In Anatomy of a Single Girl by Daria Snadowsky, Dominique (Dom) Baylor can’t seem to catch a break in the boy department.

First off, there’s her ex-boyfriend, Wes, from the first book of the series, Anatomy of a Boyfriend. After dating for over a year, Wes calls it quits during their freshman year winter break away at different colleges. Poor Dom is broken-hearted and struggles to open her heart again, which brings us to Anatomy of a Single Girl.

In enters Calvin – the sweet, attractive, and practically perfect best friend. Unfortunately, while Calvin wants their relationship to go further, Dom is not eager to make that leap since she’s just not into him that way. Leaving Calvin behind in Louisiana, Dom heads home to Florida for the summer and tells herself that by the time school starts back up again, she’ll decide for sure whether or not she wants to be with Calvin.

Since two boys isn’t enough, Dom meets Guy right away at the beginning of the summer. While Guy may seem perfect and the attraction between the two is definitely there, Guy has another agenda. Dom soon finds out that Guy has already put an expiration date on their relationship since he doesn’t believe in long distance and they go to different colleges. At first, Dom is upset and is ready to let him go but she finds herself missing him and decides that she might as well have fun while she’s home.

Throughout the book, Dom internally struggles with every decision she makes. Does she want Wes back? Does she miss Cal? Is she okay with being just friends with benefits with Guy? In such a time of need, it’s no help that her best friend, Amy, keeps leaving her to go spend time with her boyfriend out at camp and her parents are more concerned with other things at the moment. Dom learns an abundance of lessons all on her own, and by the end she’s a changed woman.

Snadowsky creates a character that many teenage girls can relate to. The everyday obstacles that Dom goes through page after page will keep the reader going because they will want to know how Dom handles it all. Whether it’s something as simple as what to wear on a first date or as complicated as climbing up the ranks in a summer internship, Dom goes through it all.

With a very relaxed tone of writing, Snadowsky does a great job writing from the eyes a teenage girl. Throughout the book, there are many parts where girls will say, “I know what that feels like” and experience the exact emotion Dom is going through right then and there. If it were from the perspective of anyone else in the book, it would not have been the same.

The lessons Dom learns, mainly at the end but also throughout, are lessons that teenage girls today also learn the hard way just like Dom did. These lessons range from how to get a good boyfriend all the way to how to respect and put yourself first.

In a way, this book could be a guide as to how to approach your life as a teenage girl. Learn from Dom’s mistakes so you don’t go through it yourself. There’s more to the book than just hook ups and fights between best friends – there’s life lessons.

As a happy medium between the younger audience-based Judy Blume books and the more adult books of E. L. James, Daria Snadowsky offers teenagers a good read that’s not too long – but not too short – yet full of content. While Anatomy of a Single Girl may be more directed toward a female audience, there’s nothing in the book that should prevent males from reading it. But just like Dom realizes in the end, only do things that will make you happy.