Anna by Sammy H.K. Smith is a hauntingly beautiful novel that delves into the depths of grief, loss, and the journey to find oneself amidst the darkness. In this captivating story, Smith weaves a tapestry of emotions that will leave readers both heartbroken and hopeful.

One of the most striking aspects of Anna is the depth of its characters. Anna is a complex and multi-faceted protagonist, whose journey is both heartbreaking and inspiring.

The prose is beautifully lyrical, painting vivid images of the haunting landscapes that Anna traverses. From the mist-covered moors to the windswept cliffs, the setting becomes almost a character in itself, mirroring Anna's inner turmoil.

The author skillfully navigates the twists and turns of the plot, keeping readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

This was a bit of an intense read- short but with a LOT to deal with inside. Wasn't totally happy with the ending but didn't hate it, and overall the pacing and writing style was well done. I'd say to give it a go BUT be careful for the many triggers inside.

A few nights ago I started "Anna". It's a dystopia in the style of the novel The Handmaid's Tale. The world has changed, women no longer have rights and Anna is caught by a man and becomes his slave. The author managed to create an antagonist that disgusted me, the guy was sick and suspicious. I had read a post on Tumblr or Pinterest that said "stop believing men are protectors of women and start asking who they need to protect us from" and it matched the situation in the book too well.

The novel started great, very violent, and with a lot of realistic descriptions of all the immoral things going on. It consists of three parts, but I can honestly say that the second part seemed to have nothing to do with the first. The action didn't make sense in my head, many things were happening at once and they didn't connect. I even had a theory that Anna is the one with mental problems and everything is happening in her mind.

I would have wanted to know the history of the antagonist because it eclipsed that of the protagonist, I would have wanted to know his evolution, however crazy he was.

This is a tense, suspenseful read. Anna is a character that has been abused and downtrodden, and her evolution comes in fits and starts. There is a (maybe) supernatural element to the story as well that requires a bit of suspension of belief. There are some very graphic parts in this book-not for the faint of heart.

As a survivor of abuse, this book really hit me HARD! This book absolutely gripped me from beginning to end. I know this is such a hard topic to talk about and read about. But to me, it's very important, more awareness needs to be brought to light. Remember trigger warnings! The first part is dark and intense. Either way, this was amazingly written and well worth the read. I'm writing this review late because I wanted and needed time to process what I've read and what I wanted to say. I can honestly say that its been almost a month now and I still think about this book. It was worth it. Read it!

A woman has survived alone in the aftermath of the apocalypse for years, but when she is taken captive by a sadistic man her life undergoes a much more personal upheaval.

The premise of this book is gut-wrenching. In the dystopian wasteland that the world has become after a series of wars and natural disasters, the protagonist has managed to survive on her own, but a moment's inattention leads to her being captured by a man. This man becomes obsessed with her, keeping her as his sex slave yet arguing that he is in fact in love with her, and hoping that she will come to love him back. When she becomes pregnant, she manages to away escape, but the man manages to catch up with her.

There's some interesting themes of identity explored in this book, and how it ceases to exist when the world has ended. The ideas that the author incorporates regarding how people behave in a post-apocalyptic world caught my attention, and I liked the many ways in which things turned out. There is an expansive sense of world-building due to how open-ended the messy lives of many side characters are left at the end of the story which I liked.

However, I also felt there were a lot of missed opportunities as well. I would have been interested in seeing the perspective of the woman in captivity further developed, as well as maybe learn a bit more about the man who captured her - limiting our knowledge to the woman's perspective makes sense but also makes for frustrating reading. I also didn't really like the style of writing, which felt clumsy (though it was certainly well-edited) and made it impossible for me to get immersed in the story.

Overall, had potential, but I didn't enjoy it much.

Thanks to #Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

As other reviews have mentioned, the first part of this book was graphic in its depiction of violence against. women. It felt as if the author was trying to create a more graphic version of "The Handmaid's Tale," more in line with the TV series than the book. But couldn't hold a candle to Atwood's work of art.

The latter part of the book felt disjointed. It also felt like the editors hadn't gone through the last 33% or so. There were cliches upon cliches, unanswered questions, thrown in pieces like the husband's infidelity, that didn't add to the storyline. We didn't even receive a true resolution at the end. Not a fan.

