Anna K

Lots of dramatic 1% drama that just feels contrived and unrealistic. Super over the top, no one's reactions make sense, and the characters all lack depth. I like a lot of YA so I know it isn't an audience issue, this just didn't work for me. And the whole teenagers having really over the top sex thing didn't work for me.

I have received an Advance Reader's Copy of this book through a giveaway hosted by the publisher. This has not affected my rating in any way.

Trigger Warnings: Incest, self-harm, rape of a minor, underage drug usage, graphic underage sex scenes, child and revenge p0rnography.

This is what Anna K. should've started with.

Don't get me wrong, this book was somewhat enjoyable. Maybe someone who has actually read Anna Karenina (or at least watched the movie) would've enjoyed this more than me. Maybe all of the things I listed above actually happen in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, but if it is I think it's fucked up for the author to include these things in a novel published in 2020 for God's sake.

Let me get the most upsetting thing out of the way. The author wrote a whole page about Vronsky's “sexual awakening” being an adult woman raping him after a party when he was 13. Then it's never brought up again. Like it never happened.

HELLO JENNY LEE, you cannot casually write a whole page about a minor being RAPED and then move on for the ENTIRE BOOK. What the FUCK.

Second thing I need to talk about: the sheer amount of incestuous shit that goes on in this book with Vronsky's family. First, he shamelessly watches his brother have sex with a woman. Then his cousin Bea is all into him and wants him sexually?? Like what the fuck is wrong with this family???? I don't know if this happens in the original book, but once again, IT'S 2020. THIS NASTY SHIT COULD'VE BEEN LEFT OUT.

Kimmie's self-harming scenes hurt a whole lot. She needed help and her parents were too prideful to give her what she needed the most?? Like come on, rich people! And don't get me started on the obscene amount of sex and cheating and drugs going on with these kids. Is that all rich people do?? Trust me, I wouldn't know.

Lastly, the UNDERAGE revenge porn. FUCK ELEANOR. God bless America, these sorry kids.

Now, why did I give this book two stars instead of one? Partly because this book kept me interested enough to the end. Another part, I liked Dustin and Kimmie's love story. Anna and Vronsky, or Steven and Lolly, not so much. Though, I felt for Anna when Vronsky died. I know what it feels like to lose someone you love, so I understood what she was feeling.

Call me a prude or whatever. If all of the bullshit had been left out, retelling or not, this would've been a much more enjoyable story.