Anna K: A Love Story by Jenny Lee **Book Review** @flatironbooks

Happy Tuesday all!

And happy publication day to this wonderful book! This was such an entertaining story that I enjoyed every single minute of!

My Thoughts

An Anna Karenina retelling with a Gossip Girl vibe! Glitz, glamour, drama, betrayal, opulence, infidelity, sex, drugs, and romance. Jenny Lee has done a stellar job of taking this Russian classic and giving it a modern and diverse twist. Admittedly I’ve never read the original, but I did take a look at the Spark Notes and Miss Lee really did a remarkable job in the retelling. I was completely sucked into this riveting tale of decadence and betrayal.

As entertaining as the story was there was also some depth and emotion to it. And if you read the original classic you know all does not end happily ever after… in fact I shed some tears. The perspective of the story bounces around between multiple characters, really giving the reader the full story. All the characters were so well developed, I particularly loved Anna and her brother Stephen. The sibling relationship was great and Stephen had the most noticeable character development throughout the story. This book is considered young adult, but I think it will appeal more to a older young adult audience as well as us old people. Keep in mind if you are a parent wondering about this book for your team, that there is a lot (and I mean a lot) of sex and drugs and drinking in this book. I think it was all handled very well and was not glamorized. Such a fun engaging story and I am super excited that there is a sequel! Cannot wait to see what is next in store for these fabulous characters.

This book in emojis 🗽💰🐶🐎🚄🍸📱💔

*** Big thank you to Flatiron Books for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

About the Book

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 dogs); she has the perfect (if perfectly boring) boyfriend; and she has always made her Korean-American father proud (even if he can be a bit controlling). Meanwhile, Anna’s brother, Steven, and his girlfriend, Lolly, are trying to weather a sexting scandal; Lolly’s little sister, Kimmie, is recalibrating 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 teenage life, Anna always seems to sail gracefully above it all. That is, until the night she meets Alexi “Count” Vronsky. A notorious playboy, Alexi is everything Anna is not. But he has never been in love until he meets Anna, and maybe she hasn’t either. As Alexi and Anna are pulled irresistibly together, she has to decide how much of her life she is willing to let go to be with him. And when a shocking revelation threatens to shatter their relationship, she is forced to ask if she has ever known herself at all.

Dazzlingly opulent and emotionally riveting, Anna K 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.

About the Author:

Jenny Lee is a television writer and producer who has worked on BET’s Boomerang, IFC’s Brockmire, Freeform’s Young & Hungry, and the Disney Channel’s number-one-rated kids’ show, Shake It Up. Jenny is the author of four humor essay collections and two middle grade novels. Anna K: A Love Story is her debut YA novel. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and 135-pound Newfoundland, Gemma (and yes, it’s a toss-up on who’s walking who every day). Instagram: @jennyleewrites

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Berit☀️✨

Red Letter Days by Sarah-Jane Stratford **Book Review** @berkleypub

Happy Tuesday all!

Excited to share with you today my review for this entertaining and informative book. Perfect way to kick off Women’s History Month!

My Thoughts

This was the perfect read to kick off Women’s History Month. This was an informative story about the red scare, the entertainment business, and two women who stood strong. Phoebe Adler is a young woman living in New York working as a television writer when she finds herself on the “blacklist“. With no ties to communism and a sister who is ill and depending on her, Phoebe does not know what to do when she is summoned to appear in front of Congress. Urged on by her sister and with no other options Phoebe heads to London. In London she finds refuge with other exiled Americans and starts working for Hannah Wolfson. Hannah is a producer who hires blacklisted writers and directors to work on her current television project Robin Hood. Phoebe lands a job as the script girl and has an opportunity to write a Robin Hood episode. But Senator McCarthy and the FBI’s power is far reaching and it might just be a matter of time before Phoebe’s luck runs out.

This was a story about a part of history I really know very little of and I found it so disturbing and unfortunate. It is crazy that people were accused of being communist for virtually no reason at all other than they might have once upon a time had a red thought. The story was so well researched and I really appreciated that, however it never really completely pulled me in. I really liked Phoebe and I felt for her and I liked her relationship with her sister. But she was like a friend who keeps you at arms distance, she felt a little removed a bit detached. There was a strong bond between Phoebe and Hannah that I really liked, I just wanted a little more of that in the story. This is a well told, well researched story that lacked some emotion. I would recommend this for the true historical fiction reader. And don’t forget to read the authors note, it was really interesting how she came up with a story and how this is loosely based on real people

This book in emojis. 🧧📽🎬📞📺👭✈️🚢

*** Big thank you to Berkley Pub for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

About the Book

When two brave women flee from the Communist Red Scare, they soon discover that no future is free from the past.

Amid the glitz and glamour of 1950s New York, Phoebe Adler pursues her dream of screenwriting. A dream that turns into a living nightmare when she is blacklisted – caught in the Red Menace that is shattering the lives of suspected Communists. Desperate to work, she escapes to London, determined to keep her dream alive and clear her good name.

There, Phoebe befriends fellow American exile Hannah Wolfson, who has defied the odds to build a career as a successful television producer in England. Hannah is a woman who has it all, and is now gambling everything in a very dangerous game – the game of hiring blacklisted writers.

Neither woman suspects that danger still looms…and their fight is only just beginning.

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Berit☀️✨