Anna

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



I was thinking about this long after I finished it.

Thank you Rebellion/Netgalley/Sammy

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.

This was incredible.

I spent the whole day reading this as I HAD to know what happened.

This isn't a fast-paced novel, instead the dread and turmoil builds and builds until you're on the edge of the seat!

First person narratives are hard, but I liked Anna's 'voice' and felt her pain.

The second and third parts were starkly different to the first in tone, pace, and setting and I appreciated us going full cycle. He watched her for three days. So she did the same (mini spoiler).

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.

CW: rape, sexual assault, violence, slavery (?)

SPOILERS BELOW 

This is going to be long. I’m sorry. I have so much to write. 
First off, I’d heard mixed things about this novel on some reading sites. It was either something readers were loving or they couldn’t connect and didn’t understand why it was written and felt it was boring. 

I understand. 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. 

I was hooked and read this book in just over a day. Blown away
5 stars

What a ride.
This was incredible. I felt every emotion reading this. It made me so very angry in places. My heart broke. I laughed at a few quips (though there wasn't much joy in places) but the sense of satisfaction was intense.
The end (no spoilers) was also so very thoughtful and made me pause to think.

I think the themes of rape and abuse were handled expertly and not once did I feel the violence was glorified or used to titillate. 

Each chapter had purpose to Anna and felt like it was a reflection of her different states of mind and emotions. 

I recommend this for those that have read and appreciated books that are more literary in nature. If you want guns ahoy and romance then this is NOT for you. If you want thoughtful reflections on society and human emotion and behaviour - pick up a copy. You won't be disappointed.

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.