If there was ever a book that should be made into an edge of your seat, nail gripping thriller movie- its Anna!
I demolished this book in one night - turning the pages into the early morning.

Anna is set in a post-apocalyptic world where women are 'owned' by men. We first meet Anna in the woods, where she is captured by Daniel/Will who claims to love her and will protect her from other men. Anna is not her real name and neither do we know Daniel/Will's real name as he changes it based upon the people he meets or deals with.
The story plays out over three chapters and each is more gripping than its predecessor. To give a complete review of each chapter would contain so many spoilers, which would be unfair to future readers.

It truly is an absorbing read and the ending is left open for future novels - I really hope three will be a sequel.

CW: sexual and domestic violence

Anna is a near future dystopia about a woman trying to survive alone in a world where society has completely fallen apart and people live in small, often brutal communities. It starts with Anna being taken captive by an unknown man, what she suffers at his hands and mostly centers on her escape and struggle to recover and reclaim her life and identity for herself. It is dark, thrilling, ultimately triumphant and kept me on the edge of my seat reading, and has sat heavy in my mind ever since. The depiction of Anna's trauma and especially her need to disassociate herself from it felt all too real, as well as her dread of talking about it and fear of being disbelieved. This book was a difficult one for me to read and really resonates with things I've experienced. Anna is a book that stays with you long after you finish reading.

Wow!! Anna was extremely unsettling and dark, yet I could not put it down. I don’t usually give five stars to books, but this one deserves them all.

If you read this be aware of trigger warnings for rape, psychological and physical abuse, among others. This book delves into some heavy topics and is often bleak, but it never feels gratuitous. It feels like you’re right there with Anna.

This is a dystopian novel that immediately starts with the main character, Anna, who is captured by a man who ends up stripping her of all autonomy and tries to break her. This is a dangerous world where wars have broken out across the globe and people are left dealing with the aftermath and are fighting to survive. It’s a world where one’s rights can be stripped away without anyone blinking and where a narrow, regressed view of morality rules.

Even though this novel is hard to read there are parts where hope and happiness seep through. This book will take the breath out of you.

Thank you Netgalley, Rebellion and the author for a digital ARC of this book!!

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

This review may contain spoilers.

Okay, first things first: the content warnings. This book covers some pretty violent topics, including sexual violence, rape, enslavement, and torture, and a lot of that happens in the first third of the story. Suffice to say, this book may not be for everyone.

I have to admit, this was not an easy book to get to grips with, mainly because of those elements mentioned above. That said, there’s something about the way the story is presented that makes it compelling; we want to know how the titular character copes with the hardships she’s forced to endure at the start of the story, or if she can get away from the man who’s making her life a misery. Along the way, we’re given glimpses into a world where the normal rules of civilised behaviour seem to have been well and truly abandoned, and left with a sense that this is how the world is now. If you need a good example of a dystopian future, you could do worse than the first twelve chapters of this book.

Set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, the story starts with Anna’s capture, and explores the way she is broken down by her captor through violence, humiliation, and emotional abuse. We’re told the entire story from Anna’s point of view, and have to watch helplessly from the sidelines as her will to fight is gradually eroded by the brutal treatment of a man who claims he just wants to love and care for her.

Through Anna’s eyes, we get to see the lives of other people, and witness how they’ve adapted to the collapse of society around them, how they’ve learned to do whatever is necessary to survive in a world seemingly without rules. And we find ourselves being worn down just as much as Anna by the apparent lack of a way out of this hellish parody of civilisation. The final nail in the coffin for Anna is the moment she realises she’s pregnant with her abuser’s child.

Fortunately, by the end of the first part of the narrative things take a turn for the batter. Escaping her captivity, Anna becomes Kate and finds her way to a more humane settlement. This is a town where people work together, where the houses have power, and heat, and in some cases running water. Welcomed into the town by the inhabitants, a heavily pregnant Kate slowly overcomes her fear and distrust and gradually becomes a productive member of society once again, taking charge of the town’s library, and helping with the implementation of a school for the local kids. And just as she’s beginning to take the safety and comfort for granted, the dark-eyed abuser from the first part of the novel comes back into her life.

As I’ve already mentioned, despite the dark tone and gut-wrenchingly brutal narrative, there’s something seriously compelling about this book. The way we’re so intimately inside Anna/Kate’s head throughout the story makes it our story as well. We suffer as she suffers, and view everyone she meets with the same trepidation and paranoia. But we also get to watch as she rebuilds her confidence, and can’t help but cheer her on as she digs deep inside herself for the strength she needs to overcome the forces ranged against her. We want Anna/Kate to succeed, because if she fails, then we’ve failed as well. And that’s where this book works so well.

It’s one hell of a ride, but it’s a ride worth taking. A solid four and a half stars for this one, and a strong hope that there’s a sequel so I can find out if Simon gets what’s coming to him, and if Rich ever gets his picnic.

Content Warning for Sexual and Physical Violence

Several weeks back, I got a free advance copy of Sammy HK Smith’s Anna, and while I finished it on the day that I started reading it, Sammy wanted me to hold back the review till nearer the time for release.

I held…

Wasn’t easy…

Anna begins with an assault, and then an imprisonment, and what can only be described as torture. This is not torture in the pulling fingernails out sort of way, this instead is the steady erosion of confidence and the lack of control where you’re in a situation that others say you should just walk out of, but when you’re on the inside of it, it’s really not so very easy.

I’ve been in abusive relationships, I’ve been there when I doubted that I was sane, that what I was going through was real, that it couldn’t be happening to me, and yet it was, and that’s how those sorts of people control you, they make you believe that you can’t fight them, that you can’t win, and that;

You

Belong

To

Them

This is how the story begins, and an uncomfortable read it was, I did pause on many pages while I thought about what I was reading, and as the story went on, I wanted to see Anna escape, to run free, to find a better life, and she does, but her assailant follows her, and that’s when the story really comes into its own.

