Following the events of Anna K, tragedy and drama takes root. Anna is full of grief, and the shame and embarrassment of a sex tape featuring her is like hot embers sizzling on the fresh wounds of despair. To escape from this torment, Anna's father whisks her off to South Korea. At first, it feels like she's only running away from the life she deserved in the Big Apple, but now a continent away, Anna's life might now have more opportunity than ever. Back home in New York, Lolly and Steven have reconciled, but theater camp might uproot their entire relationship. Lolly's sister, Kimmie, and her boyfriend, Dustin, have a great relationship, but taking the next step toward intimacy could unravel it all. Beatrice, off in Los Angeles, grieves and begins to heal, but can she really find love and forgive Anna? This summer is set to blow everyone away.

I'm pretty sure I enjoyed Anna K: Away even more than Anna K! If you haven't read Anna K, there may be mild spoilers here. This story is all about the characters, people who are living an elite, spoiled life of debauchery while being out of touch with the average person. Anna goes through a lot here, tunneling through grief over Vronsky, and realizing that now that she's away from the stifling social pressures back home, she can let her hair down and explore more authentically who she is. She and her brother Steven are always there for each other, and I really like stories with supportive siblings. The exploration of the relationship between her and her father was important for her so she could help her father see the pressure he puts on his children and how she needed to be able to decide the direction of her life.

Grief and loss are central themes of the story, and each character deals with loss or fear of loss along the way. Anna grieves and doesn't jump into a relationship to drown that sorrow, instead allowing it to envelop her as her new environs help to mold her into a different version of herself. Beatrice lost her beloved cousin, and blames Anna for it, and as she processes the rage and sorrow, Tiare is both supportive and probing about what Beatrice wants and needs. I feel like Beatrice's grief and who she is as a person is explored the best in this story. Lolly, Kimmie, Steven, and Dustin also experience their own fears of loss or actual loss, and they are able to grow in their own way as their individual events play out.

I experienced Anna K: Away and Anna K as audiobooks, with the same narrator, Jenna Ushkowitz. I feel like Jenna's expression of the characters improved in this outing, and the emotional impact and subject matter hit harder here because of it. Anna K: Away is a continuance of rich, spoiled kids living flawed, often childish lives, but it's the journey toward maturity and self-reflection that matters here, and because this is inspired by and is a retelling of Anna Karenina's tragic tale, it's no surprise that these characters are not role models. Recommended for readers who enjoy imperfect characters who change over time, fans of Anna Karenina, and those who are intrigued by explorations of grief, loss, and the interplay of friendships surrounding tragedy.

This book could not hold my attention. I'm not sure if it was because it's a sequel I wasn't expecting and didn't feel invested in, or if I just didn't vibe with the characters. But I tried and couldn't get into it.

Anna K Away picks up the story from [book:Anna K: A Love Story|45043369], which was a modern retelling of [book:Anna Karenina|15823480]. In Anna K Away, we follow several of the characters during the summer following the events of Anna K. Anna is heartbroken over the loss of her first love, Vronsky. She is also dealing with the fall out of their sex video being leaked. To escape all this, Anna's father takes her with him to visit family in South Korea. Anna's brother's girlfriend Lolly spends the summer at theater camp where she meets a co-star who sparks something in her. Bea goes to California and meets a lovely young woman. Kimmie spends the summer in NYC with her new boyfriend Dustin. The story pops around between these 4 different storylines as we see who the summer of the crew from Anna K shakes out.

This was a fun read. Like the first novel, this is edgy YA about a group of well-off teens. More sex, drugs and rock & roll but this time with a splash of K-pop.


