By Kayla L.
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach is a slow-paced narrative non-fiction novel in the point of view of a young woman. Roach has written other books such as Spook: Science Tackles of the Afterlife, and Packing for Mars, both were published many years ago but Stiff is her oldest publication to this date. The specific genre of this novel is Science, covering the certain topic of cadavers, also known as dead people, throughout the story. The book talks about different methods of cadaver usage for biological study purposes in her well-detailed but boring chapters. Mary Roach uses scientific language to talk about her knowledge and experience with the deceased, which most likely confuses many readers who choose to read Stiff.
Overall, if I was given the choice to read Stiff or another non-fiction book, I would choose the other book. The reason I would come to that simple decision is because I have read far more entertaining medical novels, and reading Stiff felt to me like I picked up a medical textbook and flipped to the cadaver chapter. It did not leave me with the sense of wanting to read more, I would stop after the first few chapters if I could. While it was full of valuable information, it lacked depth and just seemed to list facts and just that. The writer seems to think that everyone understands medical/scientific language, but most of us readers do not. It seemed to me that it was more of a young college student's journal throughout her journey of research with dead people. If you are considering reading Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, I advise you to think twice.
When writing a factual report in a class such as Forensic Science, Biology, or Chemistry, I suggest this book. If you are reading for pleasure or fun, I highly suggest you to chose something else. There isn't a better way to put it besides this book is boring and dull. Out of ten stars, I rate Stiff a 5/10, I would definitely not read this again. If you want to bore yourself for a whole 292 pages, this novel is for you.
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