Review: The Anatomy of Desire

Author: L.R. Dorn

Started reading: August 27th 2021

Finished the book: September 16th 2021

Pages: 320 / 08:14:14

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction

Published: May 11th 2021

Source: Storytel

Goodreads score: 3.63

My score:

Synopsis

Claire Griffith seems to have it all, a thriving career, a gorgeous, successful boyfriend, a glamorous circle of friends. She always knew she was destined for more than the life her deeply conservative parents preached to her. Arriving in Los Angeles as a flat broke teenager, she has risen to become a popular fitness coach and social media influencer. Having rebranded herself as Cleo Ray, she stands on the threshold of achieving her most cherished dreams.

One summer day, Cleo and a young woman named Beck Alden set off in a canoe on a quiet, picture-perfect mountain lake. An hour later, Beck is found dead in the water, her face cut and bruised, and Cleo is missing. Authorities suspect foul play and news about Cleo’s involvement goes viral. Who was Beck and what was the nature of her and Cleo’s relationship? Was Beck an infatuated follower who took things too far? If Cleo is innocent, why did she run? Was it an accident? Or was it murder?

As evidence of Cleo’s secret life surfaces, the world begins to see just how hard she strived to get to the top— and how fast and far the fall is from celebrity to infamy.

My thoughts

This was SO MUCH FUN. Thanks again to Ethan for recommending yet another amazing book. I was so intrigued by his review and he mentioned that this book would probably work very well as audiobook, so that's what I did and I do NOT regret this. This audiobook is like nothing I've ever read and I would recommend it to people who like audiobooks and the thriller/mystery genre.

Pros

• Transcript: I do believe this book works best as an audiobook. It's written in transcript and the way that it's done in the audiobook-version is so amazing and much fun as well. I see a lot of reviews that say that this book probably works best as an audiobook and I'm glad that I took the advice!
• Court: I love everything that has to do with court and crime. I've watched Making A Murderer multiple times and I've always loved documentaries and movies/series about court and law, like Suits. So this book was a perfect fit for me. A large part takes place in the court room and I highly enjoyed that.
• Voice acting: THA BEST. This is what makes this book so special and unique. There is a voice for every character. There are loads of characters, but also because of the voices I could keep them apart. The voice acting was a lot of fun and it definitely added an extra layer for me; it made the characters feel alive.
• Ending: So beautiful, yet so sad. I usually only listen to audiobooks in my car while driving, but this ending was so good that I could not keep myself from listening in bed and finishing this book. I did not see this ending coming, but I do think it fit the story.

Cons

No?

Overall

This was something so unique; I've never read anything like it before and I'm actually curious what this writing duo is going to do after this book. The voice acting was a huge pro for me and it made listening to this book fun and also made the characters more alive. It definitely added an extra layer to this book. 

If you like thriller/mystery books I would recommend reading this as an audiobook!

Other opinions on this book

"A truly innovative, fantastic book. Emphatically recommended. Reads like your favorite podcast, the hit crime doc you'll want to binge. A brilliant brewing of progressive internet influencers, with smaller town police doing their best to keep up. Structurally fresh, these talking heads will enchant you."

- Josh Malerman, NYT bestselling author of Bird

"A fascinating courtroom drama. This deliciously contemporary story reveals a compelling, poignant portrait of sexual desire in our social media age."

- Daily Mail (UK)

Thanks for reading!

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