"He was my North Star whenever the darkness of doubt threatened to envelop me. When I could not tell dreams from wakefulness, he remained my touchstone and my truth; a glimmer in his eye and a quirk of his lips were all that it took to make me feel manifest, whole and worthy" (A. Rae Dunlap; The Resurrectionist).

Tropes/themes:
- LGBTQ Representation
- True Crime (Burke and Hare Serial Killers)
- Historical Fiction

I want to start by thanking Netgalley and A. Rae Dunlap for the opportunity to read this novel in return for an honest review.
I went into this novel a little skeptical as I have never read a historical fiction before. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself absolutely enthralled and sucked in.

Not only is The Resurrectionist a historical fiction but it also contained true crime about the famous serial killers in scotland; Burke and Hare.
This novel is set in the early 1800s during the time medicine was slowly advancing. It follows the history of grave robbers and those that called themselves the "resurrectionists". We follow James on his physician journey from Oxford to Edinburgh. In Edinburgh he attends the university to which his friends tell him he must attend a private surgical school to become a proper physician and learn real medicine. Once the price of the private school fees is revealed to James he makes a deal with the schools assistant to waver half his fees in return for an easy regular favor. Little does James know what world he is getting into with this favor.

I loved not only the historical and true crime aspect of this novel, but also the way A. Rae Dunlap has integrated the LGTBQ aspect in that current time.

If you're looking to learn a little about history and want a captivating read that you cannot put down you must add The Resurrectionist to your TBR.

This was a very fascinating read. Historical fiction, crime and queer is a thrilling combination that had me wanting more. It was easy to get attached to the characters and the story. The writing was excellent.

Our gaze met, and for a mere millisecond, I felt a crackle of pure energy between us--the sort of sensation one experiences just before the world turns resoundingly on its head.

What a wonderful read this is! I loved how Dunlap effortlessly intertwined both historical fiction and true crime with a believably queer twist - not a moment of Aneurin & James' relationship felt shoehorned in, and I was enamoured with their tale. The writing itself is lyrical, powerful and with no shortage of wit, and there were many times I read with bated breath. I was thoroughly transported to Edinburgh and treasured the dirt under my fingernails - spectacular!

Thank you Kensington Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Resurrectionist is a delightfully macabre story that will pull you in from the first sentence. I devoured this title. James and his companion Aneurin do absolutely abhorrent things but you can't help but root for them. Their passion for science and the medical field leads them to some truly dark places. Dunlap's writing is concise but paints detailed scenes and entwines horror, romance, and history seamlessly. I was surprised to find out that this is the author's debut novel. I highly recommend this title and hope that my library decides to purchase it!

Thanks NetGalley for my first ARC, can't wait to read more!

I adored this debut novel from A. Rae Dunlap. I’m still amazed this is her first novel, it was so well written, well researched and has me wanting more!

A beautifully written and descriptive historical fiction which it so happens has a few connections to real life murderers William Burle and William Hare, which you can unravel reading this story! The story is based around the macabre origins of Modern medicine set in 19th century Edinburgh, Scotland.

Body snatching, dissection and surgeries, all intertwined with the Main characters, James Willoughby’s story of self acceptance and coming of age. A slow burning dark intriguing tale with a background of a beautifully crafted queer romance that pulls you through the well descriptive streets of Edinburgh effortlessly.

If you love dark gothic series like The Alienist, true crime stories with dark academia vibes, then you will adore this book aswell. I give this debit book 5 stars and am really hoping for a sequel!

Thankyou to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing and author for the Arc in exchange for my honest review.

I picked this book knowing only that it involved Edinburgh (a favourite place of mine) and Burke & Hare. That was enough to get me interested but the story kept me hooked. The characters herein are so well put together, coupled with the way the author seamlessly adds world building, supplies a story that makes for an exciting novel.
Having never read a book with two MMC who are in a relationship before, I have no basis to state wether this aspect was dealt with appropriately, but I feel it was handled with care and consideration, leaving a description of an evolving relationship. I really enjoyed this book.

In the 19th century, James left Oxford to pursue a career in medicine, causing his father to suffer a fatal heart attack, according to his mother. He then moved to Scotland and enrolled at the University of Edinburgh. There, he learned from his new friends that he needed to attend a private school to gain the hands-on experience he desired. These private schools allowed students to practice dissection on human subjects. Due to his father's death, James couldn't afford the tuition, but he managed to strike a deal for 50% off in exchange for working a few hours a few nights per week. James settled into a routine of attending the university, going to the private school, working, and spending time with friends. However, in his fifth week, a pebble was thrown at his bedroom window, a corpse hidden in the bushes outside of his bedroom, and James found himself entangled in the world of body-snatching.

