Anna K

A Love Story

By: Jenny Lee

Narrated by: Jenna Ushkowitz

Narrator Jenna Ushkowitz is an award-winning actress, singer, producer, and podcast host best known for her role as Tina Cohen-Chang on Glee.

Meet Anna K! Every happy teenage girl is the same, while every unhappy teenage girl is miserable in her own special way....

At 17, Anna K is at the top of Manhattan and Greenwich society (even if she prefers the company of her horses and 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 Story is 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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

"Lee skillfully weaves beats of the classic Russian novel into the contemporary plot of her first YA novel, but readers will need no previous knowledge of Tolstoy to appreciate the social stakes, heartbreak, humor, and moral complexity of Anna K." (BookPage, starred review)

"Anna Karenina gets a Gossip Girl-infused reboot in Lee’s debut YA novel, which embraces the original novel’s vast cast and slow-burn pace... A twist ending will shock even the most devoted of Tolstoy fans - but that’s one secret we’ll never tell." (Booklist)

©2020 Jenny Lee (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

2020, NPR Best Book of the Year, Long-listed

Sappy Romance

About: Anna K thinks that she has everything she could want in life. She has two beautiful dogs. Access to horses that she can ride around whenever she wants. A perfect boyfriend who everybody adores. They are one of the most popular couples in the area. She thought she was content. Until she met Vronsky. Everything she knew and who she thought she was is constantly questioned from then on.
Plot: I'm reviewing this as an adult. So, I'm going to admit that a lot of the things I didn't find a lot of pleasure in were because of that. Like the teenage angst. All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I can't say it's fully a happy go lucky book though. It's full of drama and turmoil. It is based on the famous Anna Karenina book after all. I found out after reading the book that there will be a second book released next year. I'm definitely going to be buying it.
Characters: All of the characters added their own color to the story. You have Anna who's torn between doing what society thinks is the right thing and what makes her happy. Then, there's her brother Steven, who's the pure definition of an entitled rich kid. Lottie is a really ditzy girl who was sweet and loyal almost to a fault. My favorite character was Dustin. He's intelligent and funny. He's loyal and very intuitive. I could go on about all the characters, but I think my point has been made.
Narration: This book was narrated by Jenna Ushkowitz. She did a pretty amazing job in my opinion. I hope she narrates the second book as well. I am also looking forward to listening to more books she narrates.
Suggestions: Nothing.
Recommend: Yes, but have tissues.

Could not stop listening

I'm not great at listening to a story, but I loved the narrator and the story so much, I finished in three days! The story was captivating and exciting and so over the top, but mesmerizing. The narrator did a great job. Loved everything about this light yet deep story. And now I want to read the OG Anna K.

The Best

The Best Book ever. Goes to my all time favorites. Anna K is the most relatable character I’ve ever encountered and her plot line, alongside her brother, Kimmie, Lolly and Beatrice make for the most heartfelt, crazy rich and utterly unhindered teenage experience ever. Love, heartbreak, money, anxiety and teen angst alone in this love as old as time set in the richly setting of New York. A must read

Horrible Ending

First review. I get the reference to the original but the ending was just lacking and left to many strings undone. I would have liked some things tied up and concluded. The beginning and middle were good and the characters were layered very well but it took a turn towards the end and lost steam and fell apart I didn't even want to finish the book. Just disappointing.

I wish this was better

I love Anna Karenina. This is a sad rip off with drugs, teenage sex scandals and tone deaf 1% affluence glorification.