In the first part of the book, the scenes of imprisonment, of injury, of rape, of coercive control, were harrowing, not made lurid or titillating as other books have done, but laid bare as what they are, but it was when I got to the second part of the book that the true darkness of the situation was laid clear. What happens when you’re being controlled in plain view, when other people think that the person who is doing this to you is a nice person, that they’re your friend, that you want to spend time with them because you dare not go against them. How much worse is a prison when no one knows that you’re in it.

Anna is superb, it won’t be for everyone, because the scenes are written with such power that they burn from the page and into your mind, and the subject matter won’t be something that everyone can read.

And I understand why that is.

Some will say that it’s written to shock, to horrify people, and I don’t see it that way, this book is truth, it’s what happens when bastards can turn the world against you, it’s what happens when no one believes you, it’s what happens when the prison isn’t visible, but you’re still in it.

But you’re here, wondering what happens in the book, because I haven’t told you anything about the events in the book, and that’s for good reason, I could wax lyrical for days on this book and what it means, but all I’m doing is telling you the shortened version of a story that shouldn’t be shortened.

Anna is the story of a woman who suffers as many millions of other people do every day in silence, she finds her strength, but it isn’t enough, and she has to find more, not just for her, but for the child that she was made to carry, and the life that she could one day lead.

Anna is a masterpiece.

Reading Anna had me riding an emotional rollercoaster, it was intense disturbing powerful and uncomfortable reading but necessary because whilst this is set in a dystopian future, it brought to the forefront of my mind the violence and sexual abuse that women have and are still facing throughout the world today.

Gripping and Gruelling
This fast paced dystopian novel grips from the start. We get the opportunity to see the heroine at different stages in her life and in different roles - wife, daughter, independent survivor, newcomer to a settlement - and more but don't want to risk spoilers. Characters are sketched out in a way that, apart from a certain few, leaves ambiguity over their motivation and their relationships and attitudes to the power that they wield. The book considers the role that women occupy in a post apocalyptic world but also the choices, albeit limited, that they have. The violence and suffering endured by the heroine is vividly depicted and makes for a sometimes gruelling read. One of the highlights of the book is a close attention to nature and the details of landscape and the natural environment are beautifully drawn. A really tense and gripping read.

An extremely power story of a single, determined and fierce woman trying to survive in a post semi-apocalyptic world. Anna takes the reader on a journey of a captured, branded, abused and brainwashed woman's fight to remain independent and human in a male dominated aftermath. What she will do to keep those she loves protected will keep you rooting for her from page one.

Anna is a near post-apocalpytic book, when the government has fallen and each town rules itself, with the unlands in between, where there are no rules. In many of these towns, women have become objects, bartered as currency, treated however their owners wish to treat them. Anna has survived for years in the unlands, but is captured at the beginning of the book.

Part one details her captivity, in all its brutality, by a man who claims to be saving her, protecting her and loving her, all whilst beating her, branding her and raping her. It's not just Anna, we see the plight of other secondary characters as well, with blips of odd normality, like her playing Monopoly with a teenager named Ben - another slave - or being taken to the doctor for a medical exam - a woman who gets to be free because she has a position of power, but has no empathy for Anna whatsoever. These things are so close to the world we live in now, yet set amongst the brutality of a world I don't want to imagine. This is a future I could envisage, there's a gritty realism to it. The knowledge that my world and this world are just a stones throw from each other, and indeed, in some places, already overlap, made it all the more bleak. Some might find part one gratuitous, but the brutality of the first part of the book is there to emphasize the road to recovery that we're walking down. We need to live through what Anna has lived through, see the horror through her eyes, to appreciate and understand her fight against it.

In part two we meet Anna again, as Kate. Kate, heavily pregnant, has escaped captivity and found herself in a community where women are respected, where there are rules against violence, where everyone seems to want to work together. The rest of the story is not really about the world. It's about how Anna/Kate finds her personal sense of justice and peace, how she deals with being a survivor, with her trauma, how she makes friends, how she treats people, and how she reacts to certain situations. There's also a theme of motherhood, and the things that give us strength, the things we will fight for. At first I found part two a little strange, it almost felt like whiplash, going from brutal rape to cheery town, but even when it all seems normal, there's an undercurrent of dread. It feels normal, and yet, it's not. There are undercurrents of things being wrong. There are hints, there is foreboding. And we, the reader, know it's not going to be all sweetness and roses, because this isn't the world for that.

There were some weaker elements, for example Anna's backstory is a little inconsistent. I didn't quite buy the explanations of her relationship with her husband/parents. Some things didn't add up, and that let the story down a little. The pacing of the book feels off; but victims of abuse don't heal by clockwork. Sometimes it feels a little jarring.

When I initially finished this book, my gut feeling was that it was expertly written and well crafted - but I hadn't enjoyed it. The more I've thought about it since finishing, the more I can see how subtle some of it was, and I've come to appreciate it more. I still can't say it was an enjoyable read, but it challenged me to think deep. If I had to pick three words for Anna, they would be - intense, gripping, and uncomfortable.

Four out of five stars.

Wow! What an incredible experience it was reading this book! It is a dystopian story depicting a new world order where survival of the fittest dominates. Lawlessness, disorder and a collapse of civil society is the backdrop to this story of survival and freedom from oppression.

It has elements of The Handmaid’s Tale and Vox by Christiana Dalcher. A story of a young woman abducted by a ‘hunter’ this story is a roller coaster of emotions as we follow Anna’s story of freedom from oppression and pain from her kidnapper. We journey with her to shake the emotional trauma of her experiences but it’s a psychological thriller which gets under your skin. Smith is a master manipulator of emotions and at times I found myself thinking the captor wasn’t too bad then swinging the other way completely with my thoughts and emotions.

This book is hard hitting at times, violent but compelling reading. I couldn’t put this book down and read it in 1 and a half days which is no mean feat with 5 kids running about under my feet all day!