This captivating historical fiction, brimming with dark academia vibes, is an absolute must-read.

An excellent read, based on how the early medical field behaved to learn about human anatomy and physiology.

For that this is fascinating and informative. I say *based* on history but this isn’t nonfiction. Well-written with characters you can get attached to.

I highly recommend this for thriller fans and Pride month reads.

"Questa è la maxi storia di come la mia vita è cambiata, capovolta sotto sopra sia finita" (cit.)
The Resurrectionist è un romanzo di debutto deliziosamente decadente, dalle tinte gotiche. Dark academia, historical fiction e true crime si intrecciano nella Scozia del 19th secolo per dare vita ad una trama di omicidi, avidità, disgustosi rischi e preziose ricompense della nascita della medicina moderna.
James Willoughby rinuncia ad una vita elegante e protetta in quel di Oxford per studiare chirurgia a Edimburgo. L'università offre tutto ciò che uno studente possa desiderare, eccetto la pratica, che si apprende nelle numerose scuole private sparse per la città. Sarà in una di queste che si scontrerà con Aneurin "Nye" MacKinnon, un affascinante dissezionista con l'occhio d'artista e una sconsiderata, incosciente fame di conoscenza. Ben presto, James si troverà coinvolto nel fiorente ed illecito affare della riesumazione di cadaveri a scopi accademici e scientifici e si scontrerà con i truci Burke e Hare i famosi serial killer che terrorizzavano le strade di Edimburgo, al tempo.
Chi mi conosce sa che sono una big hater del romance, ma ammetto che Dunlop ha giocato bene le sue carte, creando una subplot che non prevale sulla trama principale, per niente fastidiosa, molto esplorativa dell'identità, che procede in parallelo con la passione dei più audaci pionieri della medicina e l'anatomia dei desideri umani.
La scrittura è quasi poetica e Dunlop ha fatto i compiti tinteggiando l'ambientazione scolastica con accurate descrizione medico/scientifiche e quella storica soffermandosi su usi e costumi dei diversi strati sociali.
James è un personaggio per cui non si può tifare: sciocco e ingenuo, abbastanza strambo e sufficientemente gay.
Ringrazion NetGalley e Kensington Publishing per la copia. Il romanzo sarà disponibile dal 24 dicembre 2024.

What an interesting read! You can tell it was thoroughly researched. I loved how intriguing and captivating the writing style is which is rare with debut works. Will definitely recommend this one to friends. Will post my thorough review on GR closer to pub date!

I really enjoyed this read! This was a new author for me and I really enjoyed the writing style. Loved all the medical references and the plot was great. The romance doesn’t overshadow the story which is nice.

Thank you to netgalley for the e-arc!

I originally requested this book because the cover was stunning and my name is also A. Dunlap (hey twin) and I'm so glad that I did. Historical fiction is not my favorite normally but this book was amazing. Her prose is beautiful and descriptive. As a lover of science, anatomy, and the creepy this was right up my alley. I will definitely be purchasing a trophy copy when this comes out!

Firstly thank you to Netgalley and A. Rae Dunlop for the opportunity to read and review this E-ARC of The Resurrectionist.

The author has done an amazing job with the way this book is written. It's about a very dark subject but it flows really well.

It's set in 19th Century Scotland and is an historical fiction tale.

We follow the story of James and his journey to medical school to become a surgeon. After learning that his rich parents can't fund his schooling he takes a job as the professor's assistant. The down side to this being the job is body snatching. James is Horrified at first but soon sees that taking the bodies helps medical science.

I really enjoyed this book and will look out for future work from this author.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book being such a dark subject.
And it was a bit slow to start with (but boy does this get good!)

The writing in this is poetic. It honestly was what first caught my interest and made me want to keep reading. It's written so well.

Nye is definitely a favourite in this book. He really owns who he is but does show in vulnerable side through out. Plus he's funny as.

James really grew on me as he grew with the story.

It is a story about body snatching but it's really good. And told the right way.

Thanks to NetGalley for this EARC. This is my honest review of The Resurrectionist.

4.5 ⭐️ I really enjoyed this debut novel from A. Rae Dunlap. She has a beautiful, almost lyrical way of telling the story of James Willoughby, an aspiring surgeon in 19th century Edinburgh. I loved that it was told from James POV because you could really feel the emotion that he experiences throughout the story.

