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Title: Anna K
Author: Jenny Lee
Sub-genre: Contemporary
Content Warnings: death of animals (dog and horse), lots of teen drug and alcohol use, depression, revenge porn
So I knew I was going to love this book from the moment I read the description Gossip Girl meets Anna Karenina. Not going to lie, I’ve never read Anna Karenina and I don’t ever plan to, but if I were going to be interested in a version of it, this is the one.
Anna K is set in the upper echelons of New York society. Pretty much everyone is private jet level rich, and they’ve got the 1% vices well stocked. These teens do drugs, drink, throw crazy house parties, and spend a shit ton of money. Anna is the quintessential rich girl next door. She is well-loved at her private Greenwich boarding school and is practically married to Alexander, a Harvard student who is probably going to be president one day. Anna and Alexander have the perfect relationship. Except it’s boring. And when Anna meets Vronsky, they have an immediate, electric connection. Anna has to figure out if it’s worth giving up her picture perfect life to risk it all for love. On the side, Anna’s brother Steven must deal with his infidelity after he cheated on his girlfriend Lolly. Lolly’s younger sister Kimmie struggles with depression after a career-ending injury canceled her Olympic figure skating dreams. Dustin, Steven’s tutor, must reconcile his unrequited love for Kimmie, along with dealing with his brother’s addiction and recovery. Along with a host of other equally messed up characters, the group struggles to find their way through their dangerous addictions and tangled relationships.
Despite this book being less than half the length of its inspiration, this book is still dense. There are a lot of characters, a lot of relationships, and a lot of stuff happens. It took me way longer to get through it than I anticipated, because it was a lot. That being said, this book is entertaining as hell. It’s like a teen soap opera times a thousand. If you watched shows like Gossip Girl or The OC, chances are, you’re going to be super into the drama of this book.
Now, as an old person, I definitely found a lot of the characters’ actions and lifestyles to be obnoxious as all get out. I have a hard time feeling sorry for rich kids. But even with that, they still broke my heart as they endured some common (and many not so common) plights of teenage angst. This is definitely not what I would call a typical YA contemporary read. It’s a book readers of all ages can get into and appreciate.
Just a warning in these turbulent times, this book does not have a happy ending (though the ending is not quite the same as its Russian counterpart). That was a big bummer for me as I could have used a nice, sweet ending to this angsty, drama-filled story. Alas, that didn’t happen. But it didn’t take away from overall enjoyment of the book. It just knocked its rating down a half a star.
Overall Rating: 4.5 stars