TW: Rape, abuse, violence, entrapment

A feminist, dystopian novel set in the near future. This is a chilling and gritty read and I was excited to get my hands on this!

It starts off very full on and dark (see trigger warnings) and that almost put me off but I’m glad I pushed through that. We follow Anna in the first half of the book in a position of captivity and the second half where she has assumed a new identity in a new community but it isn’t long before the past catches up on her...

The characters were well developed, especially that of Will, Anna’s abuser. He really made my skin crawl! I was rooting for Anna the full way, although I do feel like we didn’t get to know that much about our main character.

I wasn’t massively impressed by the setting, I didn’t feel transported and it kind of felt a bit disjointed. I got there there were Unlands and then new settler communities but I really struggled to picture it. I also felt the backdrop of the war was underdeveloped and needed more context, that would have allowed me to get on board with the story a bit more.

Overall, well written and exciting with lots of suspense and thrill. Not an easy read but I would recommend for anyone who likes this genre.

What makes a dystopia? We tend to think of political systems be they the controlling state of 1984 or the dismantling go frights for women we saw in the Handmaid’s Tale but dystopias can often be about journeys for a character. The Road is many things but has a father trying to save his son and Wyndham’s apocalypses look at the fall of society. I think it is possible that a dystopia can be less concerned with the systems of the world and exploring instead human nature in Sammy H K Smith’s stark and yet powerful novel Anna we have a dystopian horror that explores sexual abuse from the perspective of the victim who is left in a world which really doesn’t seem to care about anyone anymore.

In a near future settling the UK has fallen apart after a global war that has destroyed pretty much all trademarks of civilisation – cities are ruined, food is scarce, and millions died in bombings and the brutal aftermath. Our lead character has been traveling and surviving for a couple of years on her own hand to mouth when she is captured by a man known as Will. She is now Will’s property and for him to do anything that she wants. Keen to avoid him getting to know her she calls herself Anna and an abusive cycle of control, violence and sexual abuse starts which Anna has to find a way though.

Anna is a challenging read as it covers a very tough subject – cycles of sexual abuse and their aftermath. Told all the way through from Anna’s perspective we are privy to her struggles, fear and at times her total surrender to Will’s control. These are difficult scenes to read and I think readers need to be clear this will be an often uncomfortable read. But it also works hard not to make rape and sexual abuse not just a plot device for a male character or give it as a mere motivation for Anna to save the world. This is a personal story of how Anna has to find her way through the situation she is in and carry on through the aftermath and the toll on her mental health – this is the survivor’s story. There is no one to help even a local female doctor tells Anna she just had to do what she is told or it will get worse – the sense of isolation is quite chilling.

This book has been getting controversial reviews and I think a big part of that is for many in dystopia we think of the more political tales exploring how the road the world is on can head to disaster. Instead, this novel is less exploring the causes of dystopia but the consequences on those left to live in one. Very quickly women are prone to abuse and being seen as property. We meet through Will’s network others like him and meet other people who have enslaved people into being their property to do with as they like. It’s a stark cruel world where Will who we here has a gentle voice, passive personality and claims that he is kind and loving and yet immediately capable of brutal violence and control to Anna even branding Anna to show the world he is his. Scarily we see he thinks he is a loving saviour. We are made to see how he wants to break Anna down to comply with him – feeling Anna’s mental state deteriorate yet as she fights each day to stay alive a little longer and just possibly find a way out of this make the first part of the book terrifying and it should be noted that everything we see is not a product of future society but one that happens every days to many women across the world and Smith does a very good job of showing the abusers’ tricks to try and make a person their own pet.