I listened to the audio book for this one and it was well done and a fun listen. Two thumbs up for the audiobook. :)

4.5/5⭐️ to Anna K Away by Jenny Lee! Thank you to MacMillan Audio for an egalley audiobook to review!
Since this is a sequel, I will keep it short, sweet, and spoiler free! It was such a worthy sequel to Anna K, and I love where it took Anna’s story, but also all the new characters we got to meet! It was just as full of drama and scandal as the first book, while not shying away from topics such as the double standard between guys and girls in the Kpop industry, moving on from grief, and deciding on your future. I especially enjoyed the parts of the book set in Korea...so fun! And there were some really cute romances & couples in the book that had me squeeing with their adorableness. Also, new friendships that highlighted how important those are, as well as some important and lovely family conversations. In summary, if you loved Anna K, you should really enjoy Anna K Away! And I just had to grab my own copy right away!

If you're a fan of Gossip Girl, you need to check out Anna K and Anna K Away! It will not disappoint. This modern retelling of Anna Karenina takes place in NYC.

This book picks up where book 1 left off and has a bit of a different tone than book 1. During Anna K Away, the focus is to get to know our beloved characters as they deal with the aftermath of the tragedy and of course drama from Anna K.

They brought back the narrator from the first book Jenna Ushkowitz and thank goodness because she does an incredible job.

Just like with the first book, Jenna Ushkowitz did a wonderful job with the narration of the audiobook. She does a great job of sounding like both the teenager and adult characters.

I really enjoyed the conclusion to this duet. This is a very sad book at times given how the first book ended, but I like the direction this went in, and there was the perfect amount of drama/intrigue. I didn’t give this 5 stars just because I thought it was a bit slow paced times (I also felt this way about the first book), but I wholeheartedly recommend this if you love teen soap operas in book form, such as Gossip Girl and American Royals.

**thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review**

Crazy Rich Asians meets Gossip Girl = an instant hit for me! This sequel was a perfect follow-up to Anna K. We follow our characters as they deal with the aftermath of the tragedy and drama of the first book.

Anna K is taken to South Korea by her father to put some much-needed distance between her and the mess that was the revenge sex tape she was in and the very tragic death of her first love.

Meanwhile, we are also hanging out in the U.S.... Lolly and Steven's relationship seems to be as solid as ever even given Steven's cheating. However, their relationship is challenged again when Lolly meets a smooth-talking Texan boy at theater camp. This makes Lolly question her relationship and what it truly means to love someone. We also follow Kimmie and Dustin, newly dating and navigating the "first time". Bea is also still struggling with the grief of losing her beloved cousin. She flees LA and meets a beautiful surfer girl. She realizes she needs to forgive Anna and decides it might be time to open her heart up to love.

We meet a lot of other characters over the course of the summer, some old and some new. Anna K Away was just what I wanted it to be. Full of new adventures and heartbreak, this contemporary has us feeling all the summer feels.

Anna K Away picks up after the death of Anna's love Vronsky. She is trying to move past her mourning by trying to live life by doing good in the world. This brings her to her home country in South Korea. Her dad has sent her there in hopes that she would attend her senior year abroad there.

Personally, I'm not too familiar with Anna Karenina other than the general than general rich Russian Tolstoy vibes (I have only read War & Peace). I couldn't how much was a parallel to its source material, however, the story still had the Tolstoy touch of drama within relationships whether it's familial, friendships, or romantic... all while keeping that modern touch that made the story feel like we were being told this through a lens similar to Gossip Girl.

I enjoyed seeing the subplots that were Lolly and Steven, Kimmie and Dustin, Bea and Tiare, and Anna and her journey of self discovery and healing.

Personally, I really enjoyed Kimmie and Dustin's story as they figured out how to navigate their relationship. They have a solid base and a strong couple. It was nice to see them take things at their own pace despite Kimmie seeing how fast her friends would go in their own personal relationships. It made their connection seem much more real and you could truly tell how much they care for each other.

My other favourite plot was, of course, Anna and her journey. What I enjoyed most about Anna was seeing her heal after having lost Vronsky. Her sadness over his death was not her personality trait and because of that you could watch her grow in a way that always kept the events of the first book in mind as she healed. Her kindness and generosity to those around her really made Anna shine and made you root for her in her own affairs. Not only that, but the pacing as she went from point A to B to C made for a really fun adventure that left you wanting to know where Anna would end up next.

