Publisher: Flatiron Books
Page Count: 374
It’s time to make a confession: I have never read or watched Anna Karenina in all my life. Why is that little tidbit of info about me avoiding/being oblivious about a Russian classic vital to you in this very moment? Well, Anna K. is a the glorious modern retelling of said classic and I hereby freely admit that I have no way of comparing the two, but I hope that still gives me a “unique” view on the book. It definitely made me curious about the original novel, that’s for sure.
Every happy teenage girl is the same, while every unhappy teenage girl is miserable in her own special way.
This book really left me in some sort of emotional state of mind! It took me a bit to find my footing, but from the get go, Anna K. is a fast-paced whirlwind of amazing characters. A lot happens as you sort of play tag with the characters and switch from one POV to the next almost seamlessly. At first, I was a bit unsure of just the vast amount of characters, but they were interconnected beautifully and each had their own voice and personality and depth to them despite all of it being told in the 3rd person (to me that sometimes feels a little less personal, but not here). On the one hand, it felt like you were just observing the characters’ lives, but on the other hand, you had clear insight into all their motives and desires.
What I first believed to be a superficial glitzy love-at-first-sight teenage foolery, turned out to be so much more than that. I loved the upperclass Manhattan/Greenwich setting. I loved that Anna K. was a Korean-American teen and that her family’s tradition clashed and blended with American society standards. I adored the character dynamics and how everyone was connected in a more or less expected way. I loved how heightened and extra a lot of it was. At some point, there was one tragedy after the other and each time I thought my heart couldn’t possibly break any more, but then there was another one just around the corner. Yet, you don’t leave this book sad (maybe a little wistful), but rather full of hope and love for all these characters.
There’s not much fault one can find with this book in my opinion. The characters aren’t perfect paper cutouts, but actual human beings with faults and flaws. Anna and Steven even made it into my list of favourite literary characters and that’s not an easy one to get on. So, if you aren’t into cheating plotlines and characters using an excessive amount of drugs, maybe this isn’t the read for you. The love is also very … insta? Love at first sight in general comes quick to these characters. But if you want a Gossip Girl approach to a Russian classic (and I’ve been told Jenny Lee did a pretty remarkable job with the retelling) with a more diverse cast of characters, you should definitely check it out! I promise you will keep turning page after page in anticipation of what might happen next and how things could possibly go so terribly wrong for someone so lovely.
As a last thought, I would really encourage you to check out the Author’s Note at the end of the story. It really added even more spark to an already very entertaining and heartfelt rollercoaster of a read for me.
Fazit: 4/5 stars! A fun and emotional take on an old classic!
Have you read Anna K. or Anna Karenina for that matter? Would you be interested in doing so? Let’s chat!
Life and Other Disasters 
A Gossip Girl approach to a Russian classic is a brilliant selling point. I can’t say I paid much attention to the original, but I’m all about brilliant character dynamics and hope. I can get behind this book. 😀
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Ha, glad I worded it interestingly for you! It’s cheesy sometimes and waaay over the top, but I liked it. The drama is real in that one haha
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I’ve been hearing great things about this book! glad to see you enjoyed it & great review ❤️✨
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It was really fun in my opinion 😀 thanks for checking out the review!
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The bit about the sexting scandal and a girlfriend named Lolly makes me think of the novel Lolita. I wonder if that was also an influence, or if there’s a parallel in Anna Karenina. I’ve never read either novel, though I know the plot of the latter to a certain degree.
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Well, Lolly wasn’t the one with the scandal, it was her boyfriend. And none of the relationships involve a major age difference (unless you think 15 and 17 is sketchy), so I don’t think Lolita player into it. The original Anna Karenina characters were called Dolly and Stiva, which were turned into Lolly and Steven.
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Okay, that makes sense. Thanks for clarifying.
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No problem
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Great review! I loved this book too! ❤
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Fantastic review, Kat ❤ I'm just like you, I haven't read the original classic, but I have been curious about this book for a little while now…. and now your review just makes me want to order a copy right this very second, because it sounds like the kind of book I'd really love. Give me all the dramaaaaaaa ahah. I can't wait to read that one! 🙂
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It sure was a fun read! 🙂 I could see you enjoying it too and it really didn’t matter that I didn’t know the classic. I think it just keeps you on your toes more with the plot twists ❤
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I’ve seen the movie of Anna Karenina and I’ve seen a play of it.. that’s all I know but this one seems interesting. I have loved retellings of classics in the past so I’ll put this in my TBR.
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It’s really fun and Gossip Girl-esque, so if that’s a style you enjoy, I could see you liking this too.
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This sounds like an awesome retelling!
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I really can’t tell how similar or different it is, but I liked the Gossip Girl twist they put on it!
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I loved Anna karenina and I loved Gossip girl . So I am going to check Anna k out. Thanks for such a great review.
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Awe, thank you so much for checking out the review! I hope you will have a blast reading this book 🙂
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[…] made. I’m not sure I’d read the sequel, but I do recommend giving this a go. Big thank you to Kat’s great review for making me pick this up in the first […]
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