I look forward to seeing what else this author produces in the years to come.

I cant remember the last time I really wanted the main character to come out as the victor.

Anna is a victim, firstly due to the state of the world, then at the hands of a man - her owner. I spent the book wanting her to fight, to have a plan, to find her inner strength and to shoot him in the penis!

As a character Anna immediately makes you want to support her, shes not helpless becasue she has learnt how to survive. But, when he catches her she spends alot of time regretting not fighting back and allowing the shock to stop her resisting. Its always there though, just under the surface. The rollercoaster shes taken on both mentally and physically is astounding, and her strength of character really shines through at some points.

This book is really well written, keeps you turing the page and cheering on Anna right to the very end.

A survivor struggling in a strange new world where everyone the enemy, the environment a dangerous terrain and the world now a battlefield of destruction. A momentary loss of alertness and our protagonist is unable to evade capture. The storyline moves into the relentless roles of prisoner and abductor. Total capitulation through abuse and daily debasement follows until the victim loses all sense of self esteem and identity. Told in three different time frames, we follow Anna the victim towards Kate the damaged survivor attempting with difficulty to engage, trust and move forward with a new identity and focus. What follows is the harrowing acceptance that the past is catching up but there is now more than her own life at stake. Survival depends on a cat and mouse strategy , to never again take a subservient role, and finally make her own life and death decisions if the innocent are to be protected. Was expecting one genre and surprised and shocked by a totally different story in which I became totally engaged, engrossed in every page to the exclusion of normal life. The joy of good fiction by an accomplished writer who momentarily draws you into their imagination . Thoroughly enjoyed this book which delivered believable characters involved in a story accurately depicting the destruction of an individual’s courage, identity and choice followed by a nail biting conclusion. Many thanks to author, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

This is a spoiler-free review so at times it will seem vague!

The book is set in the not too distant future, in our world following a global breakdown of society. Many people are nomadic, some live in small travelling groups and there are a few settled communities. As you'd expect, life has changed dramatically and for the worse. Women are owned by men, frequently branded and imprisoned.

Smith creates a three part structure, in which we see the protagonist in different settings and learn different things about her. We first meet The Woman (I won't name her as it could be a spoiler), who was nomadic for two years, just as she is trapped by The Man in the wild (unnamed for similar spoiler concerns). This first of three parts covers The Woman's imprisonment and abuse at the hands of The Man. It's viscerally grim and hard to stomach. The first person narrative means the reader is able to watch the impact of such abuse from a front row seat. Smith doesn't hold back: it's harrowing and authentic.

The second section covers The Woman's escape and resettlement in a static community. There is hope here but Smith also deals with the impact of acute trauma. Unable to relax or let her guard down, The Woman remains cautious and careful. The other community members are brilliantly depicted by Smith - they're complicated, multi-faceted and never entirely innocent. Whilst reading, I couldn't help but reflect on my own morality. In a dystopian world, what parts of myself would I be willing to sacrifice to survive?

The final section is taut. And that's pretty much all I can say without revealing narrative points which would spoil the book for the next reader. I was worried I'd be disappointed with how Smith wrapped up the tale but I was absolutely sated by it.

Finishing the book, I was relieved and exhausted. My neck and jaw ached where I'd clearly been tensing as I read. I can't say I enjoyed it - it's not an enjoyable book - but I was utterly gripped by it. I read it across two days and the night in between was riddled with dreams of The Woman. If a book worms its way into your subconscious, the author is doing a lot of things right.

There are difficult topics covered in the book but they would be obvious spoilers. So my warning is that it's not for the faint hearted and I'll also give you some genre clues: dystopian, crime, drama, psychological thriller.

Anna isn’t an easy read, but from the synopsis and even the tag line on the cover: Beaten. Branded. Defiant, that is rather obvious and because of that, you can’t say you enjoyed it, in the sense that the emotional, physical and sexual abuse of both men and women in the book will outrage you and while it isn’t a long book, emotionally you will have to pave yourself.. But it is a very good book, well written, compelling, tense and with a brilliant protagonist and worth sticking with.

Anna essentially is broken into 3 acts: when she is caught, when she has escaped, and when he finds her again and what happens. In the first act, you mean ‘Anna’, a wanderer after the world has broken down, where society, economy and order has crashed and survival and basic want/needs prevails. Anna lost her husband 2 years earlier when he was conscripted and died in war, she is estranged from her family she feels betrayed by and living and hiding in the wilderness, not knowing she is his prey until he captures her. This first act is brutal, Anna is humiliated, beaten, raped by a man who goes by many names but I’ll settle with Will here. This book will be hugely triggering for many and I hope when the book is published this is explicitly clear. Will isn’t just physically abusive, he is is emotionally manipulative, he deprives Anna of food/water to punish her while also saying he is there to protect her, he sexually assaults her but is tender when it comes to her period, he turns his abuse around and blames her for making him do it. It’s a story that many women (and men) will identify with sadly and Anna isn’t the only victim to this abuse in this story.. Anna remains defiant, clinging to herself while he tries to snatch it from her, vowing to escape and when she finds out she is pregnant, she seizes the opportunity to escape his grasp.
In the 2nd act, Anna becomes ‘Kate’, found and accepted into a community and carrying Will’s baby. Kate is trying to rebuild her life with the trauma of her past, not just Will but of her family and marriage. The pacing slows down here, there will be a lot of community meetings, council talks, until finally, act 3, Will resurfaces and the life Kate has tried to build starts to tumble around her and she has to protect herself and her baby.

It initially frustrates me how much was left unsaid by the end of the book. We don’t know Anna’s real name or what she wanted to name her baby or what happens to the community she found solace in. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. ‘Anna’ has everything taken from her but ultimately her name was only hers, Will never got to claim that and to the end, this part of Anna remains untouched, as does the identity of her son. When so much is taken from ‘Anna’, she has this final control. And then it made sense.

