I stumbled onto Anna K by pure coincidence. I typed Anna Karenina into the search bar on my kindle and Anna K came up. I soon learnt that Anna K was the modern day adaptation of Anna Karenina so I decided it might be a good idea to read the books side by side. While I am far from finishing Leo Tolstoy’s original telling of the story I have just finished Jenny Lee’s version.

Anna K is a love story between two super rich teens living in New York. The book really does feel like if Gossip Girl was a book. There’s mentioning of high-end designers (I had to google a few while reading), elaborate parties and a healthy dose of absent parents. The only thing missing was the catty and sassy narration of the story as it unfolded.

The book took me longer to finish because hit was hard for me to sometimes stomach the teenage angst but it was a story worth sticking around for. Jenny Lee gave us a brief look into the teenage lives of the superrich and my first point on the book is that if you hated Gossip Girl because you found it unrealistic then you should certainly avoid this book.

I enjoyed how the protagonist, Anna K, was this perfectly poised teenager and that she also spoke almost no teenage slang. I think this was a necessary part of the storyline in order for the reader to place her on her a pedestal. Anna’s brother was also aptly painted as being a superrich party boy who lived for the here and now and so, it is unexpected when he turns on the reader and proves to be a great big brother who encourages Anna to be a teenager and do teenage stuff.

I did find it a bit off putting that the author’s narrating of black characters had to be so desperate to point out how diverse the book and the characters were. For example I don’t think it was necessary to say “black arm emoji” when a Black character was texting. I can confirm that as an African person when I send an emoji I don’t think “Black yoga girl emoji” so that was a bit of strange thing to do.

I don’t remember laughing out loud while reading it or highlighting much of the book while reading but I remember dreaming and trying to picture the characters in my head so that was a wonderful little trip. If you enjoy occasionally re-watching Gossip Girl and you are looking for a new love story with a poised half-Korean and half-White protagonist this is the book for you. And if you enjoy retellings of old classics this is definitely the book for you. While there are some distractions that might keep you from getting into the story I think Jenny Lee did a good job of telling the love story and you should definitely give it a read.

Thanks for reading this review, please let me know whether you have read the book and whether you agree of disagree.

Until next time, remember to be kinder than you think is necessary.