Anna K is told in the perfect tone and lives up to its former book in the series.

I loved this audiobook, it was a quick listen and the narrator did an amazing job. If you love reality shows and the drama vibe that goes with them, you will definitely love this one. Although, I would say if you haven’t read the first one, which is amazing too, read that first because I feel the character development happened more in that one than this book. It also goes by fast so I feel like those who haven’t read the first one will get lost. The only other issue I had was it had cliffhangers, nooooo.... but I was okay once I realized that meant a 3rd book. Yay!

For some reason, I didn't know this was a sequel.
I did listen to it for about 20 minutes but I just got bored so I quit this one. it's just not for me i guess.

The second book of the series was as good as the first. New characters and new development between old characters. It’s crazy that I wanted to know more about them and I did. Anna is in mourning and is trying to just get past that and the scandalous sex tape.

Just when I thought I heard it all theres tons more. It was very entertaining and it left me feel giddy and hopeful for Anna. This was the best series and I’m the type of person who just reads nothing but horror and mystery lol.

This is a 2for...I received #annakaway by @jennyleewrites on #netgalley. I decided to grab #AnnaK from @brownwoodpubliclibrary before diving in. The publisher described this as a combination of Gossip Girl and Crazy Rich Asians. I think that’s just right, with an extra sprinkling of sarcasm and satire. I enjoyed the first installment a bit more than the second, but these were fun to read! #bookstagram #bookreview #summertimefuntime #netgalleyreview

💄💄💄(three stars as rated in The Mystery Girl's signature red lipstick)

Once the teen queen of the New York City, Anna K has all but disappeared from the social scene following the tragic death of her boyfriend, Alexia Vronsky. Her father, currently estranged from his own wife, has decided that time away will do the pair of them some good and so it's off to Korea for them both. In their absence, Anna's brother Steven is having troubles of his own. His girlfriend Lolly is preparing for a stint away at drama camp, putting strains on the trust that is still healing from Steven's past infidelity. Steven's best friend Dustin struggles to navigate his own burgeoning relationship with Kimmie, Lolly's younger sister, while simultaneously trying to forge some sort of family unit with his late brother's girlfriend, Natalia. On the other side of country, Beatrice (Vronksy's cousin and BFF), is also reeling from the loss of her partner in crime. She despises Anna K for stealing Alexia from her and has vowed to spend the whole summer drinking and wallowing in misery. That is until a pretty girl working the hotel reception desk catches her eye...

"Haters are always gonna hate…but everyone loves a good comeback tour."

If while reading Anna K you thought to yourself, "what that book needs is some more K-pop," then have I got the sequel of your DREAMS! This book is the chunky monkey ice cream of teen dramas. It is just so much stinking fun to DEVOUR in a single sitting. Which, is what I love to do anyway! Full disclosure, Anna K: Away reads a teeny bit slower than its predecessor and a lot of what goes on with some of the characters is clearly set up for book three. Because there is obviously going to be a book three. So. Many. Cliffhangers!

What I think I enjoyed most about this book is how it deals with the fallout of Anna K and Vronsky's relationship as well as Alexia's subsequent death. The whole situation is so horrible traumatizing to everyone and, unlike in Anna Karenina, the reader gets to witness how that all plays out. Even the characters that didn't really know Anna and Alexia discuss how the situation affected them. Everyone carries a small piece of guilt which, is what I like to think would have happened in Anna Karenina had we gotten a bit more at the end there as well. I found this creative decision to be very special and was really pleased with Jenny Lee's choice to use her continuation of the story to give some justice to the memory of Anna K's infamous inspiration. Well done!

"It's like waiting for the big one - the big wave. You gotta just follow your gut to tell you when it's the right wave to go for. As soon as you're up on your board and riding it there's no sense in worrying anymore. You just gotta relax into it and ride the wave."

✨ Rep in this book: Korean-American MC, Black supporting character, Queer MC

✨ Content warnings for this book: death of a loved one, infidelity, revenge porn, gun violence, alcohol use, sexual content, drug abuse, vomit

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Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the early listen. What a fun quick listen this book was. Enjoyed the narrator. She did a wonderful job. Now I have to listen to the first one.

