Review of Anna K by Jenny Lee

Anna K by Jenny Lee

4.17 out of 5 Stars

~ Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. ~

So this book was a lot of fun to read (until I was crying at the end but that's fine) and it was definitely an interesting mix up from the last book I read which was a mystery/thriller. The narration had a near-flippant, gossipy kind of tone to it, which I really enjoyed and I think fit perfectly for the story. Anna K was a little on the long end, but from looking at my own copy of Anna Karenina, that book was a long one too so the reimagining fits the original perfectly in that regard. Admittedly, I haven't read Anna Karenina, so I can't make any other comparisons to the inspiration for this book.

Plot: 
The story follows a lot of extremely wealthy teenagers in high-society Manhattan. There were times it was insanely fun to see how they spent their money and the kinds of things that they would be able to do, who they knew, etc., etc. For example, it's crazy to think they could have a dinner party with like five new celebrities and then throw an all-out party with tents and themes, but damn was it fun to read. And then there were other times that I thought the display of wealth was a little too over the top. Then again, they're wealthy teenagers with close to zero parental supervision, so I could still believe it. 

What I really enjoyed though about the plot was that it took an extreme (kids with crazy amounts of money), and brought those characters closer to the average person by connecting them through common courtesy, friendships, pets, and awkward teenage interactions. Yeah, they had some pompous airs about them, but like, Bea is going to look out for Murph to make sure he's having a good time at her party. Those little details of these kids' awareness about their surroundings really brought a nice touch to the story.

Characters: 
There were soooo many freaking characters. It was almost frustrating at times because while it was all third person, we would go from Anna to Stephen to Lolly to Kimmie to Dustin to Bea to Vronsky and honestly it was a little maddening. Just as one character's chapter started to really get me hooked, the next chapter would be someone else's plot entirely.

The characters had pretty interesting dynamics but oh my God, Anna and Vronsky-
Definition.
Of.
InstaLove. 
For real, if you don't like InstaLove, you will go insane over this relationship. This is also what ultimately led to me crying of course, but at the beginning, I remember chuckling and thinking, **** is happening, these kids just met. Not all of the relationships are like that though. Stephen and Lolly certainly aren't and Kimmie has a really interesting arc throughout the book, so not every relationship is instantaneous. They actually all had different nuances that they were trying figure out for themselves, both as individuals and as couples, and it made for a good coming-of-age.

Writing: 
Right when I started reading, I imagined the narrator sitting back, taking all the attention from the room, and going, "All right, here's the tea." The tone just fit perfectly for the story, being completely lighthearted when things were going great, drawing out the tension when there was drama going on, and taking the hard stuff serious. I really enjoyed it. I could see where some people might think it is an immature narrator, but to me it sounded like a teenager embellishing a story to a group of friends. Maybe a bit over the top, but the story itself is about kids who can drink away $700 dollars in a single shot, so again, it fits. 




I'm so excited for the HBO adaptation of this! Where it might fall short as a book, I think a TV show can really bring out the crazy and the nuances even more, without seeming like the story is taking too long. Plus, it's HBO, so I am going to have high expectations and I think they'll do a really good job with it in general.

Thanks for reading!