Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee

Tash is at her sister’s graduation when Unhappy Families, the web series she wrote and directs, goes viral. Suddenly, instead of a few hundred people watching her modern adaptation of Anna Karenina, she has over forty thousand subscribers. Over the course of the summer, Tash will deal with drama onscreen and off, balancing filming schedules and the delicate egos of temperamental actors, family drama, friendship drama, and a tentative text and email relationship with another vlogger — except Tash is asexual, so she’s trying to figure out how that might work when they meet in person.

These characters are so great — realistically flawed and sometimes awful to each other, but you find yourself rooting for them all the same. I loved all of the parts about filming the web series, which rang true to me in terms of actors and techies interacting. I also loved Tash’s warm and (mostly) loving family, and the fact that a certain plot twist regarding them really came as a surprise to me. Plus, it’s set in Lexington, Kentucky, my favorite place, so I got an extra thrill when familiar spots were mentioned.

One small quibble: Ormsbee chose to make Tash’s dad Eastern Orthodox, so Tash mentions that a few times, but I never get the sense that the author knows much about Orthodoxy and how it differs from other branches of Christianity. For instance, Tash talks about hearing a certain Bible verse at an Easter service, but the readings for Pascha (Orthodox Easter) are set, and don’t include that verse. Later, she mentions attending services at “Christ Church Cathedral,” but that’s not a very likely name for an Orthodox cathedral, which would typically be named for a saint or a feast of the church. Lexington has a Greek Orthodox Church, Panagia Pantovasilissa (Holy Mary Queen of All) and an Antiochian Orthodox Church, St. Andrew. I can totally see why the author would want to use a fictional church name rather than a real one (she made up a fictional high school, though mentioned real establishments elsewhere in the book), but she could have chosen a name that fits existing naming conventions. But I’ve already written more about Orthodoxy in this review than the author did in the entire book, so like I said, it’s a very minor issue. All in all, an enjoyable book that I stayed up late to finish, and one I’d recommend if you enjoy realistic YA fiction.

(Reviewed from a copy borrowed through my library system.)