Reviews

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

erindoublee's review against another edition

4.0

A good book, I enjoyed the story. Not one of the greatest novels of all time for me, I think Dickens or Austen did that for me personally. But I loved the plot line, the messiness of the families, and the peak into Russian way of life.

I’m glad to say I made it through this one!

partytie5's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful slow-paced

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

5.0

laquellegeix's review against another edition

emotional informative slow-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

4.5

laurasauras's review against another edition

3.0

This was a very hard book to get through. I had hoped that all the chapters full of Russian farming and political practices would pay off, and so forced myself to pay attention to it all. By the end, I actually had a good understanding of who everyone is, and what they wanted, but the multiple names for everyone made it hard to keep straight.

In saying that, I pitied Anna. She never sought out what happened to her, and seemed to just make the least awful choice each time, and it always ended badly for her. However, it was hard to believe that she loved her son as much as she kept insisting she did, and it was very alienating to see her indifference to her daughter.

Levin and Kitty had a nice relationship, and it was good to have clearly nice people to root for.

cowboyariel's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Justice for anna. I hate men

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs

Big TW for suicide & suicidal thoughts

rutvikam's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

janus21's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

leggup's review against another edition

5.0

This book is a soap opera! How is this not more popular than War and Peace? It's just as well written, minus all of the boring war bits. Tolstoy is the master of subtle interpersonal relationships. You will at the same time love and hate and know Anna to the core.

I am so glad that the ending was never ruined for me.

kglynn's review against another edition

5.0

Possibly my favorite book of all time :)

morgainlafeye's review against another edition

2.0

Beautifully written and thoroughly engrossing. I struggled with this book, though, because I feel it wasn't about Anna, I felt it was Levin who had the best story arc. I felt that it was Levin who had his dreams punctured and who ended up as a real human being, while Anna never really developed. Her reactions feel forced and shallow.