I also listened to the first book the this series so was very excited to dive into this. I listened to this while out running. This held my attention so much. I was sucked right into the world. Each love letter and also hoping Anna would find happiness.

All of the charm and fun of Anna K with a healthy dose travel, drama, and of course emotional turmoil. Anna K was a surprise hit for me, and Anna K Away absolutely lives up to - and maybe even exceeds - the standard set by the first book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

3.5 stars

I have never read Anna Karenina and I was wary about reading Anna K . I read it on recommendation and was surprised and pleased by its depth. I knew I had to read Anna K: Away to find out what happens next.

Anna spends a lot of her summer in Seoul with her father and grandmother, but she’s no longer interested in quiet obedience. She doesn’t go out of her way to go wild, she just takes what she needs without apology. I really like that she grew in that way. She makes two new, really good friends while in Seoul: Quentin and Chang-ri (hey interwebz, do you know how long I had to search to find the spelling of her name since I listened to the audio? We need character lists!). My favorite parts were experiencing Seoul with Anna and getting to know her two new friends better.

Anna’s brother Steven matures also. He seemed to truly learn from his mistakes from the first book and put in the work to prove it.

Beatrice is such a fun, free-spirited character and I was glad to see more of her in this follow-up. It takes the whole novel, but we see her mature as well and it makes her even better.

In general, I feel like everyone got back to their lives too quickly after the two tragic deaths in their social circles, but I recognize everyone grieves differently and the characters did deal with their grief over the course of the book. Still, it overall felt much lighter than the first book so it felt a bit disconnected to me.

Bottom line: read this book if you enjoyed Anna K: A Love Story. It’s not as powerful as Anna K, but the character growth and settings are satisfying.

I thought this was just as quirky and fun as the first one! The narrator does a fantastic job voicing the characters and making you believe in their entitled personalities. I thoroughly enjoyed the continuation of the first story into this book and I think fans of the first one will not be disappointed!

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC

I most definitely liked this follow up to better than the first. It still had the excessive money, gossip girl knock off vibes. But it felt less like it was return too hard and the characters finally had some redeeming qualities. I think that characters seemed more flushed out. It still had some graphic teen sex scenes that I feel like I could have done without but if was an easy listen and better than the first.

In Anna K Away, the sequel to Anna K, our heroine finds herself in Korea, connecting with her family abroad and meeting the newest stars of K-pop. Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing an ALC on NetGalley!

Rating: 3.5 (rounded up to 4 for Goodreads)
Pub date: April 27th (out now!)

When we last saw Anna, she was grieving the death of her love Vronsky and dealing with the fallout of a sex tape. Her father sends her to Korea to get away from the drama, but of course Anna will always find attention - making headlines as the "mystery girl" tied to a K-pop star. We also get updates on Lolly and Stephen, apart for the summer as Lolly attends Interlochen, as well as Beatrice and her new surfer love, and Dustin and Kimmie.

In the first book, the characters were together in their posh NYC bubble - here they are spread out on new adventures. It took me a bit to get used to this structure, but I enjoyed seeing each character's coming of age journey. Jenna Ushkowitz (of Glee fame) did an awesome job with the narration - the characters sounded like the teens they are, and they were differentiated well by voice. The characters' heart-to-hearts sounded just like chats you'd have with a friend.

Some of the arcs were stronger than others - of course Anna was my favorite! I also enjoyed Beatrice's and Lolly's stories as they learned more about love outside of the Manhattan bubble. Kimmie's story fell a little flat for me, but I did like seeing her character growth at the end.

Whereas Anna K read like Gossip Girl meets Crazy Rich Asians, this book skews a little more toward the Gossip Girl side - it feels a little younger, maybe due to the absence of the Anna K-Vronsky relationship. It was still a really fun audiobook for me as a 30-something, but I'm not sure if it would feel too young for an older audience.

Review posted to Goodreads and Instagram on 5/2/21.