I studied forensics at university so I knew this book would be right up my alley. The reality of this book hit me like a train. It was so sad, sombre and almost surreal. There was so much that I didn't know - given that education about Latin America is practically forgotten - and I wish I had read this sooner.

Thos bookmoffered real insight into a technical and emotional role. I felt the content delivered analytical facts while giving families and the deceased dignity. A very good read.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
Not something that I found I could read continuously......for me it is more a read a bit and return later to continue. Very thought provoking !

I do not know what I was expecting from this book, but what I got was definitely not it. I do not say that it was a bad thing - just surprising. I have read forensic-related books before, but this is more about wars and the repercussions that I had no prior knowledge of than it was about how the bones are identified.
The author spent time in Guatemala and Argentina participating in finding missing people among the several mass graves that continue to be uncovered regularly.
The issues in the countries have not by any means come to a peaceful conclusion, but the information I gained after reading this stunned me. There has been so much conflict recently (by some measures) that I cannot process it all effectively. The forensic role that the author has to play means she has to process a lot more information to make sense of things on the ground. She is an anthropologist, and she collects stories about the missing people and their families. The courage that some people have to live with and display on a regular basis is very evident.
Along with details on how the exhumations and investigations are carried out and how lab work is handled, we are provided with a detailed understanding of the conflict in the area.
There are some tangents into the author's state of mind that are relevant given the stories she is collecting. I would have liked this book even more if the order of narration was a little more streamlined. Some back-and-forths happen between the different countries, and sometimes, if I set the book aside for a while, it took me a while to understand where I was.
I would highly recommend this book as a window into a topic that I have not seen discussed widely.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

‘Stil Life with Bones’ is a fascinating insight into what it means to be a forensic anthropologist. While challenging to read at times, given the subject matter, Alexa Hagerty’s focus on the families of ‘the disappeared’ emphasises that while on a factual level, Hagerty deals with bones, they are people’s family members and loved ones deserving of dignity and justice.

Still life with bones focuses more on genocide than actual bones. Though I can completely understand the importance of the message and what the author is trying to bring awareness to, I simply wanted more bone talk. There are some really good segments on it, so if you're looking for forensic tidbits you won't be completely disappointed. Looking past the fact that I was disappointed by the content itself, I still devoured the whole book because it's written amazingly. It's autobiographical in a way, which I usually detest - but it works here because even though we're following the author's journey, the focus isn't on the author's life.
Overall it was a solid read.

This was a tough read, but I still found it fascinating. The author was studying to be an anthropologist and spent some time in South America to recover bodies from mass graves, of people who had 'disappeared' during totalitarian regimes.

I appreciated the mix of history, science and the human stories and felt like I learnt about the political history of Argentina and Guatemala in particular.

It is an incredibly exciting book from a historical point of view to learn more about a period of history and an area of the world that I do not know much about.

But equally, the area of stories around working in forensics, how much it meant to the author, and the impact of the work on the families was fascinating.

Highly recommend!

I thought this book was brilliant. Alexa Hagerty does a brilliant job of juggling the many things going on in this book. It is a history lesson of dictatorship and genocide, a fascinating look into forensics and anthropology as well as the many cultures around death, it also touches on the authors own journey of engaging with these things.
It was beautifully and respectfully done. I learnt so much, it was accessible but educational, an incredibly hard balance to get right.
I would have loved to hear a little more from the author of the impact of the work described in the book. But ultimately feel honoured that she shared what she did.
An important, essential read.

This book was insightful but challenging read into the world of forensic anthropology. I have worked with human remains in archaeological contexts - so, over 100 years old, poignant but disconnect to the groups. This is where forensic arch/anth differ and Hagerty introduces the horror of dealing first hand with the physical remains of modern day genocide. The impacts on families and the unforgettable (in a bad way) job of dealing with it all.

Great read will definitely recommend it to students, academics and archaeologists alike.

Moving, poignant, thought provoking, and informative. A book that made me learn something but also made me think about the stories the author telss.
Well written and easy to follow.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Alexa Hagerty has written an incredibly poignant and powerful book here - informative, precise, but also very touching. and kind. She describes her work as a student, moving from California to Guatemala, and then Argentina. I was more familiar with the events in Argentina than in Guatemala and I found her easy to follow without being vague or simplistic. Her meetings with the "disappeared"'s families added so much to the book, but I also enjoyed following her learning experience, getting more comfortable handling bones. She is also very honest about how the work impacts her mental life and how difficult it is to detach oneself, to go home and enjoy one's spare time without thinking constantly about the baby's skull found at the bottom of a well, or the details she notices and remembers when exhumating someone: a man's work boots, the same her colleagues all wear; a woman's lovingly embroidered blouse.
It was such a beautiful and moving book; I think I will keep thinking about that one for a while.