Will is a brutal character and you will hate him and yet I appreciated the humanity teased into his character. There is so much we don’t know about him but we are shown that he isn’t a 2D villain but a man who was once good and loved and lost it all, leaving a man who now simply takes. It was just enough without trying to add excuses or sympathy into his character but it still had a powerful effect.
Anna, or whoever she really is, is a wonderful creation and you constantly root for her, this woman determined to survive, strong yet hurting, a true hero.

This is a brutal, tense read and I’m glad I read it. Thank you NetGalley for the review copy.

One of the best dystopian books I have read in a while! from the bleak surroundings and massed graves to the descriptions of the characters fear so real you can almost smell it coming off the pages you cannot help but root for Anna to find her inner strength and escape from Will. The utter dismay I felt when he caught back up with her was just overwhelming and the world she finds herself thrown into is heartbreaking.

An incredibly powerful novel about the survival of the self. Set in a brutal, dystopian future, we follow Anna as she lives and survives alone in the Unlands after a global war. Anna has learned to hunt and provide for herself for several years alone in the woods, until one day she is captured by Will, who takes her to a town controlled by a group who brand and keep people in slavery. Will professes to want to protect and love Anna and keep her safe from everyone else, but he physically, emotionally and sexually abuses her to break her down and make her completely dependent upon him. Just as Anna discovers she is pregnant, a chance to escape presents itself and she flees to a new, seemingly idyllic new town by the sea. Here she is welcomed, begins to finds friends and awaits the birth of her child until Will enters her life again.
This novel is captivating and impossible to put down while at the same time being absolutely harrowing, disturbing, violent and truthful to the effects of abuse on survivors. This story does not hold back in its descriptions of Anna's abuse, her physical and emotional reactions to abuse and yet has moments of tenderness and friendship that allows Anna to plan a path forward for herself. While the first two parts of the story are very different in tone, I think that really highlights how Anna's life is compartmentalized and how she comes to deal with the PTSD that she suffers and that lead her to making the choices she does at the end. I found myself on the edge of my seat through the last chapters and desperate for Anna to be able to escape Will and what he had done to her. I could not put this book down even though it is difficult at numerous places to live in Anna's skin, I found it a very powerful story of survival.
Content Warnings; Frank descriptions of physical, emotional and sexual abuse

Absolutely deserving of 5 stars!

An exhausting, brutal, horrific, terrifying, captivating tale of one mother's fight for survival.

I devour dystopian fiction and this had me hooked from the start. Anna's initial capture had me holding my breath and my Apple Watch demanding me to BREATHE and warning me that my heart rate was consistently over 100BPM!

Not for the faint-hearted. Themes of rape and violent, physical abuse, trauma, coercive control and murder. I honestly felt depleted, drained and exhausted after finishing this. BUT, don't let that put you off. The writing is incredible, The characters are palpable. The feelings of utter helplessness, suffocation and mind-controlling terror are portrayed skillfully. I cannot wait to read more from this author.

The way trauma is dealt with is very, very clever. I am currently reading "The Body Keeps The Score" by Bessel Van Der Kork and "Anna" has been written so skillfully that we can see why she makes the choices she does because of the persistent traumas she has endured.

Astoundingly good writing.

Thank you to Netgalley, Sammy H.K. Smith and the publisher for the Advance Reader Copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

“Anna” is a feminist dystopian book that deals with so many issues; from what could happen to society in certain circumstances if people don’t speak up, slavery and ownership, family and motherhood, and what constitutes safety and security.

But the story is told entirely from the viewpoint of Anna, not her real name. She has survived the first few years of the awful changes in the world on her own but is then captured by Will who by the law of the land now owns her. She is locked up, branded and eventually raped. Anna is the personality she takes on to cope with her situation. Anna is obedient, dutiful and compliant but the real Anna is not always suppressed and she looks for escape. When she gets her chance, the second half of the book finds her looking for safety and security, and not just for herself. But can she ever escape her captor?

This book is not an easy read due to the issues covered. It is gruesome, unrelenting and in your face with some of the descriptions. But that makes it all the more realistic. I can see why it has drawn some comparisons with The Handmaid’s Tale. From what I remember, I would say the latter leaves more to the imagination whereas “Anna” leaves nothing to the imagination. What I like about it is that the main character is flawed. She didn’t have a perfect life nor was she perfect before this situation happens. There’s also clearly scope for a sequel which I would be interested in reading. I understand that because the book is told from one person’s point of view, they can only give so much information but I wanted to know more about the world she was living in and found it a bit frustrating that I couldn’t go down certain avenues in the story.

Overall though, I thought it was an interesting and thought provoking read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

This is so going to be a marmite book and I can really understand why. It'll also make for an excellent book club book as it definitely lends itself well to discussion...
Set in a near-future dystopia, we meet Anna as she is captured, branded and therefore now owned by a man she knows as Will. He loves her in his own way - and that is, well, not love as it should be. She's a possession, protected but controlled, in all ways. So yeah, it's very dark at the beginning. She is always looking to escape, despite the penalties for attempting and failing. But, once she discovers that she is pregnant, she steps it up a gear...
The rest of the book is about what happened next for Anna, Will and their child. More of which I can't really divulge as it would be more than is contained in the blurb and thus I would consider it to include spoilers.
I will say that after the explosive and nasty beginning, things slow and settle down as we get to know more about Anna. Who she is and what happened to her. But how although significant, she has not let it wholly define her. I really took to her. Admired her if you like. This second part really allows Anna to come out of her shell, to grow as a person, a mother and also start to heal from what has happened to her previously.
Pacing is hit and miss but follows the narrative well throughout. We start off at quite a lick but things settle down in the middle third and then ramp up again as we progress towards the end. Which was wholly satisfying and tied up most of the loose ends. Not all of them though. There were a few things left unresolved either by accident or design but the main things were closed nicely.
All in all, a solid three and a half star read that I have rounded up to 4. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Rating: 8.5/10

Anna is an upcoming release by veteran author Sammy H.K. Smith, and, wow, honestly it left me speechless. Which is a really interesting thing to say about a book that could really encourage a lot of dialogue. Anna’s story was a brutal read at times and joyful at others, but it was always enthralling.