The second part of the novel sees Anna now known as Kate in a small seaside settlement rebuilding itself. It seems picturesque in some ways – fishing expeditions, a new architect working how to clean the place up even one of the leaders is being married to his husband. A slight glimpse of normality but Smith here injects some darker tones – Enforcers who patrol to keep everyone safe and who look for more control, anyone found to behave oddly can be shunned and we sense more secrets to be found. Here now and pregnant Kate is trying to rebuild herself but finding the process hard. Her confidence shattered, she cannot stand to be touched and she seeks peace she can never find with a constant reminder of her torment with Will. In some ways this part of the book is the most familiar element of apocalypses the rebuilt settlement that actually is more a gilded cage but the key focus here is how Kate tries to find out who she is and work through her experiences with Will. A past that in the final and most dramatic and tense finale comes back to haunt her one last time. Pacing here I’d had preferred to be more focused on Anna’s story as the subplots of what goes on here are explored but not quite finished with by the end. You instead want to go back to Anna’s core tale and find out what happens to her.

This felt to me less a dystopian political tale and more a dystopian horror story and as with very good horror we can see the story actually covers social issues. In here the monster is an abusive person and their impact on the woman’s life – it’s delivered starkly and makes us not shy away from what abuse does to someone. There are times I am saying ‘no don’t do that” Just say no’ and then I’m catching myself forgetting that I’ve not had to live through what Anna has just gone through – those experiences will shape a character and explain why they may hide the truth or do something they’re not happy about. By the end I cared not about the world but our lead’s own fate. This is definitely not a book I would recommend to everyone, but I think will be rewarding for those to accept a tale that takes us to dark and uncomfortable places but explores humanity at our worst and also our best when we can overcome and survive.

My thanks to the author and Netgalley for a complimentary copy of this book. Men are permitted to be psychopaths and women are their property to be abused and broken in this take on a new world order. Anna gets pregnant and runs. Your emotions will be on a rollercoaster right with her. This is gritty and violent. You will need to remind yourself that this is fiction in order not to be broken along with Anna.

Synopsis

Anna is a possession. She was taken away from her place of hiding and possessed by a man called Will. He believes he loves her, and that he needs to protect her from the outside world. However, he does not see that by the same time he breaks her. After few tries to get away, she becomes obedient to stop the abuse. She loses her hope to win her life back and gives him everything he needs.

However, when she gets pregnant, she finds strength again, and when there comes an opportunity to run away, she takes it. This leads her to her new life in a safe community where she can go back to her name Kate. She opens a library and is awaiting her child to be born. However, she doesn’t expect Will to appear in the town and bring the fear back to her life.

Book Review:

Anna is a book in which you never know what will happen next. I think I could see through the story, but the characters and the plot were still surprising at each step. This is a major advantage of this book. I don’t think there was any moment in the book I didn’t like. Everything was written in a way to make the whole story sense and perfect connection between the scenes.

I think this book can be a part of the books that were painful to read. Already from the first scene when Kate is abducted, I knew this is not going to be an easy book. Saying that I was disgusted by Will would not be enough. The way he was thinking a treating her was triggering me each time. I could not believe that he was believing that he is protecting her and that she could fall in love with him. Watching her fighting for so long to get away from him was already hard, but it got even harder when she gave up. She knew that there is no way out and that’s her life now, she needs to accept it. It would stay like this if she wouldn’t get pregnant. This pushes her to fight even harder to protect her baby and leave before he finds out about the pregnancy.

Another thing for me that was hard to accept is that even when she got away from him, I knew that he would find his way back to her. With his obsession with her and imagined love I knew he won’t give up on the stop. Only his death would stop him from finding her. She knew it as well, and I think that’s one reason why she couldn’t give herself fully to the new community. As hard as she would try, the past would still find her.

This book was a painful journey of a woman fighting for her life. I wouldn’t recommend it to faint-hearted people. It’s not an easy read but it’s worth reading! I would like to thank NetGalley, Sammy H. K. Smith, and the Rebellion for providing me with a copy of this book. I enjoyed reading this book very much and I’m happy to recommend it to other people.

