Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky

The farthest seventeen-year-old Dominique Baylor has gone with a guy is a kiss, and not even the French kind. Her seemingly prudish behavior is a far cry from her best friend Amy, who will do everything by “it” with any cute guy. But then Dom meets Wes, and everything changes. She’s never felt this way about any guy before; all she can think about is Wes. She finds herself experiencing anatomy first hand instead of through the pages of her favorite book, Gray’s Anatomy. And for a while, everything is perfect in Wes and Dom’s little bubble of love. But then it pops and Dom is lost. Anatomy of a Boyfriend is a humorous yet honest account of relationships and first love.

Anatomy of a Boyfriend was definitely an interesting novel, though not particularly one I’d normally pick up. I appreciate the honest in portraying Dom’s love/sex life, but sometimes I felt the sex scenes were a little in excess. Reality was by far Snadowsky’s greatest strength in this book. Dom, Wes, and Amy were all characterized well and always felt authentic, no matter which situations they were in. I definitely loved how the characters were stereotype-free. I think I like this novel better when I look at it from a broader perspective instead of in bits and pieces. It’s about discovering love and experimenting, with the embarrassments and insane happiness to go with it. It’s told as it is without being dramatized, exaggerated, or romanticized. I felt Anatomy of a Boyfriend to be an accurate portrayal of teens and their firsts.

While I’d like to say this book should only be read by teens of a certain age or older, because of the mature scenes, I can’t deny that reading Anatomy of a Boyfriend has some value. Overall, I wouldn’t really recommend or not recommend this book; I’m stuck somewhere in the middle. Fans of Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty by Jody Gehrman may also enjoy this book about relationships and love.

Rating: 4.0

Review copy from personal collection