from the library, read it, screamed, immediately made my baby sibling read it (as I must with all things dark and age-appropriate) and ordered myself a personal copy that WILL be worn out from rereading in a year's time

Seriously the last book that rearranged my brain chemistry like this was Funeral Songs For Dying Girls (<- STILL not over it btw; rereading soon)

Idk man all I can say is this scratched an itch I didn't know I had, and I 100% recommend it if you're interested at all in this period of history, you've ever wondered "what if Victor Frankenstein was gay?", you enjoyed that one episode of Good Omens, and/or listen to Lore podcast.

Content warnings for murder, graphic descriptions of dissection, sexist and homophobic language (briefly for both) and discussions of period-typical homophobic discrimination by the law.

[moodyymole]

Casually sneaking your body-snatching boyfriend into your bedroom window so he doesn’t get caught by the sexton.

[the-herdier]

WHO LET THE PATHOLOGIC FAN WRITE A WHOLE BOOK????

[ghosteso]

I’m nine pages into The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap and all I have to say is James Willoughby my beloved.

[wearethekat]

December Book Reviews: The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap

Picked this book up from the library new pile. In The Resurrectionist, young James Willoughby is fixated on becoming a doctor, so much so that he throws off familial expectations of attending Oxford and joins the medical school at Edinburgh in 1828. But once in Scotland, he finds that the hands-on medical training is lacking, and his curiosity drags him farther into the world of the resurrectionists, the illegal corpse snatchers.

Honestly, what a delightfully morbid background for a novel. One of the things I like most in a historical novel is specificity. Don't stick me in the generic Regency, the reign of Queen Elizabeth yet again or most despicably, a vaguely defined "medieval times" (come on, guys, that covers a thousand years of history.) Dunlap has clearly done her research in the period, from the grimy taverns to the impersonal lecture halls to the dubious "private anatomy schools." It's compellingly well drawn, and seems to speak to a personal fascination with the more lurid corpse snatchers of the period.

I found James himself to be a fun character, although a bit naive at time. He's painfully slow on the uptake at times, like in realizing where the "private anatomy schools" are getting their one corpse per student per semester. He also gets talked into literally digging up corpses because he thinks the doctor's assistant is hot, and he's addicted to italicization, with upwards of ten words italicized per page in some places. However, he's also genuinely fascinated by the cutting edge of medical science, from injecting hot wax into the forearm veins of corpses to discussing the latest experiments in applying electricity to the human body. It's his Frankensteinian fascination for the natural world that drags him into most of his more impractical escapades. The other thing dragging him into escapades is, of course, his terrible crush on beautiful dissectionist Aneurin. The romance is surprisingly sweet, very much Baby's First Romance, but I will allow them that, as the romance is balanced out by the narrative's tendency to graphic dissection play by plays.

A charmingly morbid queer romance with a fantastic setting. Recommended.

[vera-dauriac]

Currently reading The Resurrectionist, an excellent historical thriller/mystery/romance about med students in Edinburgh in the early 19th Century, and this might be my new favorite come on line ever.

[bookshelvesandtealeaves]

✨ BOOK REVIEW ✨

The Resurrectionist by A Rae Dunlap

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[instagram]

Thank you Kensington Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was captivated by this right from the start. The prose is lovely; straightforward yet vividly descriptive. It felt a little like reading a classic, like a Holmes and Watson tale, but perhaps a little less stuffy.

This book has elements of both a thriller and horror, yet it somehow manages to feel almost cosy with injections of humour throughout. Or perhaps I’m as mad as the characters in this story.

James is a brilliant POV character. Watching everything unfold through his eyes, being inside his mind as his worldview started to shift, feeling the same thrill he felt while completing his work, was all-encompassing as a reader.

Nye is such an enigmatic colleague, friend, partner in crime and lover. He’s witty and charming and morally grey as heck. He’s utterly wonderful and I couldn’t help but fall for him alongside James.

I LOVED the mesh of history and fiction. Burke and Hare fascinate me, as does the evolution of medicine during the 19th century. Having all these nods to real history nestled amongst this fictional story was a real joy.

I highly recommend this if you’re interested in true crime, history, and/or historical gays.

[bekah-reading]

52

5/5

Thank you NetGalley!

The Resurrectionist is a debut gothic novel set in 19th century Scotland.

Edinburgh, Scotland, 1828. James Willoughby has abandoned his posh life at Oxford to pursue his dream of studying surgery. He goes to join a school but can’t afford it on his own, causing him to strike a deal with Anuerin “Nye” MacKinnon who is a young dissectionist. Nye agrees to help James learn anatomy…but it isn’t long until James learns that Nye is a bodysnatcher. And now, James is his accomplice.

This book was sadly not on my radar until I requested it from NetGalley. BUT OH MY GOD! I am in love. I love the characters. I love Nye and James and I love this world. This is an amazing Gothic tale that is short and compelling. This was very immersive and atmospheric.

I would say if you like the more classic Gothics like Frankenstein and Dracula and Mary Shelley, you should read this. It also gave me Stalking Jack the Ripper vibes. This is a debut to keep your eyes on and I am pre-ordering the book now!

[jc-book-reviews]

Genres: Historical fiction, mystery, young adult

Rating: 3/5

Not at all gory or scary or even all that mysterious.  It is, as advertised, a fairly straightforward historical fiction surrounding the science and history of body snatching in 1800's Edinburgh.

Having failed at becoming a military man or clergyman, third son James Willoughby determines that his calling in life is to become a physician.  He certainly can't get that kind of education at well-to-do Oxford University.  No, he must go to where all the modern science is progressing: the University of Edinburgh in the cold savage north of England.  Things are going well until his family's fortune dries when the discover his recently deceased father's gambled away their family's future.  Rather than return to being the black sheep of the family, James is determined to remain in Edinburgh and maintain his relative independence.  But in order to do so, he might have to enter the medical field's seedy underbelly and unspoken methods of specimen procurement.

