Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Anna K

Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Anna K by Jenny Lee

28 reviews

linesiunderline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.5

Gotta say that it’s hard to believe this book was written for YA. There is A LOT of content in this book that places it squarely in the uppermost age range for YA - lots of drug and alcohol use and sex. I don’t object to that content, but fair warning, if you are putting this into the hands of a Young Adult, that person should be ready for this kind of content. I wonder about why the author didn’t make the cast college age? Perhaps it was perceived that there wouldn’t be enough of a readership? Still, when I imagine the characters, I picture characters older than sixteen / seventeen. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I see that disconnect as a flaw in the book. I think this book should have been written with characters who were older, which might change the audience somewhat.

Now that I’ve got this off my chest, I can say that this was a really fun reading experience, particularly for someone with familiarity with the original novel. I think the author succeeds beautifully in reimagining Anna’s world and experience. I particularly enjoyed seeing her slowly evolve and come into her own. There are plenty of complex relationships to discuss. The tone was engaging and the novel invites readers to think about important social issues while all the while being immensely entertaining. There’s a voyeuristic aspect to the reading experience as you get to glimpse what life might be like in some uber rich social circles.

An inventive, layered, and satisfying interpretation of a classic. Also, outstanding narration on audio!

Content Warnings

girlonbooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

💔💔💔💔💔 (five stars, as rated in broken hearts because, oh, Anna Karenina... )

I first read and review this book in December of 2020. But with the release of the sequel, Anna K: Away roughly two months away I decided it more than deserved a revisit.

Anna K has it all. And with the perfect reputation, the perfect boyfriend and the perfect life at an elite school in Greenwich, Anna is envied by many. When her brother, Steven, enlists Anna's help to smooth over a rift with his girlfriend, Lolly, Anna drops everything and rushes to aid him in Manhattan. When the storm clouds have cleared, Anna opts to stay awhile with her friends in the city. After all, it's so rarely that she gets to socialize and really cut loose away from the expectant eyes of her peers in Greenwich. It is then that Anna meets Dustin (Steven's life-long friend and tutor), Kimmie (Lolly's vivacious -if a bit naive- younger sister and the object of Dustin's unrequited affection) and Alexia "Count" Vronsky (a dashing and irresistible playboy who seems to have his eye on her). Anna knows the wisest move would be to return to Greenwich, leaving her entanglement with Alexia in the past. Choosing to pursue this torrid dalliance further could devastate more than just her sterling reputation...

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

Wow. Just… wow. I had a hunch I was going to love this book. But, people I REALLY loved this book. Let me start out by saying that if you have not read Anna Karenina (or at least watched the movie) this book may be a challenge. There are loads of references and veiled allegory to Anna K’s 19th century inspo. And yes, I just unironically employed the word “inspo” And yes, you too may find yourself adopting all the hippest-hoppitiest slang after reading this absolute treasure. It really is par for the course in a time and space where Vronsky has a tiktok account.

Per any and all negative reviews: I am frankly baffled by anyone whose chief complaint against this book is that the content is superficial. Sure, it’s annoying to hear about the “problems” of a group of super privileged (mostly white) group of teenagers with outrageous sums of money at their disposal. Honestly, though, a primary theme of the original story was that these people are out of touch. That is literally THE parallel that’s being made with the modern setting. I mean, who was more out of touch than the Russian Aristocracy? Like, move aside, France. In my opinion, it was brilliant of Jenny Lee to translate that into present day Manhattan.

Also, it's easy to forget how young Tolstoy’s characters are in Anna Karenina since most of them were married and having kids. I think watching 16 and 17 year-olds make the same, ill-advised decisions as their infamous predecessors gives a glorious dose of truth and perspective to the maturity level of the group as a whole. Please consider that before holding it against the story. This story is best described, in my opinion as Gossip Girl with diversity and quality representation. In that regard, it was just about everything I wanted it to be.

I appreciate how much of Anna K: A Love Story remains true to Tolstoy's original work. The themes, names and character traits are all genuinely respected. That being said, I equally admire the creative license taken by Jenny Lee in contextualizing things that wouldn’t easily translate into a 21st century novel. And, being now wholly invested in everyone’s plots and subplots, I am beyond excited to read the sequel when it’s released next year in April! I have so much more to say on that front, but am hesitant to do so for fear of giving things away!

✨ Rep in this book: Korean protagonist, Black supporting character, own voices

✨ Content warnings for this book: thoughts of self harm, drug addiction and drug use, revenge porn.

Content Warnings

internationalreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.5

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literaryelephant's review

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emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This was my first Anna Karenina retelling, and it was a lot of fun rediscovering those characters in a modern setting and seeing how their traits and predicaments translate onto supperrich Manhattan teens. It's over-the-top ridiculous in a way that makes it feel more campy than the obvious Gossip Girl comparison, but Lee commits to the bit in a way that keeps the story rolling.

Two downsides, imo: 1) I can't really imagine this holding up without the classic it leans on; doing a mental compare/contrast with Anna Karenina was 90% of the draw for me here and I would not recommend picking it up without first reading the original. And 2) these characters are incredibly shallow in a way that's not fully explored within the text. We've got teens giving Pre-Emptive Guilt Gifts and getting nose jobs and ranking girls on a Hot List; men are forgiven for cheating and general promiscuity while women are condemned. There's *some* self-reflection and challenging of unfairness here (Anna in particular is a stronger and more sympathetic character) but those moments are few and far between compared to the general glamour and excess coating every page. The presentation without commentary feels like a missed opportunity, and in a book marketed as YA it's a little worrying to me that there seems to be plenty of room for taking any of the sexist/elitist/self-destructive details at face value.

But I see Lee has a sequel coming up, and I suspect the need to go off-script there will push the story in some new, more interesting directions. Oh, and a warning: despite the smiling girl on the cover and the "A Love Story" tag under the title, this is still a tragedy, not a cute romance. The jacket had me fooled, but the classic ending is... not entirely eliminated.

Content Warnings

leekaufman's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

hansbookshelf's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

bailleyleppert's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

isabelburns's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This book definitely could have been shorter. Also, had VERY adult themes for being supposedly about teenagers? I don't know maybe NYC/CT are just built differently. Didn't love the characters, but good overall.

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