He had captured me, and, by the rudimentary of the Unlands, I belonged to him.


This is a really hard review to write for a couple of reasons. First, I do not want to reveal any more about the plot than the synopsis already does. I want to tell you everything about Anna, because I got utterly lost in the story and I want to talk about it. The problem with that is not only do you, the reader, deserve to experience the book for the first time on your own, but, even more importantly, this is Anna’s story tell. Not mine. I am not going to take that from her.

I had been the stupid, lazy and weak girl he caught. I never used to be weak.

The other problem I am having writing this review is that I cannot use the usual positive qualifiers I do for other books. I cannot say I “enjoyed” this book. Or that it was “entertaining” or “fun”. It is none of those things. This is not a book to be “enjoyed”. Isn’t that the point, though, or at least some of it? This is a journey that takes you out of your box, makes you uncomfortable. And writing the review should not be, and is not, any easier. I have plenty of good things to say about Anna, though. It is incredibly well-written. Smith really knows how to create with the purpose of building tension, in both the short- and long-term. And that tension stayed, even during the “good” times. I use the word “good” hesitantly, because in this post-dystopian world the author has built almost nothing is “good”. No matter the situation, there is always a cloud of suspense hovering in the air, omnipresent. That is not an easy thing to achieve, but Smith does it very well.

One need not be a chamber – to be haunted.

Though I think Anna’s story could take place at any time and place in any era, the setting adds to the drama, for sure. It is You meets The Walking Dead, but without the zombies. I mean that in the way the world-in-peril sets up its communities: some groups of people working together to accomplish the same goals, while others are full of people looking to grab as much power as they can. Power is the big, overarching theme in the book, and it permeates everything. This setup comes with its own built-in anxieties that contribute much to the story overall. Which, by the way, is what a good setting should do.

Anna is a gripping, compelling, highly emotional, and oftentimes shocking story that will force you out of your comfort zone. It is not an easy read, and that is exactly why you should pick it up. Then find someone else who has also read it and talk about it. There is much to discuss.

It has been four or so days since I finished reading Anna by Sammy H.K. Smith and I still can’t get it out of my head. It was compulsive and I read it until 4.30AM.

If I had to describe Anna I would describe it as a cross between The Road and The Handmaid’s Tale but much more bleak.

A quick warning before you decide to read it – Anna has a whole host of trigger warnings not least violent sexual assault and physical abuse to name just two. However, neither of these things felt gratuitous in anyway.

Beaten. Branded. Defiant.

Anna is Will's possession. Will loves her and protects her from the harsh world outside. Anna is branded and broken.

When Anna becomes pregnant, she knows she must run and leave her name behind but when Will finds her, she won't be the only one at risk.

“He called me Anna. I was Anna now. I must remember. They say you can tell someone’s personality from a name. Anna was gracious. Anna was compliant. I had to be Anna.”

Women are like cattle, a commodity. Will chains Anna to him whilst she is a captive and people don’t bat an eyelid.

I liked how the author gave us some glimpses into the past and what lead to society breaking down but without giving all the details. It seems quite a plausible situation.

Anna is superbly written, haunting, and I couldn’t put it down.

Anna is a novel set in the not-too-distant future, where a catastrophe has led to the breakdown of civilisation. People live in fear of violence. Our protagonist is a woman who has been living in the Unlands for years, fending for herself in relative peace.

One day, she is captured by a man, and becomes his property. The rest of the novel chronicles her anguish in captivity, and attempts to escape to a peaceful, quiet life.

Okay, so first thing's first: this book does require trigger warnings. Anna is not a book for anyone uncomfortable with domestic abuse, rape, gaslighting, or violence.

It's important to note that this isn't a super-cool action novel. It's not a book about someone getting crazy revenge on their rapist. The violence and horrors within Anna are very personal to a character, and are not supposed to be read as entertainment. If you see "violence" in the review and expect it to be part of a fun-filled rampaging romp, you'll be sorely disappointed.

Anna comes at a time in history where the rhetoric surrounding male-on-female violence has become more prominent, but it is crucial to understand there is still such a long way to go to ensure that the horrific patriarchal views on women as seen as the norm in this book do not become so accepted in our life. Anna, for me, is a warning. This is how bad things could be if we allow it to happen.

What is so good about Smith's writing, however, is it doesn't feel as though we are being preached to. The violence and emotional abuse in the book are there because that's what the characters do. Our main character keeps her voice and personality in spite of what is happening to her.

One thing that really struck me with this novel is how well written Will is. He is absolutely diabolical. I haven't disliked many fictional characters as much as I have with this guy. He is vile. I think one of the reasons that he is so terrible is that he is all too believable. I don't feel that I have to stretch my imagination much to envisage this man, and that in itself is terrifying. The self-entitlement that Will has is beyond frustrating, and I inflicted lots of horrible deaths upon him in my imagination.

This was a difficult review to write. Not because I didn't like the book; on the contrary, it's a brilliant novel, and deserves massive success. It is because I feel Anna is an important book, and I hope to give it justice.

Many thanks to Sammy H.K Smith, Solaris books, and NetGalley for this copy.

Anna was not an easy read, dealing with topics of abuse and rape, and anyone planning to read this book should definitely check the trigger warnings beforehand. I genuinely found this book so hard to put down, simply because I was SO worried about Anna (the mc) and knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep until I’d gotten to the end of her story. It was so gripping and I think Sammy H.K. Smith did an great job with the writing because with a hard tale such as this, it was executed so well and the constant state of dread I was feeling never left. The ending was so satisfying yet haunting, I had to process my thoughts for the next several hours after I’d finished. Anna is definitely a book that remains with you long after the last page.

