📖 BOOK REVIEW⠀📚 The Anatomy of Desire
AUTHOR: L.R. Dorn
Publisher: William Morrow @williammorrowbooks
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ + 🐰
Published: May 11, 2021
The Review 📚 The Anatomy of Desire
✨ The Title/Cover Draw:
- I didn’t know a lot about this book going into it. I did receive this from @librofm (thank you so much!) and the concept really intrigued me.
💜 What I liked:
- This book is set up like a true crime documentary type podcast. As such, I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook. It has a full cast and most of the time I forgot this wasn’t a true story I was listening to. Definitely listen through to the end for more background about the story. It is based on a real life crime on which the book, An American Tragedy by Theordore Dreiser and the movie, A Place in the Sun, was based.
😱 What I didn’t like:
- The ending didn’t have as much shock value as I expected but there is a moment where I did a double take!
💁♀️ The Characters:
- Cleo and Becks go up to the lake for a boat trip, but only one returns.
🚦 My face at the end: 🤔
💬 The Narrator:
- The full cast is fantastic. Many of them do several of the characters.
💭 5 Reasons to Read:
- 1. True crime documentary vibes
- 2. Court room drama
- 3. Mystery that is one-sided
- 4. Fast moving narration
- 5. A tragic story
🕧 Mini-Summary:
- Who decides how a murder is determined or if it is even done?
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Received from #Libro.
📘 Summary 📚 The Anatomy of Desire
A modern tale of American striving, social media stardom, a fatal love triangle, and a young woman on trial for murder—a mesmerizing reimagining of Theodore Dreiser’s classic novel of crime and punishment, An American Tragedy.
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.
L. R. Dorn’s reimagining of Theodore Dreiser’s novel, told in the form of a true crime docuseries a la Serial and The Jinx—with characters speaking through the “transcripts” of recorded interviews—The Anatomy of Desire exposes the ambition, sexual passion, and dark side of success that readers will find as achingly poignant as they did a century ago.