A modern dystopian ‘sleeping with the enemy’ meets ‘the handmaid’s tale’
Anna by Sammy H.K. Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Firstly I will try not to include ‘spoilers’ but I will start with a trigger warning, this book deals with R**e, physical and emotional abuse and torture.
I found it equally terrifying and elating, personally reading about dystopian ‘worlds’ that are becoming ever closer to the realities we see every day in life; the destruction of communities, the abuse of power and the uprising that results terrifies me. With a pandemic sweeping the globe as an example of a prime creation story for a dystopian world it feels ever closer. Too close to home.
I feel that there are three very clear parts to this story, in the first there’s the ‘birth’ of Anna, she recreates herself to cope with the horrors she endures, and it’s self-preservation. I love the fact that she isn’t lost to herself in creating her armour. There are scenes of r**e and sexual assault, but the scenes are not for titillation and are not gratuitous, Smith doesn’t go for the distasteful repeats either, you know what’s happening and it needs little narration. You feel the rage and despair in what she writes and you don’t need graphic details.
The second part you would think by the story that unfolds that things are ‘going well’ however I can tell you from the outset you are filled with that anxious knot that something isn’t quite right, all is not as it seems and it’s being held by a very thin thread.
The third and final part your fears are very much confirmed. You are then bombarded with the reality that abusers hide in plain sight.
You are taken on an emotional rollercoaster throughout the book, as I paused in separate sections I found myself thinking about the story during the day, wondering if my thoughts about where the story would take me would be confirmed. I also found that I was not surprised that I didn’t will Anna to behave differently, to fight more, which would have obviously increased her risk. I did find that I wondered if my male counterparts reading the book had the same thoughts, did they understand the natural mechanisms that women have for self-preservation, did they think it weakness rather than necessity? It also made me think about if we were driven in to a dystopian society how would men advocate for women, how would women be protected, I mean we are in a world currently where every woman knows another who has been r**ed, if you asked a man if he knew a r**ist he’d declare that he didn’t. Where are these men and what happens when laws and enforcement are removed?
If you remove the fiction of the world in which she finds herself you are left with the reality that many women find themselves in today, and often without the ending. Horrifying, hard hitting and brave.
View all my reviews
momma of childerbeast 