Had to lie to my Russian lit professor about finishing 'Resurrection'—that courtroom scene with Maslova's unjust trial still haunts me. Tolstoy's last major novel feels like he bottled all his anger at inequality into one story. The aristocrat Nekhlyudov's redemption arc is clunky, but the details (like prisoners marching in freezing chains) show why this book helped spark actual prison reforms. Weirdly comforting to know even literary giants wrote messy third acts.
I resisted Tolstoy until a snowstorm trapped me with only 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich.' That 100-page novella wrecked me more than any 10-season drama. The way it strips bare a bureaucrat's meaningless life—his furniture choices, his petty colleagues, the creeping terror of mortality—left me staring at walls for hours. It's like Tolstoy compressed all his genius into this slim volume. Now I gift it to friends who claim classics are boring, with a post-it saying 'Welcome to existential dread.'
My battered college copy of 'Anna Karenina' has coffee stains on every tragic chapter. Tolstoy somehow makes a high society affair story cut deeper than any thriller—Kitty's ballroom humiliation, Levin hay-mowing with peasants, and that infamous train scene. The way he contrasts rural joy with urban misery makes modern romances feel shallow. I forced my book club to read it last year, and we spent three meetings arguing whether Anna was selfish or just trapped. Fun fact: the Japanese manga 'Requiem of the Rose King' references it constantly!
It's impossible to talk about Tolstoy without mentioning 'War and Peace.' This sprawling masterpiece isn't just a novel—it's a whole universe of ballrooms and battlefields, where Napoleon's invasion plays backdrop to the messy lives of aristocrats like Natasha Rostova. I lost weeks wandering through its 1,200 pages, equally obsessed with Pierre's philosophical spirals and the brutal realism of Borodino. What sticks with me isn't the historical scope but how Tolstoy makes war feel personal, like when Andrei looks at the sky after being wounded.
These days, I recommend the Audible version narrated by Thandiwe Newton—her voice turns the French dialogue scenes into pure theatre. Some claim 'Anna Karenina' is more polished, but there's something raw and ambitious about 'War and Peace' that still leaves me breathless. That scene where Platon Karataev peels potatoes while talking about destiny? I think about it monthly.
2026-04-21 20:05:35
10
View All Answers
Scan code to download App
Related Books
MATED TO THREE, DESPISED BY ALL.
Vera Wealth
9.9
17.4K
BLURB:
I am Melissa Copper, chosen by the moon goddess as the fated mate of the Alpha triplets. I have always dreamt of being their mate but they cruelly discarded me, choosing my Twin sister Amelia over me at the Alphas coronation ceremony.
They have always belonged to her.
They despised me, that I know, I have always seen it in their eyes but the mate bond keeps drawing me closer to them.
Now, I have decided to leave, to end the whole circus. I begged them to reject me, but they wouldn't do it.
They wouldn't let me go…
****
“Melissa, Please come back to us!" They all echoed in unison.
“We want you…we have always wanted you!” Caleb said softly, his voice trailing off his breath, as he pinned me to the wall.
I kept staring at his enticing lips, but I shook my head to get rid of the desires burning within me.
“We promise to treat you right!” Cypril said, his breath warm and ticklish against my fingers that he brought up to his lips, as his other hand found its way to the warm spot between my thighs.
I clenched my legs together, trying to force out his hands from my thighs but he didn't budge.
“You will always be ours. Just come back already!" Cain pleading eyes met mine, as he leaned in pressing a kiss on my lips, his hands tracing the corner of my ear.
“No." I said, my voice louder than I had expected it to be, especially with their bodies pressed against mine and their lips creating sparks across my body. “I am not coming back…go back to Amelia.”
PART 1 - NIKOLAI AND NOVA: Nikolai is the youngest brother of Kai and Konstantin Volkov. Since his torture and kidnapping, he's become a cold, distant shell of the man he used to be, making a name for himself as a Ripper. The only light in his life is Nova Lorelei, the mate he rejected while he was under the control of a demonic entity. But even as he yearns for her, he knows she's better off without him in her life. So he keeps to the shadows and watches over her.
This worked out fine until he saw his mate being abused by another.
Will Nikolai be able to keep his distance from Nova, or is the Mate Bond stronger than his willpower?
-----
PART 2 - DIMITRI AND ARYA:
Wracked with guilt at nearly killing his human mate four years ago, Dimitri Volkov let Arya go so she could live a normal life. He didn't feel worthy of a mate or happiness after almost killing her and betraying his entire pack, so he settled to living a life filled with blood and pain as his brother and Alpha's Lead Enforcer. A trip to Brooklyn changes everything for him when he finds his way onto Brooklyn Bridge only to see his mate about to commit suicide.
