Anna

The first thing that jumped out to me as I started Anna is how creepy and visceral the book was. The book was excellent at building terror as we moved through the story and I thought it was remarkably well done. This was probably one of the strongest aspects of the book. It really elevated the first and third part of the book but during the middle where the character was in a relatively stable environment it meant that the novel dragged a little. As the book is written from Anna???a point of view, it???s her emotions that really help to build the tension and atmosphere so when she gets any form of safety it means the atmosphere falls flat.

Unfortunately, the plot didn???t add to the reading experience. I don???t think it was a negative aspect but it was fairly predictable and a plot line I think I???ve seen before in similar settings. The characters did exactly what I thought they would, so as the plot wore on I enjoyed it less. I think if there???d been a bit more to the plot, maybe subverting some of my expectations it could have been a really solid read.

I thought Anna was a good read, a definite page turner as the first part hooks you in deep. I enjoyed soaking in the suspense and atmosphere the author built and I really think it stands apart from other books in how well the tension was built.