Synopsis: Meet Anna K. At seventeen, she is at the top of Manhattan and Greenwich society (even if she prefers the company of her horses and Newfoundland dogs); she has the perfect (if perfectly boring) boyfriend, Alexander W.; and she has always made her Korean-American father proud (even if he can be a little controlling). Meanwhile, Anna’s brother, Steven, and his girlfriend, Lolly, are trying to weather a sexting scandal; Lolly’s little sister, Kimmie, is struggling to recalibrate to normal life after an injury derails her ice dancing career; and Steven’s best friend, Dustin, is madly (and one-sidedly) in love with Kimmie.

As her friends struggle with the pitfalls of ordinary teenage life, Anna always seems to be able to sail gracefully above it all. That is…until the night she meets Alexia “Count” Vronsky at Grand Central. A notorious playboy who has bounced around boarding schools and who lives for his own pleasure, Alexia is everything Anna is not. But he has never been in love until he meets Anna, and maybe she hasn’t, either. As Alexia and Anna are pulled irresistibly together, she has to decide how much of her life she is willing to let go for the chance to be with him. And when a shocking revelation threatens to shatter their relationship, she is forced to question if she has ever known herself at all.

Dazzlingly opulent and emotionally riveting, Anna K.: A Love Storyis a brilliant reimagining of Leo Tolstoy’s timeless love story, Anna Karenina―but above all, it is a novel about the dizzying, glorious, heart-stopping experience of first love and first heartbreak.

When I realized Anna K was a modern-day retelling of Anna Karenina, I knew I wanted to read it. Then when a signed copy arrived in my subscription box from The Strand, I promptly added it to my TBR pile. I’m so happy I finally picked this one up. 

“Every happy teenage girl is the same, while every unhappy teenage girl is miserable in her own special way.”

Jenny Lee, Anna K: A Love Story

It’s been two years since I read Anna Karenina for the first time, so while it’s not fresh on my mind, it’s been recent enough that I can remember the general plot structure. Reading this book made me quickly realize what a fan of Anna Karenina Jenny Lee must be, and her note at the back of the book confirmed it. I’m so impressed with how skillfully she has brought these 19th century Russian characters into the present-day Manhattan society. 

BUT, I can see how this book might be a polarizing one. Most of the characters are wealthy, privileged teens. Their words and actions can be shocking, but I read it more as satire, smiling and laughing out loud as I read. It’s being compared to Gossip Girl and Crazy Rich Asians, but I’ve never seen or read either of those. By the end of the book, I was surprised by how much I loved these spoiled rich kids.