A little unusually I imagine Gabriel Weston studied to be a doctor after leaving an Art degree course. This has probably given her a rather different perspective on the understanding of the profession. It looks as though this book was quite a while in the making but was something she wanted to make a statement about. It is her view of the human body as a doctor, a surgeon and a person. Her take on the reproductive side of anatomy is coloured not simple by being a doctor but also because she is a mother for example.

The book has chapters on a number of the main parts of the body from Bone and Skin through to Brain and Heart. The first chapter had me wondering if this book was really for me. It was an autopsy, fairly graphic, and not really my kind of thing. The following chapter on bones seemed a little too technical at times and I found myself wondering who this book was really for. Then I started to get drawn in!

The next two chapters were on Genitals and Gut and I became increasingly fascinated. In particular the chapter on the gut was based on fairly modern ideas reflecting new understanding of the gut biome for example. The issues with C Diff were really interesting and showed the author's fairly modern approach to medicine. The simple fact that, in general, our bodies actually work and keep us alive is remarkable given the complexities of our bodies and came over well in this book. Some parts of this I probably had a rough idea about, others left me enlightened and amazed. Despite breathing regularly for many years now I had no real idea how my lungs worked!

I have to say that this is at times quite a technical book though probably OK for the technical person in the street. Not all chapters worked as well for me and I would have welcomed more about the author's and her family's medical issues for example. There's no question that these colour this book as does simply being human. I loved the fact that doctors can be like that and there are certainly hints in this that doctors are getting it. However the book also makes clear that all is not well with aspects of the treatment of patients too.

All in all an extremely interesting read if the basic idea of this appeals to you. 4.5/5

As you might expect from a book about anatomy, written by a practising surgeon, there are descriptions of surgeries that might be a sensitive for some people. However Gabriel brings her arts background to the descriptions. You can feel her enthusiasm and awe of the human body in her writing.
With chapters focusing on different aspects of the body, from liver, to heart via an excellent explanation about how sex develops in utero and why its not as simple as male and female, which is a timely reminder about sex and gender theory.
I do not have a medical background, though many of my immediate family work for the NHS, so I would say I probably have a good knowledge of anatomy for a layperson. I found it interesting and engaging.
I think it would be a tricky read for those of a sensitive nature, or those with health anxiety or illness anxiety disorder.
With thanks to Netgalley and Vintage, Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book.

For Gabriel Weston, there was always something missing from the anatomy she was taught at medical school. Medicine teaches us how a body functions, but it doesn't help us navigate the reality of living in one/. As she became a surgeon, a mother, and ultimately a patient herself, Weston found herself grappling with the gap between scientific knowledge and unfathomable complexity of human experience.

This book is not for the faint of heart as there are graphic scenes of surgery and autopsies.. There was also a bit of medical terminology that I wasn't sure about. The first chapter is about an autopsy that has been descriptively written and I felt I was standing at the sideline watching. She also tells us about her own and her son's ailments. This is a fascinating and intriguing read.

Published 6th March 2025

I would like to thank #NetGalley #Vintage and the author #GabrielWeston for my ARC of #Alive in exchange for an honest review.

This book explores the anatomy of the human body in a way that is philosophical, abstract and meaningful. In a world where science is separated from the spiritual, this book is a breath of fresh air. Readers will find that the human body is not just a sum of parts, but a place where physical matter ultimately makes up a person's spirit, being and personality - essentially, it is what makes us 'Alive' and human. There is a lot of medical jargon involved, but hopefully this shouldn't put the reader off from understanding the perspective that the author is putting forward in the book. Overall, I would give this book 3/5 stars.

I’ll admit this took me a bit to get into but once I did….wow. I found this book so interesting. And eye opening. I wasn’t sure if I was the right audience for this until about a third of the way into it so I advise anyone who’s thinking if they should continue DEFINITELY do. This book has incredible knowledge but also has a lot of heart and I would recommend this to anyone interested in health, medicine and their own body and the health system.

Thank you to the publisher for reaching out and giving me the opportunity to read this. Thank you to the author for their work and as always thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

How I would have loved the author to have taught me anatomy during my nurse training years ago. As it was presented to me then, it felt as lifeless, dull and dry as the skeleton that rattled its way into the room.

Dr Gabriel Weston describes the intricacies of human anatomy in lyrically descriptive, and creative ways that ignite a fire of enthusiasm in the reader. We see and feel and are enthralled by it too.

She brings the bare bones of anatomy alive as only a medical professional can, especially one who has retained her early fascination and love for the wondrous design it really is, and has the literary talent to describe it so compellingly.

We see her switch from being a trainee to becoming a competent surgeon, and a vulnerable, (less willing, perhaps) patient-participant herself, while always maintaining the role of interested observer.

Even if its anatomy can seem daunting and difficult to comprehend, the human body is an intriguing thing to study at any level. It becomes a thing of awe, wonder and beauty in Dr Weston’s skilful hands.

Part scientific research, part sharing of vast experiential knowledge, and part memoir, this deeply personal, beautiful book has much to teach us. Grateful thanks to Vintage, Jonathan Cape and NetGalley for the eARC.