This book is a difficult read. There are all kinds of triggers. To say that our protagonist goes through a lot seems like an understatement. Anna survives alone in the wilderness after civilisation as we know it is shattered by war and chaos. There are the Unlands where if ypu are captured, you belong to your captor. Anna is caught, branded and raped. She is tortured mentally and physically. Even when blinded by pain, her spirit remains unbroken. And when an opportunity presents itself she escapes. But when her past catches up with her in the new place, she is willing to do anything to keep herself and her baby safe.
The first half was brutal. It got uncomfortable for me to go on. The second half was a bit slow. The description of Anna's emotions and the turmoil was well done. A lot of things can be triggering. Read it at your own risk.
Thank you Netgalley for the e-ARC.

TW for rape, physical and psychological abuse, branding, mutilation, violence.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ok, so I'm not going to lie. This book is a bit like an anxiety sandwich. And when you get to the calming middle part, I was thinking about giving up. There. I said it. But the middle was definitely the calm before the storm.

Wow... I mean what can I say. The book is split into 3 sections with section 3 resulting in my knickers being well and truly gripped. The writing is descriptive and flowing while being gripping. A task that is not easy. Every small detail makes the hairs on your arm stand on end.

The thing about this story is that it seems far fetched... but minus the background is something that can and does happen every day. We all have the unfortunate possibility of being Anna... and that's what makes this story so scary and reeling.

😱 Trigger warnings for basically everything...

Synopsis: Beaten. Branded. Defiant.
Anna is a possession. Owned by the man named Will, she is cared for and protected. But when she falls pregnant, Anna finds the strength to run. And when Will catches up with her in her new life, it is not just Anna who is in danger

This was a dark and depressing book to me, and I was unable to finish it. Other readers who enjoy similar dystopian tales may find it more palatable, but it was not a book that I enjoyed. I am providing three stars because it was well written and a well thought out premise, despite not being my chosen subject matter.

#Anna #NetGalley

A novel of two responses....
There was a dichotomy of the way I found this book. In reading, I could recognise the nuanced experience of trauma which did not go for the jugular, but rather erred on the side of reality - of victimhood and survivors and the reality of reaction that not many narratives of this ilk seem to incorporate. On this front, H.K. Smith deserves plaudits and admiration for the manner by which subtlety leads the way. Anna, or not, the protagonist clutches at all she can to survive, and that is what is needed to hammer home the trauma truth of abuse. Dystopian future or not, the truth remains the most important concept of the novel and never ceases to unsettle the reader. The unsettling is quiet and simple in places - it looks like compliance, it sounds like civil conversation, it feels like a leaking away of personality or identity and that means you never feel a sense of wholeness from the character. But I'm presuming that this is Smith's intention.

Where this novel fell down more so for me, was the moments by which the story dissipated into something too vague. Whilst the disturbing, near the knuckle depictions of the crisis' faced by Anna (who isn't Anna), are powerful in their isolation, the trajectory and purpose of the novel were a serious lacking element for me. Why and how was it that these occurrences were being described to me? What are the range of situations, events and interactions supposed to elaborate or dictate to us as readers. Smith writes with a nod to Atwood's Handmaid's Tale, or even, in places, with reverberations of trauma that wouldn't feel out of place in a Burroughs text. But I was left wanting reason and need to have to understand this woman's story. Get the connective tissue was missed. As devastating as the scenarios are, the emotive engagement was unfound.

This is a story about a girl who is her own, unbroken self.

I can’t decide how to review this dark, gritty, beautiful book. The writing is unique & lovely & the concept was original- a challenge order in a saturated genre. On the other hand, I would be thoughtful about recommending it because this was a rough ride & the list of trigger warnings is vast. Super excited for future work from the author!

Thank you so much Netgalley & Rebellion Publishing’s for this eArc!

Ok, well, idk what to say.
This book took me FOREVER because it was so uncomfortable and horryfying and violent. I even had to stop reading it for a while and read something else because the sense od dread was too much.
It's a great book about horrible things.

Im taking one star away because I'm very much on the fence about the ending.

