In Manhattan high society, prep-school kids apply to Ivy League colleges, party with designer drugs, and break each others' hearts. Anna K, 17, maintains a pristine reputation (and the respect of her intense Korean American father) by attending school in Greenwich and dating a perfect, if somewhat boring, guy. But when she comes to New York to help clean up her older brother's mess, Anna meets Alexi Vronsky arming, handsome, and a notorious player. When they fall for each other despite Vronsky's nature and Anna's sensibilities, it sets in motion a chain of events that will leave both their lives and their society utterly changed. 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 distant third-person narrator may alienate some readers initially, but high stakes and the lavishness (and bad behavior) of elite Manhattanites will soon win them over. A twist ending will shock even the most devoted of Tolstoy fans t that's one secret we'll never tell.

A slow-burn epic tale of love in modern-day Manhattan high society.Anna K, a 17-year-old from a wealthy family, falls for the handsome Alexia "Count" Vronsky and strives to stay loyal to her Greenwich, Connecticut, OG boyfriend of three years. Her partying brother, Steven, rebels against their father's strict, traditional views while his friend Dustin excels in school but is new to affairs of the heart. Kimmie, Steven's girlfriend's sister, tries to be a regular teen after training as an Olympic ice dancing hopeful and also struggles with inexperience in love. These are just the major characters in a cast filled with convoluted relationships. Taking place over the course of a school year, the characters move from party to nightclub, heart-to-heart to Coachella, with their ever changing relationships as the central focus. The distant writing style and pervasive dropping of brand names slow the narrative and weaken its analyses of love, racism, social standing and wealth, sexism, addiction, and mental health. Despite getting off to a slow start, this is a gripping story with sympathetic characters struggling through the mire of modern relationships. The ending, while slightly predictable, comes to a satisfying conclusion. Anna and Steven are Korean and white; Dustin is black, adopted into a white Jewish family; other main characters are white. References to Anna's "exotic" beauty are not contextualized.
Stick with this modernization of Anna Karenina; it pays out in the end. (cast of characters, author's note) (Fiction. 15-18)

TV writer Lee modernizes Anna Karenina with a heavy serving of Gossip Girl in her ambitious YA debut. Seventeen-year-old Anna K, who is half-Korean and half-white, sits at the center of her elite Connecticut private high school social scene. Though she loves her Harvard boyfriend, an encounter with the handsome Count Alexia Vronsky in Manhattan-s Grand Central Terminal leads to a flirtation that becomes something more. Dutiful Anna struggles with who she wants to be amid social expectations, and Vronsky offers her a chance to act impulsively. Filled with a compelling supporting cast-including Anna-s clueless but charming older brother-this retelling focuses on a New York City filled with teen socialites who have unlimited access to money, designer goods, and drugs. The superficial narrative leans heavily on slang and designer name-dropping, failing to conjure the original-s heft, occasionally exoticizing Anna-s beauty, and at times losing sight of its own deeper themes, including class issues. Details about the wealthy behaving badly abound, however, offering plenty for readers looking to enjoy the Gossip Girl side of the story. Ages 14-up. Agent: Sally Wofford-Girand, Union Literary. (Mar.)