The Anatomy of a Single Girl

An honest review of an honest book

 

I try to write about coming-of-age issues in an unabashed, realistic and non judgmental way,” Daria Snadowsky, author of Anatomy of a Single Girl, said. When I was first handed the book “Anatomy of a Single Girl” to review I was excited and a little reluctant. At first glance, the cover was a little embarrassing to be seen holding with its bubble gum pink background and naked doll on the cover. Then a few seconds later I realized that each of the body parts had a witty label that intrigued me about how each of them would relate to the book. At the same time I had my doubts. This was a sequel. One does not simply start reading in the middle of a sequel. But then something amazing happened. While “Anatomy of a Single Girl” is technically a sequel it was written as a companion to the first book. This means it can be read as a stand-alone book and still make perfect sense. The book is centered around 18-year-old, geektastic, premed student, Dominique Baylor’s first summer back home from college. Dominique aka Dom has returned and is determined to work away her broken heart from her ex-boyfriend, Wes, at her internship at the hospital. Her plan goes astray when she meets a guy named Guy while trying to use her internship as a distraction. Guy teaches her that she isn’t as black and white as she thought she was. Sometimes life is just gray. The surface of the book may seem to just be about learning about love, passion and friendship, but there is so much more. “Anatomy of a Single Girl” is an honest story about Dom’s sexual relationships, her changing relationship with her parents, her best friend Amy, and the three guys in her life: Wes, the guy she fell in love with that broke her heart; Guy, who teaches her passion; and Calvin, who teaches her about friendship, and that hugs are really underrated. But most of all, she teaches herself that being a single girl is not being an inadequate person. The book was pretty good–it just wasn’t for me. One of the book’s main focuses was sex. I applaud Snadowsky for going headfirst into the sometimes controversial topic of sex in Young Adult fiction and give her a standing ovation for approaching the topic of safe sex. “Young people are often embarrassed to talk about sex with each other or with their parents, books are a wonderful, private way for readers to satisfy their curiosity and find kinships with non judgmental characters,” Snadowsky said. Snadowsky couldn’t be more right. I certainly don’t want to talk to my parents about sex, but at the same time, I don’t want to be reading about it while sitting in an enclosed space next to my parents while on my way to a college visit.