Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Anna K: A Love Story

Very well-written and engaging. I love the original story of Anna Karenina and I wasn't sure what to expect, but the Jenny Lee did such a great job making it modern. It almost reminded me of the OG Gossip Girl series, especially taking place with Manhattan's elite. I loved how diverse the cast of characters was, too. There was a lot going on and a few different intertwining storylines to follow, but it was surprisingly easy to do so. I also really love her writing style and the use of an omniscient narrator. It's been a while since I've read something that I liked this much.

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lilybear3's review against another edition

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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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kimveach's review against another edition

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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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ktripp's review against another edition

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dark emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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trishmarie17's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.0

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1004indeyo's review

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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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sydapel's review against another edition

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emotional 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? It's complicated

3.25

I feel really conflicted about this one. I went in with really high hopes (I've never read Anna Karenina, but I'm a big fan of the movie), and while I think it's a really good retelling, there's a couple things that deeply bother me. The first is the writing style. You can tell the author is trying to portray the style of Tolstoy, but it feels clunky and overdone. Not to mention the "teenager speak" made me cringe. Hard. Upon learning the author has written for a lot of CW/Disney shows, these choices begin to make sense, but the overall writing style directly took me out of the realism of this story. Secondly, and more controversially, I'm not sure how I feel about the romanticization of "dying for love" that comes with the book's conclusion, especially in the context of teenage love and lust. I'm happy about the direction the author took here, but the underlying note it leaves us on is slightly problematic, especially given the YA audience it's intended for.

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