The best thing about this book is its writing style.  Typical old-timey sophisticated British language focusing on action and introspection.  The story is told through the voice of James, a sheltered and educated young Brit coming to terms with how down in the dirt his chosen occupation is compared to the rest of his life experience up until now.  A bit of coming-of-age is required as he interacts with his peers, who are nowhere near as noble as him but considering the recent turn of events, are all richer than him.  Through these interactions and James' growing up in the book, we see him relax and become more worldly as the story develops and as his language relaxes and becomes closer to more modern language, now that he's able to let all those restrictive gentry rules of conduct slide.

The historical fiction about body snatching, a very real profession at the start of medical knowledge enlightenment, is highlighted as the main subject of the story strewn with colorful historical figures like Dr. Knox and the serial killers Burke and Hare.  Anyone in the know about these men would probably be interested in learning more about the environment in which they thrived, but mainly they're just fun little ornaments hanging around our main character's dilemma of making money to fund his medical studies.

Every story needs some sort of romance to up the emotional stakes, and for James it's the clever and gruff Aneurin MacKinnon, the his anatomy professor's assistant, who not only serves as James' mentor in love and anatomy, but also introduces him to the body-snatching industry and is the main person who enlightens James about the way of the world.  The relationship between the two is like Horatio and Hamlet, a rich privileged boy discovers the true value of deception while the other remains steadfast and loyal to his own values and to his friends.

[coffeeinkblog]

#BookReview #TheResurrectionist #A. Rae Dunlap #Netgalley

NetGalley Description: In the tradition of The Alienist and Anatomy: A Love Story, a decadently macabre, dark and twisty gothic debut set in 19th century Scotland – when real-life serial killers Burke and Hare terrorized the streets of Edinburgh – as a young medical student is lured into the illicit underworld of body snatching.Historical fiction, true crime, and dark academia intertwine in a…

[bookwyrminspiration]

i'll take scenes i'm normal about for 500 👍

[dont-leafmealone]

... It was as if Nye had captured his entire essence in a single locket: the beauty and the science, the sentiment and the mind. It was perfect. — The Resurrectionist, A. Rae Dunlap, Chapter XVII. A Commencement

This book has been a font of inspiration, so expect more art to come of it soon 😅

[giftideasfromaycaramba]

Edinburgh, Scotland, 1828. Naïve but determined James Willoughby has abandoned his posh, sheltered life at Oxford to pursue a lifelong dream of studying surgery in Edinburgh. A shining beacon of medical discovery in the age of New Enlightenment, the city’s university offers everything James desires—except the chance to work on a human cadaver. For that, he needs to join one of the private schools in Surgeon’s Square, at a cost he cannot afford. In desperation, he strikes a deal with Aneurin “Nye” MacKinnon, a dashing young dissectionist with an artist’s eye for anatomy and a reckless passion for knowledge. Nye promises to help him gain the surgical experience he craves—but it doesn’t take long for James to realize he’s made a devil’s bargain . . .

Nye is a body snatcher. And James has unwittingly become his accomplice. Intoxicated by Nye and his noble mission, James rapidly descends into the underground ranks of the Resurrectionists—the body snatchers infamous for stealing fresh corpses from churchyards to be used as anatomical specimens. Before he knows it, James is caught up in a life-or-death scheme as rival gangs of snatchers compete in a morbid race for power and prestige.

James and Nye soon find themselves in the crosshairs of a shady pair of unscrupulous opportunists known as Burke and Hare, who are dead set on cornering the market, no matter the cost. These unsavory characters will do anything to beat the competition for bodies. Even if it’s cold-blooded murder . . .

Exquisitely macabre and delightfully entertaining, The Resurrectionist combines fact and fiction in a rollicking tale of the risks and rewards of scientific pursuit, the passions of its boldest pioneers, and the anatomy of human desire.

[readingtillmidnight]

Book club with my sister: February

So... February is over. Was over, and now March is almost over. I was planning to sit down with my sister and write this thing, but I haven't until now, but better late than never? I guess?

It was my turn to pick the book, and I chose... nothing. I picked a book, and then I was like, maybe I should choose something else. Then I chose another book, and I was like, maybe this isn't right. This went on for a while, and then I looked up and the month was over, with no book chosen for book club.

However! My sister and I both happened to read one(1) same book in this month, which is The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap. So, we are going to pretend that that is the book I planned for us to read anyways!!!

The Resurrectionist is supposedly a historical horror mystery novel. However, my sister and I agree we would classify it as a rom-com.

There are gory bits, and blood, and decomposing corpses, and murder, but as a whole, this book is soooo funny and the romance was ROMANCING. Like, aside from the murders, these characters are having so much fun!

The romance between James and Aneurin was so delightful and swooney 🥰🥰🥰 I was kicking my feet and twirling my hair and shit <333

We both enjoyed the gravedigging bits! Loved learning bodysnatching techniques, very interesting.

Not gonna lie, I didn't really care for the mystery bit, like maybe people who are into true crime would enjoy it more, but for me it was really just a backdrop to the romance.

I also feel like you can tell that this is a debut, like some of the writing isn't quite there? If that makes sense. (My sister disagrees and says she thinks it's alright.)

We both also noticed that this book has a shit ton of italicised dialogue, like these bitches are emphasising!!!

Overall, we both had a LOT of fun reading this!

My sister gives this 4 stars, and I'm giving this 4.5 stars.

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Resurrectionist | Author: A. Rae Dunlap | Publisher: Kensington (2024)