Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Anna K: A Love Story by Jenny Lee

14 reviews

elizkacz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Racism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, and Racial slurs

Minor: Confinement, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Cultural appropriation

lilybear3's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny lighthearted relaxing tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

This book is a modern-day YA retelling of Anna Karenina.  I haven't read the original, but I feel like Jenny Lee included important and pivotal moments in her version and adapted them.  Leo Tolstoy's novel is 800+ pages and Anna K is 400ish pages.  I listened to the audiobook, which is read by Glee's Jenna Ushkowitz.  I couldn't have picked a better narrator, I think she was great and consistent throughout the novel.  She gave some characters different voices, but it didn't sound strained or like she was trying too hard.

The story is truly Crazy Rich Asians meets Gossip Girl in the best way.   While this is a longer book than I normally read, I was interested the whole time and was captivated by what would happen next.  It's the kind of fluffy romance that I love, full of over-the-top romance.  There's Drama with a capital D!  I love that we follow a large cast of characters with their own love stories and how they intertwine with one another.  There are many pop culture references and has all the things young adults are dealing with (even if most aren't super rich).  There are lots of CW/TWs so be sure to look at those!  The bulk of them are related to alcohol, drugs, and sex.

I have a print copy and my version has discussion questions in the back! How fun! One of the first questions in the back of the print version is about how race plays a part in the book.  I must have missed it, because I only knew Anna K's family was Korean.  It was mentioned about halfway through that Dustin is Black and adopted.  I presume the rest of the characters are white but I'm not sure.  It think there are conversations that could be had speculating.  But I think the book could've explored this question further and overtly. 

I definitely recommend this book if you want a rich people drama-filled story.  But there's also wholesome romance!  It's over-the-top at times, but that's what I love.

Thoughts on certain parts of the book, a.k.a. many spoilers:

Throughout the book, I felt misogyny was upheld, even though the three main teens grew as characters.  Like the characters see that women and teenage girls are held to a higher and double standard in their rich people world, but there isn't action taken to make it better.  It ends up being upheld by the rest of their society (Bea for example).  Anna and Steven's dad (and other parents) were the worst.  Towards the end I was very upset because everyone blamed Anna for what happened instead of seeing her as the victim.  Then, even though he apologizes, her dad still makes Anna live abroad for a "fresh start" (plot for book 2).  Eleanor is written like she is autistic but it's never explicitly stated.  She is made fun of for her OCD in having things clean and having things go a certain way.  Vronsky also mentions that she doesn't get sarcasm.  I didn't love that she was the "villain" and hated by most.  Especially that she was the one who filmed/released the sex tape.  But maybe the Eleanor character in Anna Karenina was also the "villain."  The ending was a little ridiculous for me when they were trying to save the dog on the tracks AGAIN.  It was just Anna INSISTING that they could save the dog and Vronsky DIES.  That whole scuffle was a mess.  But in Anna Karenina, Anna dies, so I was waiting for that ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Blood, Vomit, Abortion, and Classism

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Sex, drugs, and other misbehavior from the young, rich, and vapid.  It was a little dull at first since I knew the story of Anna Karenina, but it ended up being better than I expected as I grew to know the characters.  I enjoyed the difference in the ending from the classic.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

1004indeyo's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

sierranorgan's review against another edition

dark emotional funny relaxing sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was wild in many different ways. It had such a gossip girl vibe to it that I enjoyed, and the audiobook narrator was really playing that up! But sometimes the characters and situations were so absolutely ridiculous that I wasn’t to smash my head into something 😂 maybe it’s things that I’m missing from it’s source material? I’m not sure. But overall I enjoyed being brought back to that gossip girl feeling that I’ve missed! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

decklededgess's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

trigger warnings: sexual content (characters are under 18), drug and alcohol abuse, addiction, overdosing, rehabilitation, depression, suicide ideation, suicide attempt, self harm mention, vehicle accident, death by train, animal harm/death, emotionally abusive parents, infidelity, sexual harassment and cyber bullying, vomit, fatphobia, racism, classism, slut shaming, emotional incest


Idk who or what have me the idea but this book is not sapphic? There is one sapphic character who is like basically background. No wlw here in the main cast. 

Other than that disappointment this book was phenomenal. A very xoxo Gossip Girl touch to Anna Karenina which seems apt from what I know about the original text. 

The wealth disparity and lack of relatability of thee wealthy ass kids made the trauma a but more distant so I could read the book without internalising too much. 

It’s beautifully written and I loved the chaos that third person omniscient pov provided to the narrative. 

Excited for the next one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Racism, Sexism, and Vomit

Minor: Abortion

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, and Alcohol

Moderate: Racism and Blood

sarahsbookss's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Grief, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Sexual content and Toxic relationship

samchase112's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Every happy teenage girl is the same, while every unhappy teenage girl is miserable in her own special way.

This was a solid read. If you're not familiar, this book is a retelling of Anna Karenina (the classic Russian epic) which takes place in the rich upper society of New York. And when I say retelling, I mean pretty much to the T. The plot is followed fairly religiously, the characters are just as unbearably terrible (but in a good way?), and very similar questions are explored. Seriously, the lifestyle these characters lead is pretty terrible to read about, because yes, their lives are insane and filled with extreme expectations and extreme downfalls, but at the same time every single one of them (besides Dustin/Levin and Kitty, the real mvps) takes their life and wealth for granted. I will say that I enjoyed Anna more here than in the original, probably because she was a teenager and thus more forgiven for her mistakes than, say, a grown woman with children who she neglects for a young hot Vronsky. There were some great twists to the story, especially at the end, and everything tied together well. When I think back to Anna Karenina, however, I will remember my experience with the original and likely forget about this (well done, perfectly fine) retelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Stalking, and Car accident

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Antisemitism

pinkberryoasis's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child death and Vomit