There is a fair bit of interesting information in this book but I personally found the writing style difficult to follow as it jumps around, for example it might be explaining about a body part and then jumps to an operation scene and it's not immediately clear how they connect. There's also a lot of medical terminology which I'm not familiar with. This would be interesting for those interested in medicine though with a lot of detail on surgery in particular.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review

I found the book to be very informative. A mixture of facts and lived experience. I learnt a lot about the human body that I did not know. There are parts of the book that I would use as a reference tool.

I enjoyed this book. It was written in an unusual way because it explores the human body by combining anatomical facts, and the experience of people. It can be described as a tour of the human body. Mostly concentrating on the organs, the author has also used personal experience with medical practises, with an international dimension. The book will be more appealing to those interested in anatomy but because of the personal experiences others will also find it engaging.

I was a nurse for many years, and vividly recall that the part of my training I disliked the most was working in theatre. It was the late 70s and the male surgeons were god like beings who made the decisions, were always right and stuck to the mantra of "when in doubt cut it out"
Ms Weston's book beautifully captures a different ethos. Her explanations of anatomy and physiology are carefully written with a sense of wonder and often from a feminist perspective, and I particularly liked that, interspersed with these, were personal anecdotes and insights into the decisions surgeons and patients have to make around their health. She also touches on historical and philosophical ideas around the human body and how research continues to advance these ideas
A thought provoking read.
Thank you to netgalley and Vintage for an advance copy of this book.

A beautiful homage to the human body, Alive was a comforting read over a rainy week. I liked how the anatomical sections were woven in with personal anecdotes from Gabriel Weston, which made the book feel less clinical and more personal.

I did not originally look to see who the author’s audience was intended to be but as I was asked to read it I opened it up and got reading.

There should probably be a trigger warning: if you are of a delicate disposition your stomach will turn in the first few pages and that could be a good place to stop.

However my reading materials consist of a lot of crime novels that include post mortems of gory bodies after they have been scooped up from their final resting place or pulled out of a watery grave. So I continued.

I was thankful for my first twelve working years in pharmacy, for my first hand knowledge of the calamities of pregnancy gone wrong, for having been an athlete who now has replacement knee joints and even for living with multiple sclerosis : because Gabriel covers all these in her book and I had read up on all of them before. I cried when I recognised myself and my family but then got back to the placement of the caecum.

There is a lot of medical language used but it seems to flow in a way that makes it almost understandable, and there is no test at the end for us.

Gabriel’s writing was so effective that I could see her in the many and varied operating theatres as she described the horrors of surgical procedures. I get a bit squeamish watching Surgeons on real life television programmes and Gabriel gave me the same feeling. I am so pleased my appendix was removed aged ten. And all the other bits I am trying not to think about, although I do know that my professor of orthopaedics operated to hip hop music.

It has taken me longer to get my head round writing this review than it did to read the book. Rarely would I publicly thank an author but this book taught me a lot. Not only about anatomy but about care and empathy. And that nothing comes close to family. Thank you Gabriel and best of good fortune going forward.

Alive is a fascinating book - simply a work of wonder. It is hard to stop thinking about it. Author Gabriel Weston became a surgeon, a mother and a patient. Her different perspectives is interwoven in her writing. She successfully bridges the gap between scientific knowledge and the complexity of human experience. She demonstrates how miraculous bones are, what kidneys do,, how the brain works and what happens when they fail. The readers comes away thinking about the human anatomy in a completely different way.

I love a medical book, not in a weird morbid way. But ever since I became ill, I've become more fascinated with the world of health, and so when this dropped into my inbox, it felt right up my street.

I'm the kind of person who loves watching those surgery programmes where you watch people being operated on. It's fascinating. And I'm always amazed when I think that, apart from being much smarter than I am, a surgeon is no different to myself, just they took a science/medical route whereas I took media, but they can stop a heart, drain a person of all their blood, but keep them alive. It's humbling.

This isn't an easy book to read. I mean, the introductory chapter is an intimate description of an autopsy which isn't a very pleasant thing to read about, although very interesting.

Unsurprisingly, it's very technical, which makes for difficult reading, although don't let that put you off. Yes there were passages I didn't understand, terms I didn't understand, but it didn't spoil the reading. You just take it for what it is, for what she's saying. And you work out the bigger picture. And she's blended the technical bits with her own stories which is a nice balance.

It is a fascinating book. I was up until quite late into the night reading it as it was just so addictive.

What I really enjoyed was how personal it was. Yes she's gone into a lot of technical medical detail which is interesting, but she's given stories of her own illness, of her son's, which shows us the human sides of medics, who we often akin to Gods, and how they couldn't possibly fall ill.

I really love this book. It’s interesting and informative but also reads like a story. I learnt some things but more interestingly I experienced anatomy in a different way. Thanks to Vintage and NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy.

I learnt a lot about the specifics of the body from this book. Weston writes in a way that is easy to follow and it's clear that her time as a writer and broadcaster position her well as the author of a book like this.

The vignettes of Weston's own experiences throughout the book helped to bring an additional layer of human touch but were sometimes not so clearly connected to the chapters in which they were placed and the jumping back and forth was occasionally jarring.