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.

ADDENDUM: Corrected names (incorrect) of characters and also improved rating to match what I put in Goodreads. Thank you

I've read some reviews saying this was was boring or muddled.

I understand. Abuse can be boring for those who want to pretend it doesn't exist.

As a survivor of abuse myself this book really hit home with me and I researched the author and understand how she writes this subject matter with such perfect insight that it is utterly painful and bleak. Whilst this is fiction it has a strong message and theme that makes it a hard read and I loved the authenticity of the human reactions to the trauma. It is insidious in places and the entire timespan of the novel around a year.
Recovery and rebuilding confidence and character takes years and this is a subtle message in the book that could absolutely be stronger and louder in my opinion – but that’s probably my only criticism.

Anna’s story takes us through the cycle of trauma and abuse. I cannot rave enough about how much I empathised with her. She is not perfect and she shows us that, but she tries to hold on to her spirit even when she is raped over and over again until there’s almost nothing left and she is a shell of the woman before the wars and her capture. Sometimes she makes no sense in what she says or does and that adds to the realness for me.

Then she falls pregnant. I read a little snippet where Anna talks to herself and the memory of her dead husband about them wanting a baby and then her rapist impregnates her – heartbreaking.
When pregnant she knows she has to escape to build a better life for the baby and she arrives at a quiet shore-side town.

The pace really slows here and the author tells us it’s going to be slow with the introduction of the town in the first few paragraphs. Anna (Kate) is still in the water, letting it wash over her and pull her down – gorgeous metaphoric imagery here. If you’re a survivor you know that sometimes you want the world to stop and to forget everything.

This new town appears alright. Friendly and welcoming. Until we see a man wrongly and deliberately accused of murder so someone can get a better home, and the domestic violence of one of the controlling members of the town against his husband. These small subtle threads of story are easily missed, but not to Anna/Kate. She sees all of this. She is hypersensitive to the cruelties around her and everything is so hard for her. She has gone from years alone, to being possessed by a violent psychopath, to a place where she is expected to chat and take part in mundane activities. All she wants is to be alone but she knows she has to adapt as she can’t raise her baby in the cruelty of the unlands (the place outside of these towns where crime and violence is rife). It’s a slower pace than the violent in-your-face abuse of the start, but she is now healing, that is a slower, quieter process.


The baddies start to come out too – a controlling member called Simon who is cruel and misogynistic and yet hides his own sexual identity and so utterly hypocritical, and the ominous threat of the enforcers who are supposed to protect the townspeople but seem to control them more than anything. I loved this section of the book where we almost step back a little and just view what has become of the world and realise that very little has changed. We’re still selfish, lying bastards who stamp on each other to get ahead – but then we have the bubbly Hailey and Nikky, the honest Glen, and the wary but also-healing Deven (love this character. Small part but perfectly executed) and they remind us that good people still exist. It gives us hope.

Anna starts to free up and open up. She’s heavily pregnant and the church minister/clergyman shows a friendly and light romantic interest in her which she protects herself from. As she starts to open up ---SPOILER STOP NOW --- the abuser from earlier turns up under a new guise and turns out to be friends with Simon from before the wars.
Readers, this was agony to read. A narcissist and controlling abuser he ingratiates himself into her new world and friendship circle, becoming best friends with her own best friend and makes it impossible for her to tell them who he is and what he’s done. You see, this is exactly what I can relate to and I was furiously angry reading this book. Furious at Anna for not saying anything and furious with her friends for not realising she was not O.K. When he held her baby I was shaking and wanted to lash out at him and was screaming for her to just snatch the child away and tell everyone there and then.

We see her break again, the confidence chipped away until the final few chapters and I won’t spoil that for you. Needless to say I was riveted.

It’s hard to say whether I enjoyed this book. Revisiting painful memories is never fun or joyful, but it’s the sort of book I needed to read. Sometimes I want to feel seen and heard and that my experiences matter to people. This book matters I came away feeling that it’s O.K to not fight all the time and that I’m not alone.