I love a good dystopian tale, and this one definitely is.

The author manages to convey that sense of "what's going on here??" that permeates the whole story, which I find very alluring. That sense of not always understanding what's really happening that leaves you with a ton of questions and makes this book perfect for a book club.

I felt very alone while reading it, I wanted to share my thoughts, to talk about it, to know what other people reckoned. In my opinion a lot of times this is what makes the difference between an ok book and a very good one. So please, if you've read it, reach out and let's talk about it, I'm dying to!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anna by Sammy H. K Smith is a bleak post apocalyptic tale set in a not very distant future version of the United States. Anna of the title is a young woman who survives alone for two years following the death of her husband, but is eventually captured by Will, a man who says he wants to protect her, to keep her safe, so that she is his, and his alone. Unable to play the willing submissive that Will demands, Anna is beaten and assaulted to break her, but even that cannot quench her fighting spirit and when she sees a chance to escape, she seizes it. Eventually she finds a new community where it seems like she, and the baby she is carrying will be safe, but she soon starts to see that not everything in her new home is quite as she has been led to believe, and when her past catches up with her in the most devastating way, she is forced to flee yet again.
This one really is bleak, the sadness and despair is almost unrelenting, certainly in the first part of the book, and then there is a sudden shift in tone in the second part that feels quite jarring, almost like a different book but that sensation eased a little as the story unfolded. This is a relatively short book, but it is very hard hitting and the opposite of an easy read.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

A thrilling dystopian tale of feminine strength in the face of violence.
We follow Anna's tale so closely that we experience all the emotion and hopelessness with her. It's far too visceral and real in places and as a woman I empathised so powerfully with Anna.

The writing is smooth and the pace pleasing. Part two offers a different shift - we move from the story of abuse to one of healing and yet we see an idyllic town of dreams and supposed utopia is actually as dark and deadly as the world before the war with adultery, violence, lies and manipulation. It's told in a very covert way and I think that's the downfall to this part. It's too subtle in places that I almost missed what the author was doing.

I enjoyed every character. They were all so well developed and each had real gravitas. My personal favourites were Nikki, Rich, and the little boy, Alan, who help Anna heal in their own way.

This is a quiet novel. It's violent and dark in places, but it's not a story that will burst through the pages and assault you. Instead it's slick and deceptive and leaves you thinking about it long after the last page has been turned.

At times incredibly brutal.
At other times,just a bit boring.
It felt like reading different books,the first half and the second.
Neither really worked for me unfortunately.

I received an ARC of this and wow, it didn't disappoint.
I've read Smith's work before, but this is the next level

*TRIGGER WARNING* - this is not an easy read and nor is this a love story. This is a story that deals with abuse, identity, and a craving for normality when everything is falling apart. Our main character is alone and dealing with the fallout of a world war while fighting for survival in a harsh world where laws and society have crumbled. Unfortunately she is captured and becomes the property of a man who calls himself Will/Daniel who convinces himself he loves her and that she loves him. He is abusive, controlling, gas lighting and narcissistic. I think it would be fair to call him a psychopath.

Anna is the opposite. She hides her true self to remain compliant and has to repeatedly remind herself not to fight back, not to make him angry, not to do anything that might anger him – else she could die.

This is a story about survival in the rawest forms. What we do to survive, how we survive and how it affects us.
The first person narration is uncomfortable at times. We see our main character fall apart in front of us and slowly rebuild into someone new. Their scars and pain clear to all who they might meet.

I liked the way this was broken down into three parts and in each part we see a different side to Anna and the world she lives in. The ‘accompanying cast’ of characters are cleverly layered and rich with their own backstories and pain.

The first person narration is uncomfortable at times. We see our main character fall apart in front of us and slowly rebuild into someone new. Their scars and pain clear to all who they might meet.

The dystopia was an added bonus. It allowed the novel an indulgent quality without distracting from the story. The world has been at war and in part 2 we learn a little as to why and what happened through the stories of townspeople. It’s subtle, but well thought out.

I can't really discuss the plot without spoilers, but part 3 had me on the edge of my seat and I spent hours turning each page, willing for the resolution Anna deserved.

The language is beautiful, almost poetic in some scenes, and this is absolutely a novel for those who enjoy strong female characters who don’t immediately show their strength.


I was thinking about this long after I finished it