Trigger warnings:

Sexual abuse, violence, domestic abuse, rape

This book is brutal, and uncomfortable, but also contains enough hope to keep the pages turning. (I’ll do a trigger warning up front that there is a ton of abuse, sexual and physical, rape and kidnapping, and it’s a tough thing to read, no question.) But I absolutely recommend it, if you’re able to handle the subject matter.

We meet the main character when she’s in hiding, trying to live off the grid, because society has straight up collapsed. She’s lost everyone she’s known, and is in the woods, alone and scared. Shortly after, she’s captured by a vile man, and she tells him that her name is “Anna”, unwilling to relinquish the rights to her true name. He will, over the course of the first third of the book, steal literally everything else from her; her keeping her name is one of the few things she is able to hold onto, and it is positively gut-wrenching.

I worried a bit that the whole book would be that way- horribly depressing and full of despair. But it wasn’t! I have seen some reviews that criticized the slower pace of the middle third of the book, but I positively loved it. “Anna”, as the synopsis will tell you, does manage to run, and reinvents herself as “Kate”. There are signs of hope and love at this point, where at the start I couldn’t see many. It’s the thought that there may actually be some decent pockets of humanity left that makes the story so full.

Obviously, things aren’t going to remain idyllic for the remaining two-thirds of the book, but to prevent spoiling anything, I don’t want to say much else. But from that point on, you can see glimpses that life can be more than what “Anna”, and so many others, experienced in the first third. That maybe, just maybe, horrible men like her captor won’t retain power forever. It’s a terrifying scenario that feels all too plausible, and the author does an incredible job of making the reader feel for “Anna”, want so badly for her to have a better life. My emotions were on overdrive during this story, and I felt quite glad I took a chance on it.

Bottom Line: Beautifully written in a nightmarish hellscape, “Anna”‘s story is one that won’t be leaving me anytime soon.

I don't think I've ever come across a cover that more accurately describes the tone of the book. To me it just screams dark and dangerous and tense. Anna is set in a post-apocalyptic world where wars all over the world have left every country in ruins. Society has collapsed, there's no government, and survivors have been left to build their own small communities. Unfortunately in many of those communities women are seen as property for men to own, to treat however they wish. Anna is captured by a man who believes she would be the perfect woman to own and to dominate.
It's taken me a few days from finishing this book to actually be able to write down my thoughts. It's such a hard book to explain why I loved it and I guess part of that problem is because there's not really any major action points in the plot. There's just this very threatening and dangerous undercurrent throughout the story. Even when things seemed to be ok I constantly felt like it was all still really fragile and could go wrong at any second.
I was really conflicted with my feelings about Anna / Kate. Sometimes I really liked her and sometimes I was really frustrated with her. I was mentally sending her advice during the times when she was in danger and then getting really annoyed with her when she did the opposite ha ha... But I guess none of us know how we would actually react in those situations.
And that ending!!! So frustrating but so good at the same time. I really hope there's a sequel to Anna so that we can follow more of her life and tie up some loose ends.
T/W Sexual Assault, Rape, Physical Abuse, Mental and Emotional Abuse

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Anna
Author: Sammy HK Smith
Publisher: Rebellion Publishing
Page count: 300pp
Release date: 25th May 2021

“I am Anna
Comply
Anna is gracious.”

In Part One of a three part narrative, we are introduced to Anna, who is in the wastelands - or Unlands - having left the ‘town’ three years ago. She lives on stale cereal, unlabelled cans and scraps of good carried in her backpack. It’s obvious we’re in a dystopian scenario and it’s pretty bleak. We are also showed snippets that tell us there has been a war and what’s left is a collapsed world.
She’s surviving alone until she is suddenly captured by a strange man; her right hand is cuffed his and she now belongs to him; as per the rules of the Unland. He is Will, though he has other names too.
Her hair is chopped off and she is branded, as well as being sexually assaulted on a regular basis.
Smith deftly handles issues such as menstruation in this world, something often ignored in such books.

Names play an important role in the narrative, especially as it progresses and we find out more about each person.
When we meet the young boy Alan later on, Smith clarifies; “All he had was his name, and yet it was all he needed. It was his umbilical cord … something to use as both a shield and a badge, his identity and his safety net.”
Without spoiling it, the relevance of the different names and titles people use in different situations, soon becomes clear.

This is beautifully written, it’s grim, emotional and may trigger some readers, but it is also a powerful book that will be read for generations.
An amazing and stunning novel with a strong female character.

As soon as I read the blurb, I really wanted to read this book. This is an emotionally tough book with trigger issues of rape, physical and mental abuse. This book reminded me of Handmaid's Tale but in a more gruesome way. This book definitely isn't for the faint hearted.

This novel is about survival and what we do inorder to survive. I liked the way the story was split into three parts and in each part we see different Anna.

I also liked the writing style and the language. It is so beautiful and poetic in places. I throughly enjoyed this book but please be aware of thebl trigger warnings in the book.

When the world as we know has ended, a young woman finds herself struggling to survive in the Unlands. She never knows where her next meal is coming from or where she will sleep that night but at least she is free. But then she is found by a man, who goes by the name of Will. Now she is his to do with as he pleases. He will love and protect her until she breaks and escapes. This is a truly horrifying, edge-of-your-seat thriller and you should certainly be aware of trigger warnings for rape and physical abuse. The plot is such a rollercoaster and I was never sure that our heroine was finally safe. It’s incredibly unsettling to read but it has a hugely satisfactory ending that will have you whooping and cheering. It is a literal page-turner and it’s powered by perfectly written suspense.