He saves her again, but the Mate Bond Sighting clicks, and the traitorous Gamma finds himself in quite the position: reject Arya or accept what Fate has given him?
Book 1 - Alpha Kai
Book 2 - Konstantin: The Heartless Beta
**Can be read as a standalone as I delve into what happened in the previous books**
Rich girl Daniella De Luca had plans to spend spring break partying with friends abroad.Instead, she's been kidnapped by the Russian mafia and dragged halfway across the world. Their leader, Alexei Nikolin, is asking for ten million dollars in ten days. Now, Dani has to find a way to get out or stay alive. After all, she was also a mafioso's daughter, and one man couldn't possibly bring her family down. Nevermind that he was dangerously charming. What was the worst one Russian man could do to her anyway?
The whole world has changed. In the year 2054, the human race is no longer the largest population on earth. The global invasion of a new yet not quite new species has forced the remaining people to hide in fear. Just like the other war survivors, Avery Pierce tries to escape death by hiding from them. But when she reaches seventeen, her life is doomed. She is sold as a slave to an old powerful family. Living in a beautiful mansion, she has to serve her owner, the mistress of the house. Will she be treated as a mere slave or maybe something more?
Isabella Romanov thought her body was broken. She thought the man holding her while she bled was the only thing keeping her alive but she was wrong about all of it.
The pills in her green juice, the best friend in her bed, the forged signatures waiting in a lawyer's desk, Marcus Whitfield didn't just betray her. He hollowed her out and sold what was left.
But Marcus made one fatal mistake. He forgot who her father was.
When Isabella walks out of her suburban prison and back into the world of blood and power she was born into, she finds an unlikely ally in Luca Moretti, the most dangerous man on the East Coast. He'll destroy Marcus and burn every bridge her ex-husband ever built. But his protection comes at a price: her hand, her name, and her presence in his bed.
Isabella isn't stupid enough to trust another powerful man. She's just desperate enough to marry one.
As she rises from discarded wife to mafia queen, Isabella uncovers a conspiracy far darker than infidelity, stolen embryos, Russian bounties, and a family ledger worth more than the city itself.
The deeper she digs, the more she realizes that everyone around her wants something, and the man who swore to protect her might have wanted it first.
In a world where blood is currency and love is leverage, Isabella must have to decide what she's willing to burn to get back what was taken from her and whether the man beside her is worth keeping.
Dr. Alessia Russo's life is spiraling out of control. Drowning in debt and desperate to help her imprisoned brother, the brilliant ER physician makes a decision that will change her life forever. One moonlit rendezvous in a shadowy alley catapults her into the dangerous world of the Bratva, where loyalty is everything and one wrong move could be her last.
Enter Nikolai Zhukov, the enigmatic and ruthless boss of the Russian mafia. With eyes that pierce her soul and a touch that sets her skin ablaze, Nikolai offers Alessia an irresistible proposition: become his personal doctor, no questions asked, in exchange for more money than she ever dreamed possible.
As Alessia navigates the treacherous waters of the criminal underworld, she finds herself drawn deeper into Nikolai's web. By day, she saves lives in the ER. By night, she tends to bullet wounds and knife fights, all while trying to keep her moral compass intact.
But Nikolai is no ordinary crime lord. Behind his cold exterior and calculated moves lies a man with hidden depths and unexpected vulnerabilities. As the heat between them intensifies, Alessia realizes she's not just risking her career and freedom – she's in danger of losing her heart to the very man she should fear most.
With enemies closing in and loyalties tested, Alessia must choose between the safe life she's always known and the exhilarating, perilous future Nikolai offers. In a world where passion and danger collide, can their forbidden love survive? Or will the price of entering Nikolai's world prove too high for the good doctor to pay?
"Code Black: A Bratva Billionaire Romance" – a heart-pounding tale of love, loyalty, and the thin line between right and wrong.
If you're dipping your toes into Tolstoy's world for the first time, I'd enthusiastically point you toward 'Anna Karenina'. It’s got everything—passion, scandal, existential musings, and those razor-sharp observations about society that Tolstoy does so well. The dual narrative between Anna’s tragic love story and Levin’s agrarian idealism creates this incredible tension between personal and societal collapse. Plus, the characters feel so alive; you’ll catch yourself arguing with them like they’re real people.
That said, don’t sleep on 'War and Peace' if you’re up for a marathon. It’s less daunting if you treat it like a series of intertwined novellas rather than one monolithic tome. The battle scenes, the philosophical detours, Natasha Rostova’s whirlwind romances—it’s all worth the effort. But yeah, start with 'Anna Karenina'. It’s like Tolstoy’s gateway drug.