Anatomy of a Single Girl Review

TITLE Anatomy of a Single Girl (Anatomy #2)
AUTHOR Daria Snadowsky
PUBLICATION January 8th 2013 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
READ May 20 to 21, 2013
SOURCE From the author for review

With Judy Blume-like honesty and insight, this sequel to Anatomy of a Boyfriend is about life after first love--romance, sex, friendship, family, and the ups and downs of life as a single girl.

After everything that happened—my first boyfriend, my first time, my first breakup—jumping back into the dating game seemed like the least healthy thing I could do. It’s not that I didn’t want to fall in love again, since that’s about the best feeling ever. But as a busy college premed still raw from heartbreak, which is the worst feeling ever, I figured I’d lie low for a while. Of course, as soon as I stopped looking for someone, an impossibly amazing—and devastatingly cute—guy came along, and I learned that having a new boyfriend is the quickest way to recover from losing your old one.

The moment we got together, all my preconceptions about romance and sex were turned upside down. I discovered physical and emotional firsts I never knew existed. I learned to let go of my past by living in the present. It was thrilling. It was hot. It was just what the doctor ordered.

But I couldn’t avoid my future forever.

In Daria Snadowsky’s daring follow-up to Anatomy of a Boyfriend, eighteen-year-old Dominique explores the relationship between love and lust, and the friendships that see us through.

And the series continues to be great! I jumped into ANATOMY OF A SINGLE GIRL immediately upon finishing ANATOMY OF A BOYFRIEND and it did not disappoint. We get to see a very different side of our MC, Dom and we also get to revisit some of our favorite relationships from the first.

We meet Dom upon finishing up her first year of college as she is headed home to spend the summer. Good old Calvin is dropping her off and we see that she is still torn on her feelings for this funny guy. I was happy to see that she was still questioning her emotions for him and that she hadn’t just jumped in with him head first just to get over Wes. Once she is home she meets another hottie, Guy and starts to experiment a bit more with him. This exploratory side of Dom was new, and I liked it! She still had her cautious characteristics to her (forcing an STD test and vaccination records out of the guy) but at the same time she let herself live a bit and feel a bit. We also see a new dynamic to Dom and Amy’s friendship. Now Dom is the single girl and Amy is the one in the relationship. We got to see a more vulnerable side of Amy and more ups and downs when it came to the two of them which was great because friendships are filled with ups and downs.

The sex is still ever present in this one and it is a bit more experienced. Seeing Dom take charge in the sack and really figure out her body was great! I love how the series doesn’t portray sex as something that is perfect for each person in the act every time. I think there is definitely a learning curve to finding what feels good for each partner and Snadowsky really captured that in her signature completely honest way. Hell, the book even made me want to try a few new things!

Once again, Dom’s parents are very present in the story and brought on the laughs. These two are adorable and I adore all the scenes with them. They are definitely struggling with accepting the fact that their little girl isn’t so little anymore but they are also looking at their lives and deciding what’s best for them. They break some news to Dom in the story that made me really happy because it’s nice to see that once your kids are all grown up you can start thinking about yourself a lot more like you did before children.

The closure that we get with these characters and relationships is definitely satisfying. As the novel explores moving on after your first love, figuring out your body, and also fighting to keep relationships that are important to you in your life I came to really connect with these people. This is definitely a series that I will be recommending to any female friends that I have because I think everyone can appreciate the honesty in them and the good laughs that they throw at you.