Content Warning: Abuse, Violence, Assault

It should be said right off the bat: this is not a light read.
Set against the backdrop of a dystopic regressive society, where women are often treated as little more than chattel, Anna tells the tale of a woman taken captive, who does what she must to survive. This is a haunting tale, speaking on abuse, power imbalances, and finding identity in the most difficult of times.
This was an often unsettling read, and yet I found myself unable to put it down; the portrayal, although graphic at times, was expertly done, and ultimately did justice to the subject matter.
The pacing throughout this was expert, in the most horrific way; part one felt visceral and current, as if you were experiencing it with her, while the quiet of the second half felt like the literary equivalent of the jaws theme playing - sometimes things are worse when you see them coming. I can see this being quite polarising, but I felt like it was the most poignant summation of surviving abuse: even when it seems the worst is behind you, the overwhelming feeling that there is something more ahead is often too true.
If you are looking to see a depiction of abuse that feels accurate, yet somehow hopeful in the end, then this book is for you.

ARC provided by the publisher; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

In the near future, war has ravaged the country. Those who survived the fighting, conscription and diseases that followed are left to survive however they can. Realising that the lawless cities are no longer safe, the protagonist of this book has lived alone in the ‘Unlands’ for two years. But then one day she is captured by Will, who is now considered to own her. Using physical and sexual violence he breaks her mentally and physically while telling her he loves her. After discovering she is pregnant she realises she must get away from him.

After they come under attack from men who want to take her for themselves, Anna as she tells Will she is called, manages to escape both them and Will. Finding herself in a new town which seems to have a strong community completely at odds to the one she has run from, she starts to build a new life for herself and her baby.

But all is not as it seems, and soon shadows from the past reappear. Will Anna and her child ever really be safe?

This books deals with some very heavy topics. From extreme violence, particularly towards women, rape and disfigurement, this was at times a difficult read. But it was also a very interesting look at domestic violence, and how control can be exerted over a person through threats of violence. There are quite a few novels that look at how quickly society can change like this, and start to see women as possessions without any autonomy, and something to be controlled, which is frightening but something we need to be aware of. The way the world has changed so quickly over the last few years has really shown how what we thought to be just a fictional plot can suddenly become terrifyingly real.

There are very upsetting scenes throughout the book, but you really root for Anna and want her to find freedom and happiness. It really makes you think, and will stay with me for a long time.

I would recommend this book for people who enjoyed books such as The Handmaid’s Tale and Vox.

Two years has Anna on her own in the post-apocalyptic “unknown lands.” She is captured by a man named Daniel. He chains her to the wall when they get to his home. She is his “property.” He will brand her. There is no medicine to prevent infection. As time goes by, he takes her on one of his trips where she will eventually escape from ownership. Her real name is not Anna — it’s Kate. When found, she is pregnant due to Daniel’s kindness. The people put her in a bed where she waits not knowing where she is. Kate feels safe and free but is reluctant to make friends as she is afraid Daniel will find her and hurt those who helped her. Will Daniel find her? If so, what will he do? The town she lives in helps another town. They trade stuff. They are looking for teachers to help school the children learn. On Kate’s birthday, she sees Daniel. She doesn’t know what to do. Will Daniel and Kate get together? What about the newborn? Will Kate be able to protect the baby from Daniel?

The novel is about trust, friendship, trust, getting yourself back to normal and standing up for your rights. There is little emotional depth among the characters in the book. There is some physical violence in the book but it appears remote to me — not real somehow. It’s a powerful novel to read. It is Kate learning who she truly is. I am glad that I got to read this book as I ended up thinking about some of Anna’s truth finding for herself.

Woah.... this is a read and a half!! One of those books that you find yourself open mouthed at during some passages, and just wondering where the heck this journey is going to take you! But it's a journey worth sticking with and despite the bleakness, it can be seen as hopeful and inspiring.. showing just how strong a woman can be when pushed to the limits.

In a dystopian world, Anna is captured by a man meaning she is now his property. To do with as he wishes. And that involves torture, beating, assaults..... all under the name of 'love' and 'protection'. It's the rules of the Unlands where she found herself so there is no help. She just has to rely on herself to get through this and the hope that better times are ahead.

When she falls pregnant, she manages to escape to start a new life, with a new name in a world very different from the one she left behind. But, weirdly, just as unsettling and fraught with fear.

The middle of the book does take on a whole different feel, and it felt a little out of place when I started it, but it soon all made sense again and the fear, tension and claustrophobic feelings soon returned!

This was horrifying at times and brutal to read, but in Anna you have a character to connect with and just admire her determination, resilience and spirit in the lowest, bleakest of times.

Things have changed in the world and life is not as pedestrian as it used to be but we are not told why. People have to fend for themselves, be the hunter or the hunted. Scavenging and foraging are the norm and Anna is having to learn to fend for herself in this new world whilst trying to protect herself from those who may cause her harm. Then she is captured by Will who makes her his possession. She is locked up, handcuffed to him when they venture out and eventually is abused by him physically in an attempt to make her compliant and submissive. Will Anna survive? Can she escape?
I have read a number of dystopian books told from the point of view of the female protagonist and this ranks up there with the best. It's scary to imagine a time when some of the issues raised in this book may actually happen.

By the time I started reading Anna I had forgotten the blurb, which means that everything on the first few pages surprised me. And after those pages I was completely engrossed and couldn't put the novel down. While Anna is not an easy read, it is an amazing one nonetheless. Thanks to Rebellion, Solaris and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Anna isn't an easy book. Sammy H.K. Smith takes us deep into the mind of a woman who is being abused and gaslit. Set in a dystopian world that has clear overtones of our own current political and social predicaments, Smith tells us of a woman on the run, a woman in chains, a woman who tries to hold on to hope. Split into three parts, Smith tries to show the depths of trauma and PTSD, as well as the long road of recovery. She doesn't take any short cuts and especially the first part of Anna is hard to read, as her main character is captured and abused. The scenes are frequently explicit and seeing a woman beaten down to a shadow is difficult and can be triggering. I believe it is important to read about these things, however. It never feels as if Smith is angling for Sensationalism or looking to purely shock. Rather, she tries to show the intricate ways in which abusers work, the way in which they slowly chip away at your identity.

