Tolstoy is a brilliant writer, there’s no doubt about that. It’s so easy to read, despite its age, and the way he switches between thoughts of different characters and what they are saying within a given scene is seamless. This way of writing with multiple POV in a single scene is so commonly hard to follow it’s a genuine please to read it done so well you hardly notice it. If I were to review and rate this book purely based on the quality of the writing it would be all praise and a clear 5 stars, however I felt a bit let down by the book. 

The characters do feel very real which is great, however the female characters are much less well written than the men. Anna, despite being the titular character, is not the main one, that award goes to Levin. I have mixed feelings about Levin, switching between positive and negative, sometimes within the same chapter, which is by no means a bad thing. Obolonsky is great and I think more focus on him could have been an improvement. The problem I find with the female characters is that they are all very prone to hysteria and insecurity, even the strong character of Anna ultimately goes this way. The plot itself is quite slow, I think this book compressed to about half the length would be great, but at nearly 1000 pages just not enough really happens. It’s still an enjoyable read, but if you have to make a choice of a long Tolstoy to read I’d go for War and Peace.