An 18-year-old pre-med student tries to regain control of her love life in Anatomy of a Single Girl written by Daria Snadowsky and sequel to the novel Anatomy of a Boyfriend.

Anatomy of a Boyfriend ends with Dominque (Dom) breaking up with her first real boyfriend, Wes, with whom she shared many firsts. In the sequel, Dom is spending the summer as an intern at Lee County Hospital where she meets her “rebound guy”, Guy.

Throughout the novel, Guy and Dom face the problem many young adults and teens face; how far should they take their relationship and how quickly should they be at that level. Sex is not something that the author shies away from throughout the novel, though her characters behave in a stereotypical manner in which readers will expect.

While Dom is very frank in her thoughts and how she wants everything to pan out, it seems as though her ideas have all been heard before. While the novel is written well with little twists and turns sporadically placed, readers will likely be bored with the broken-hearted girl who is trying to find the perfect guy to spend the rest of her life and instead loses sight of her best friend.

Dom frequently comes across as annoying because she is so focused on how to make this the perfect relationship. By doing this she misses out on an opportunity to help her best friend Amy and the issues she is facing.

Readers will appreciate Dom’s internal conflict about what is right and what is wrong. Many girls could relate to Dom’s struggle for balance of her heart and her head.

Snadowsky was inspired by Judy Blume’s 1975 novel Forever because she was the first one to bring teen sexuality out into the open.

“I wanted to do that in a more contemporary setting” said Snadowsky.

She had much to pull from for Anatomy of a Boyfriend. She does not think she could have written the novel if she had not endured her own heartbreak. According to Snadowsky, there were no plans to create a sequel until her publisher decided that since the first one did so well it was time to release another one.

“Anatomy of a Single Girl was crafted out of pure imagination,” said Snadowsky.

Many authors who write young adult literature shy away from sexual content out of fear of being criticized, however, Snadowsky has learned to take those criticisms in stride. She believes it is important to read all criticisms with an open mind and with the intention to improve the writing.

“I want to show the reality of teen love and intimacy in all its grittiness, wonderment, awkwardness, disappointment, and surprises,” said Snadowsky.