Anna has no choice at the end, she cries when the realisation hits. This isn't a story that tells the reader violence is the answer, it's the opposite and I urge you all to read this

I was hooked and read this book in just over a day. Thank you for sharing


5 stars

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
I'm going to state right now that if you don't like spoilers and frank speaking, don't read any further.

The first half of this novel was a tough, tense read. We knew what was coming. We foolishly hoped Anna would find a way to escape, but the blurb for this novel already intimated that Anna's fate was sealed.

Sammy H.K Smith did a very good job of maintaining a constant state of dread during what I call the capture and rape chapters. Quite frankly, I was horrified by the descriptions of Will's merciless brutality - all done in the name of needing to "protect Anna." Brute strength rules in this dystopian society, but it is still unclear to me why certain women were allowed to co-exist freely alongside those brutal men in that lawless town. It was also never really clear why Daniel/Will was known by these two names by different people in the town. (At one point I suspected that Will (Daniel?) was really an undercover agent!!! But, no... that was just wishful thinking on my part.) Daniel/Will described Anna as beautiful and fragile, and therefore she was in need of protection. (So, if I am reading things correctly, any sign of weakness meant you could not be free or be part of the "ruling" or dominant class, and instead you had to "serve" or be enslaved in this new dystopian society?)

The author gives us hints here and there that Will/Daniel/Peter was once a decent human being, but that somehow (perhaps because of his experiences during the war?) he became this warped, obsessive, sadistically cruel fiend. The problem is that we don't get any of that backstory for Will/Daniel/Peter. We get plenty of flashbacks to Anna's previous life with her husband Stephen, but I couldn't figure out why, in the first half of the book, Anna states that she had cut ties with her parents and brother because they had reported her and Stephen's intention to run away before he was conscripted into the army. Then, in the second half of the book, Anna/Kate regrets not telling her family she still loved them and that the reason she was angry at them was because they had revealed her affair with another man to Stephen? The plot line became so garbled and disconcerting at this point. Was anybody (the editor?) keeping track of the plot lines? Or perhaps the second part of the novel was taking place in another dimension? Like, in the Twilight Zone?

What a shame: the writing in the first part of this novel was taught and gripping, and I couldn't put this book down. I was anticipating giving this a full 5 stars. But the last two parts of this novel could not hold a candle to the first. We go from relentless brutality and depravity to community meetings and a debate as to whether the Enforcers in Kate's new town should take the extra time to collect books for their inadequate local library. We learn that all is not sunshine and roses in Kate's new community. Domestic violence still exists: people are oblivious, look the other way or the abused spouse is unwilling to "create waves" or seek help. So in this dystopian society: some things never seem to change.

I'm disappointed that I have to rate this a 1.5 out of 5, rounded down to a 1.. As I've said, the story started off well - too well, in fact! At one point I was considering DNFing this book because I was deeply disturbed by all the graphic descriptions of violence. But I decided to just grit my teeth and push through to the end because of the very important subject matter. The plot and characterization were uneven. I actually checked my ereader to make sure that I had not accidentally closed one book and opened another one from my Kindle library: it felt like I was reading two different stories. The ending left me with more questions than answers, and I wished that the author had spent more time on Will/Daniel/Peter's backstory instead of all of those town hall meetings and community gatherings. (Those scenes came across as filler to me.) This book had such promise, and there was so much advance hype about it, but for me, the overall novel fell far short of my initial expectations. I keep wondering if I read the same book all the 5-star reviewers read: the last part of the book was as dull and sloooooooow!

