Anatomy of a Single Girl by Daria Snadowsky

Anatomy of a Single Girl by Daria Snadowsky

Review by Lauren

copy from the author, but all opinions are my own

Official Summary: 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. 

Review: When I was offered the chance to read this book for possible review, I was also given the option of reading the first book, Anatomy of a Boyfriend. However, I was assured these books were written to be companion novels and I didn’t have to read the first. I decided to go ahead and check out Single Girl on its own. While many will want to know more about Dominique’s first whirlwind romance, this novel is capable of being read on its own. Dom references her ex and the experiences they shared enough for readers to get a good idea of what happened and why Dom is currently dedicated to focusing on her studies instead of finding her next big love.

The summer between her freshmen and sophomore year in college, though, Dom meets a wonderful boy named Guy who shows her things about relationships and life that she never knew before. It’s a quick romance, but not one without its troubles. Dom isn’t used to being physical for the sake of it; she’s more the “fall in love and imagine a future together” type. Guy isn’t like that though, and Dom deals with many misgivings and questions throughout Single Girl. I enjoyed that Guy wasn’t the perfect person. He had his faults and some things he believed about love were ideas I didn’t personally agree with, so it was easy to want Dom to run away before her heart got even more entangled.

Something I loved about this book is that Dom is in college and therefore, I would count this novel as New Adult. It’s different from a lot of NA summaries I’ve read too. Dom might not be a single girl the entire time, but she certainly isn’t a romance expert. Her best friend Amy is a notorious flirt, except she’s in an exclusive relationship. Guy seems like the perfect fit for Dom, but he’s realistic about relationships and doesn’t see a future past the summer. With these two surrounding her, Dom isn’t sure what she actually wants anymore.

Dom is an enjoyable narrator. Since she’s going to school to become a doctor, she worries a lot about health and safety…making her issues with safe sex and getting tested even more realistic. There are certainly a lot of details concerning sex, including a scene where Dom visits a gynecologist. These are all important things and it’s nice to know books like these do exist for girls. They are straightforward, fairly realistic, and yet they don’t ignore the reality of sex, where not everyone stays abstinent until marriage.

I would definitely recommend this book for older readers, but I do recommend it!