Anna has been caught. She was being so careful but now she is in the possession of Will, branded and dominated. Part I of Anna is full of horrors, with only the smallest points of hope. As she is physically weakened, Anna does her best to remain mentally strong, to hold on to herself and to what she knows is real. Part II shows us her escape and new life in a seemingly safe community. There is water, food, protection, and kindness. But it is still a rough world and as Anna recovers, she begins to notice things. The second part of Anna strikes a drastically different tone to the first part. It is meant, I believe, to feel odd and too calm, the way it does to Anna, whose hackles are consistently raised. The third part is best left undiscussed since it is one of the most riveting finales I have sat through. Anna was so close to my heart at that point that everything struck home. Alongside that, there are some beautiful contemplative moments, descriptions of nature, moments of realizations that had me pause. I wouldn't want to say more than this, since the rest of the plot needs to be experienced individually.

Sammy H.K. Smith has written one hell of a book. In the tradition of The Handmaid's Tale, Anna is an unflinching look at a dystopian world whose worst elements are already present in our own. Smith works as a police detective specializing in domestic abuse and sexual offenses (Source: Interview at Civilian Reader) and her experiences really shine through in all aspects of Anna. It is not just that the abuse inflicted on Anna is terrifyingly realistic, it is also that Smith shows her awareness of and respect for the hard road of recovery. It is not something that happens automatically, it is not something that people will immediately understand, and there will be setbacks amid the progress. There were a few details here and there that felt a little disconnected, like Anna's previous life with her husband, but they never took away from my overall experience with the book. To a certain extent this disconnectedness with her past also made sense, since the disaster of the world and her own experiences has cut her loose from who she used to be. While Anna will not be equally accessible to every reader, due to its brutal honesty, I do think that it is a necessary read.

Anna is a heart-breaking, riveting novel that never hides but also never glorifies the cruelties of our world. At its core, it is a novel of strength, of perseverance, and hope.

I’m going to preface this review with a warning. The themes explored in Anna are likely going to act as a trigger for some readers. There are elements to the narrative that cover the trauma of physical and mental abuse.

Beaten. Branded. Defiant.

Anna is a possession. She is owned by the man named Will, shielded from the world of struggles by his care. He loves her, protects her, and then breaks her. Anna is obedient, dutiful, and compliant. Anna does not know her place in the world.

When she falls pregnant, Anna leaves her name behind, and finds the strength to run. But the past – and Will – catch up with her in an idyllic town with a dark secret, and this time, it’s not just Anna who is at risk.

This week’s review is a dark, powerful story of survival. Anna by Sammy H.K. Smith is a near-future exploration of a world in decline viewed through the eyes of a young woman.

The larger dystopian elements of the novel are subtly done. Society has collapsed in upon itself through a series of conflicts that have ravaged the world. In the aftermath, humanity has reverted to type. The strong prey on the weak. The more overt evidence that something has gone horribly wrong is found in the wilder parts of the country. In the places where there is no longer any law-and-order roaming gangs run riot, only looking out for themselves. Women are bartered, often branded, and lead around on chains. This is where we first meet ‘Anna’. Captured after years of surviving in isolation she is dragged, kicking and screaming, into a living nightmare.

A lot of the plot unfolds directly from Anna’s perspective, so this gives genuine insight into her thoughts and feelings. She learns to be patient, to watch and listen as her captor’s lives go on round about her. Part of her is able to compartmentalise her painful imprisonment. Anna isn’t her real name. Anna is a character conjured into existence for a specific purpose, a role assumed to survive an ordeal.

Anna’s main nemesis is a man called Will.

I think one of the most horrifying revelations is that Will views himself as the hero of his own story. He has bought into his own bullshit and views his twisted abuse as almost a chivalrous act. He is convinced he is protecting Anna, saving her because she is weak while he is strong. Will’s mood swings from controlling and violent to apologetic and conciliatory. I don’t think I have ever come across a character quite so loathsome, but I guess that is sort of the point. Will is the monster at the heart of this tale after all. The fact he can’t see that is the scariest thing of all. There is a lot to be said about the nature of a patriarchal society and how toxic masculinity has a hell of a lot to answer for. It should be simple, shouldn’t it? No one should ever be in a situation where they are treated as nothing more than a possession.

The second half of the novel has a more hopeful tone. When she escapes Will and finds another life, the Anna persona is washed away. Anna becomes someone else, someone new. Her second chance at life seems to be a million miles away from her traumatic past but is it really? Has Anna just replaced one form of prison for another? A jail is still a jail even if it is pretty to look at. If you don’t have freedom, what does the view matter?

Very rarely I find myself so caught up in the experience of reading a novel that I exclude all else. Anna is one such instance. I read the entire book from cover to cover in a single sitting. It has such a raw, emotive core I had to know how the story resolved itself. The author does an amazing job of capturing Anna’s voice. We follow her on every harrowing step of her transformative journey. Anna’s pain and rage felt palpable. Her steadfast refusal to be defined as a victim feels heartbreakingly real.

I don’t think you can say that you enjoy a book like Anna. That’s not the right word to describe the experience. I think it is more appropriate to say you are educated and informed by reading it. I’ll admit there were moments where I struggled, the first half of the book is relentlessly bleak, but these are the times when you have to put your trust in an author. Smith explores difficult subject matter with a delicate and thought-provoking touch.

Anna is published by Solaris and is available now. Highly recommended.

My musical recommendation to accompany this novel is the haunting and evocative soundtrack to Promising Young Woman by Anthony Willis. As an aside if you do get the opportunity to see this film this soundtrack comes from, I strongly suggest you do so. Carey Mulligan’s performance is mesmerising, and like Anna, this is a story that needs to be told.