PostScript: I've had time to think about why this book falls so short for me, apart from the uneven writing. If you want to read a better treatment of the theme of rape culture, I would recommend reading All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, and Ruta Sepetys's Salt to the Sea. Both of those novels described the horrors of systematic rape of women and children as the Russian and allied forces advanced through Germany and Eastern Europe.
The movie, The Keeping Room, with Brit Marling, Muna Otaru and Hailee Steinfeld, also does a much better job of exposing humanity's base and brutal nature when anarchy reigns supreme. At one point, a marauding Union solder, who has been terrorizing the three women on their isolated plantation, is asked why he and the other soldiers are raping the confederate women as they march further and further south. If I remember correctly, his response was: "I don't know." Obviously, war brings out the worst in us. (Hobbes was right.)
Muna Otaru's scene, where she dispassionately describes her life-long rape at the hands of her plantation "owners," left me in bitter, angry tears, sick to my stomach and raging that there was no hope for the human race. The messages seem always to be the same: power, might, money/possessions - these are things that matter when society breaks down. Interesting how these same things are what won a certain president an election, which begs the question: are we already in a state of war?

Anna is the first-person story of a woman who is living an a near-future dystopian world. Instead of this society having strict freedom-limiting laws (like in the Handmaid’s Tale), the world in which Anna takes place is more anarchy based, where those willing to be violent are the ones in charge.

The book is divided into three parts. In part one Anna is captured, tortured, raped and branded as her captors “possession”, part two takes place in a town which is guarded and life seems “relatively normal” in a sickly-sweet sort of way, and part three occurs partially in the town (I won’t say more because of spoilers).

This was a very difficult book to read, the violence committed against Anna is incredibly graphic and her captor is very manipulative. As this story is told in the first person, the reader gets to see Anna’s thoughts which can be heartbreaking. I felt very connected to Anna as a character and there were times I found this book hard to read because of this.

The writing was excellent, even though the pacing varies a lot. The pacing in part one and three is very fast, whereas in part two it almost feels like a different story as it slows right down. I appreciated this as I don’t think I would have been able to finish this book if it had been so intense all the way through.

One of the things that was done in this story is show an incredibly real version of the cycle of abuse and how a person is traumatised and recovers over time. Anna is by no means perfect, she has a rocky past and through the story particular incidents in her past also cause her trauma which she also deals with.

This was a brilliant, very powerful book. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes near-dystopian thrillers, and stories about hope, sacrifice and the lengths that people will go to survive.

Powerful. Raw. Courageous.


This is written with such brutal honesty that you feel every indignity, every cruel punch, kick and rip of the hair. At times it is horrific in its detail and just as Anna cowers from the abuse you find it hard to read more. However you must because Anna's story needs to be witnessed her voice needs to be heard. And you must follow her journey to the end.


Through clever world building the author has created a credible dystopian future. Her descriptions are vivid and tangible. But it is also damning of our society that we won't find it too fantastical or beyond our imagination. The abuse of women like Anna is a stark reality today and could be any one of us or one of our friends. The narrative here is so authentic that the jump you need to inhabit Anna's world is easily made. It is of no surprise therefore to learn that the author works as a police detective in Oxfordshire, specialising in domestic and sex abuse. This makes Anna's tale of survival even more compelling.


Anna is a fantastic character, strong, feminist and defiant. The horror and danger that surrounds her is terrifying but although her body might be bruised and battered her spirit rarely is. I cried for her, smiled for her and cheered every small victory she made. I hated the men.


There is tension throughout the narrative. It keeps you turning the pages. Some of it full throttle and in your face but at other times it simmers in the background. You aren't sure what it is but It makes you anxious and nervous. You wonder what is happening. And how Anna will respond. Such intelligent writing is seen rarely. I wanted a happy ending desperately.


However, this is not just a tale of abuse, it goes beyond that and evolves into a celebration of maternal love and how courage exists in the most bleakest of places. It really is a masterpiece of a book. A rollercoaster of a read and a unique tale.


