The debut novel of A. Rae Dunlap, The Resurrectionist is a well-rounded and cleverly crafted historical fiction story revolving around the field of anatomical study and body-snatching in the early 19th century Edinburgh. Despite the story's macabre content and its almost gothic-like visuals, The Resurrectionist is anything but depressing or grim and is surprisingly warm and animated (yeah, maybe not my best puns, I apologize). While the visual descriptions of the dead and anatomical parts may potentially be off-putting for squeamish readers, the novel doesn't unnecessarily dwell on it for shock value and is instead the focus is its entertaining and charming coming of age story. While listed officially as a historical fiction novel, The Resurrectionist is just as much a true crime retelling featuring many very real historic people woven in and around Dunlap's fictional ones. That being said, absolutely no knowledge of the source material is needed, I recommend not reading into it ahead of time as it may give away some spoilers to the story. In fact I was completely unaware of the novel's true crime angle for majority of my read and was floored when I discovered the connection near the book's conclusion and author's acknowledgements. The fact that so many other reviews for this book don't even mention the true crime element is a possible indicator that it was so well-incorporated, many didn't even realize it. That the novel also manages to have a compelling queer m/m romance (with all the traditional implications of the time period kept in-tact) on top of having fascinating and well-researched scientific references connected to its mystery storyline, it's a marvel how much Dunlap accomplishes in <350 pages. And to top it all off, the story is beautifully written and incorporates its various narrative elements effortlessly. 

One of the novel's biggest strengths is Dunlap's distinctive and consistently entertaining style of narration provided by the main character and young aspiring surgeon James Willoughby. Fully committing to its historical fiction angle and setting, the story's narration and dialogue are not only written using appropriate phrasing and mannerisms of the time, but also different social classes. Despite wishing to avoid being viewed as a "toff boy", the character narration is written with full commitment to James's aristocratic upbringing that serves as major plot elements for character growth. Consistently witty and lowkey quite funny, I was constantly entertained by Dunlap's storytelling, with even simple monotonous outings being interesting to read. Early chapters utilize the comedic fish out of water trope effectively, both in terms of James being out of his element from home and to adjusting to a more modest, urban life. While these early sections can be off-putting due to James's posh upbringing and obsession with grandeur, they're entirely in-character which was a highlight for me. However once Nye is introduced and their unorthodox arrangement of necessity turned partnership is established, the story really takes off and strikes the perfect tonal balance between partners in crime banter vs the macabre topics. The way the story is setup almost feels purposeful to comfort and encourage readers that might find the grisly elements off-putting before slowing transitioning into its more mystery thriller, historical true crime back-half. 

The historical true crime connection is hard to review and discuss without going into too much detail that would give away its story, but I found it compelling and very cleverly plotted. A lot of retold fictional true crime novels often struggle with balancing and working original character into the real historical events but the line separating Dunlap's original characters from her slight fictional portrayals of real people is indistinguishable. While certain real people's roles in the historical events are occasionally embellished or reworked for stronger narrative connections to James and Nye (both being fully original characters), a good deal of the source materials is kept fully in-tact. That being said, while it's evident that the the novel's true crime element was the starting point and the rest of the story was likely reverse engineered to fit around it, Dunlap's fictional coming of age story is actually more compelling than the true crime its based off of. The historical world-building around the anatomical scholastic community is very detailed and James's personal narrative is well-crafted, you almost forget about the nature of the crime and mystery going on, Dunlap's material is that good. 

Besides James's entertaining narration and reactions, the other big contributing factor to the novel's success is his relationship with Nye. Their partnership takes on a sort of Artful Dodger x Oliver Twist, except aged up to young adults and meshed with a Sherlock x Watson vibe in the back-half mystery part of the story. Their sparring banter slowly softens to comradery which felt like a callback to many of my favorite urban YA novels (Cornelia Funke's The Thief Lord particularly). However unlike many other novels that stop there as friends or cops out with queer coding, The Resurrectionist commits to it and goes exactly where the reader wants it to go. While the romance element serves more of an opportunity for character growth and added urgency rather than being the book's primary selling point (I would not classify this as a romance novel personally), it's seamlessly balanced with the other narrative elements. James and Nye's shifting relationship over the course of the story feels natural and while the romance angle is perhaps the most predictable element in the story, it's consistently a warm and sweet comforting hug through the chilly urban streets and back alley dealings. On top of that, the character growth for James is great and the story comes full circle by its ending, effectively concluding and delivering on James's self-proclamation in the prologue: 

Great plotting and story aside, from the get-go I was impressed by Dunlap's writing style which I found heightened the material that could easily be played for shock value or body horror (this novel is a lot of things but it is not horror). From the ash-covered gray streets of Edinburgh, to the descriptive yet somehow also beautiful descriptions of dissected or dismembered body parts, the writing is detailed and lyrical. Even when it comes to the romance that is entirely clean, the breakaways to things happening off-screen/page are tasteful and creative. I already touched on James's aristocratic background, but the variety of tones and mannerisms based on the different socio-economic classes are all appropriately varied, particularly James posh-sounding sister Edith. The phrasing felt very immersive to me, though I can also see some casual readers used to contemporary fiction finding the phrasing to be mildly difficult to follow. I've also seen some other reviews that criticize The Resurrectionist for being overwritten or slow which I don't agree with. The plotting and pacing is good and just when the story appears to drag, an appropriately timed developed kicks things back up.

If I had to nitpick anything with this novel it would perhaps preferring a bit more foreshadowing or incorporating the true crime storyline earlier as it feels like the story distinctively shifts in direction once it starts. And while I personally enjoyed James and Nye's relationship and the general plotting, the material and themes can feel a bit PG and juvenile at times. However neither takes away much from how fun, entertaining, and surprisingly wholesome the story can be. I loved pretty much everything The Resurrectionist was doing, especially it's occasionally dark morbid humor. While I acknowledge many elements of this novel were well catered to my personal tastes, I do think there's a lot to like and if given the chance, it's definitely more accessible than it seems based on its summary and marketing. Between the witty banter, the well-researched historical details, and seamless blending of genres, A. Rae Dunlap has left me impressed and I'm definitely looking forward to her future works!