James comes from a well off English family but wants to be a surgeon which was unheard of for someone of his stature. He moves to Edinburgh to attend medical school since it is the premiere city for surgeons.

While James is there he learns that his family can no longer pay his tuition and he has to get a job. His professor’s assistant, Aneurin offers him a job to help snatch bodies for the medical schools. James was horrified at first but over time he realizes how much he enjoys working with Aneurin and his crew.

As time goes on they notice that things are changing in the body snatching business. James and Aneurin are determined to find out who or what has caused the problems for the various body snatching crews.

I loved the entire story and the how it was based on fact. I also loved James and Aneurin and their relationship. They are such an odd pair but it totally works…kind of like Sherlock Holmes & Watson.

I’m hoping there is a lot more stories for James and Aneurin…I didn’t want their story to end!

"The resurrectionist" is a historical fiction with a romance subplot following a naive, noble protagonist who, when studying to become a physician, found himself involved with the business of corpse snatching for surgeon students. The book dives into the realm of true crimes with the case of Burke and Hare and explore moral complexities quite well.
The story is well written, fitted for its era, slow to allow the reader and the protagonist to think and reflect. The author's research and care can be felt throughout the book and add a nice touch, with medical details and real sense of the historic setting, from the social layers of the society, the evolution of medicine and overall tone.
The characters are nicely enough developped and carry the story in a satisfactory manner, complex enough to feel grouned. The romantic sideplot is present but not in a way that overpowers the main story, it's a fine balance to find, one that Dunlap managed to find. It took it's time but moved quickly enough, like the rest of the book.
Overall a great read, entertaining and enriching if you are not familiar with the story of medecine and its need for bodies in the 19th century.

This book was such an intriguing tale, with such lovely characters. It really made the reader feel, see, smell, touch this image of Edinburgh. The descriptions of the city enthralled me completely. I'm terrible with directions, I never know where I am, and yet I felt like I knew this city, I could place the locations, I recognized the mental image I had conjured before - just brilliant. The relationships were so tender to the point of making me tear up. Something I would change is the way the villain is described. This is to say, while I searched about the character and realized how very real his disfiguration was, I did feel like the way it was described is harmful, since there's a lot of this idea of monstrosity (the description felt that intense) that adds to the awfulness of the character's flaws, in a way that can be see as an ableist trope. I'd recommend reading Amanda Leduc's Disfigured, since it's a very decent study on disability in stories. Finally, I need to mention that the plot twist was extremely unexpected to me, even though it made perfect sense. it caught me off guard and I had to close the ebook and text a friend who was buddy reading with me in absolute shock! super well done

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
I absolutely loved the idea of this story!! I didn’t realize it was based off real life events. Also, after doing some research and reading some other reviews I found out that some of the characters where actually real people!!

Our main character James, abandons his life in London to pursue his dreams of becoming a surgeon. When he falls into financial troubles and in order to peruse his schooling he ventures into grave digging/body!

The character development for James was great, but my favourite has to be Nye. The romance between James and Nye was really great!!

The book was a little slow for me, entertaining but not really mind blowing. However, the plot twist really set the pace for the rest of this book and had me reading as much as I could.

I just loved the idea of this book!! Tons of death and humor and darkness!! I loved it!!

This was SUCH a great read! I loved it from start to finish. Dunlap did a great job building up the narrative and I was hooked. Although this story was completely different, it gave me the same vibes as The Alienist, which is one of my fave books/shows.

The good: Pretty much everything! The characters, the story, the vibes.... I'd read this again in a heartbeat; and definitely recommend! It was a nice length and there were no boring, mundane parts.

The bad: I can't remember every plot detail- which, in hindsight, is quite common for me! However, I liked it enough to read more than once and I'm sure I'll remember all those plot details eventually!

Overall, I really enojyed the story, highly recommend, and it makes me want to desperately read more by A Rae Dunlap!

4.5 stars

“The resurrectionist” is a historical fiction that deep dives into the true crime surrounding the murderous duo Burke and Hare

The book is full of real life people/characters and you can tell the author took a lot of time to do thorough research prior to writing the book.

I enjoy reading thrillers with a medical component such as medical students and autopsies and you get plenty of that in this book.
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There was also a little side plot including romance themes between the protagonist and a love interest which gave the plot an extra layer but didn’t go to overboard or overshadow the rest of the story.

Thank you to Kensington Publishing, Rae Dunlap and NetGalley for the EARC!

Publish date: December 24th