Highly Recommended

TW: Rape, Violence, Human trafficking and enslavement, sexual assault, molestation, body horror, etc.
Anna is dark and gutwrenching, a story of hope, and an uncomfortable look at a way the world could turn. Set in a United States-esque place after the government has fallen, Anna is reminiscent of A Handmaid's Tale. What stood out to me is Smith's dedication to violence and contemplation of hope - what does it mean to have hope, and can it exist in the darkest of places?
Divided into three parts, Anna is told in different segments of her life from the time she is captured onward. This is a linear novel with psychological thrills around each corner. Anna herself is not a well-explained character except for her current emotions and motivations. This is intentional. She hides her real name from everyone throughout the course of the book, and we learn very little about who she was before the fall of the government. This journey through captivity and abuse does not require her past to be involved, beyond a few moments of remembering. What we find is that the protagonist is very adaptable to survive, and very hidden into herself. She lets very few of her core memories escape her lips, keeping everything else inside.
My only complaint about this book was how the pregnancy/baby rearing was portrayed in the story. Smith has the experience of being a mother. However, many of the paragraphs, sentences, chapters portraying the protagonist in this role felt disjointed and not on the same emotional level that the rest of the book gave me.

This has been the dark read I have been looking for and I have to admit, I have devoured this book in just one sitting.

I love a dystopian novel and this has been a great read for a rainy Saturday afternoon. The synopsis was what instantly raised intrigue for me and I definitely haven’t been disappointed.

There are aspects of this book that may trigger some readers. We meet Anna, a character who has lost her husband and been captured by Will. Will treats Anna as a possession, she is branded, cared for, protected and owned.

As a reader, we really get into Anna’s thoughts as we read and she is a character I have really felt for. The author has included talk between male characters regarding “training” Anna which really gives an insight into the types of relationships explored within the pages of this one.

Anna does escape Will after falling pregnant. We continue our journey with her which I have been kept hooked by. This is one that is a great read and extremely well-written. This is my first read by this author, but I absolutely want to read more.

I will begin this review with my obligatory shoutout to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me access to this book as an ARC. Now that that’s over with let’s talk about what I did and didn’t enjoy about this book. What I didn’t enjoy was how graphic it was–the violence Anna is subjected to by Will, physical and sexual, did not need quite so much detail as it was given. The rape had no reason to be as viscerally described as it was, so those of you who are in need of that rape/sexual violence content warning, please make sure you heed it with this book. That about sums up what I didn’t enjoy. Weirdly enough, I did enjoy one of the things I’ve been seeing so much complaining about from other readers, and that’s the lull in part two of the book. As the synopsis says, Anna does escape from Will, and part two picks up there. She’s in the “idyllic town,” and she has no suspicions yet about the dark secret it hides, and for the first time since Will took her, life seems calm. I think this is an important part to the story because we see Anna struggle with life after Will. There’s this sort of narrative that once a person escapes their abuser, everything is suddenly okay, but that’s blatantly not the truth. Anna may appear okay to the other people in the town, but we see her wrestle with PTSD and with accepting that things can be okay. And then, of course, things stop being okay, because as we’re told in the synopsis, “the past – and Will – catch up with her” and that little town has “a dark secret.” I don’t think having Will catch up to Anna was necessary for the story to have a complete arc, but I do think it allowed the character to get closure she wouldn’t have been able to get otherwise. In summary: this is a good book, an unnecessarily graphic book, but an enjoyable story nonetheless. I certainly recommend it, and I’ve already added it to the list for suggested acquisitions at my own library. I think this is a story that will be especially enjoyed by fans of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Emma Donoghue’s Room, or Naomi Alderman’s The Power.

I was immediately sucked in to this book. The initial chapters contain intense, dramatic storytelling fraught with horrifying events of assault and abuse. The reader soon learns the true horror of this book. The journey with Anna ends the way it began, with edge-of-your seat suspense. In Anna, the author has created a world that feels too horrifying to be real, yet also feels current. Well done.

Be warned. This book is not for the feint of heart and is loaded with potential emotional triggers.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for access to this book. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.

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This was well-written, but ultimately, I DNF because the subject matter was a little too dark for me.