Book Review: Fanny Berk Strikes Back

Reviewed by Lauren Hayataka

A teenage girl discovers strength in discipline—and the strange magnetism of rage.

Fifteen-year-old Fanny Berk isn’t trying to save anyone—not even herself. Still reeling from a violent antisemitic attack that forced her family to flee their hometown, Fanny prefers to stay hidden in dark clothing and sharp silence. 

Her only sense of control comes from karate, where she’s one step away from earning her brown belt. But a single act of intervention—protecting a classmate from a brutal bullying assault—pulls her into a criminal underworld with dangerous reach, and she finds herself faced with a new choice: stay invisible or fight back.

Luxenburg has created a protagonist whose rage and intelligence run just beneath the surface. Fanny is clever, guarded, and not always kind, especially when it comes to her peers. Her Inner Voice is unapologetically critical, sometimes to the point of internalized misogyny, with needling comments about the length of her classmates’ skirts and their sexuality. And yet, it becomes clear that this judgment isn’t rooted in cruelty so much as defense. Fanny, like many teenagers navigating grief and isolation, keeps others at bay because letting them in is too dangerous. That’s one lesson Fanny learned well.

Karate becomes more than a skill set—it’s a language, a philosophy, and, at times, the only way Fanny can understand herself. Her descriptions of Flow—the feeling of full-body presence in motion—are among the book’s most grounded and lyrical moments. The story feels most lived-in in these scenes as if the narrator momentarily lets her guard down. Her ability to move through chaos with ghost-like precision, whether it’s a crowded hallway or a brutal fight, gives the novel an energy that offsets its heavier emotional undercurrents.

What makes the story resonate is not just the fighting or the danger but how it frames female anger as something purposeful. Fanny doesn’t need to be sweet or likable to be strong. Her power lies in her refusal to be underestimated and in her ability to endure without compromising who she is. Even when she makes mistakes—and she makes plenty—there’s a sense that she’s learning what it means to trust, not just in others, but in herself.

The mystery woven into the background, involving arson, extortion, and white supremacy, becomes the book’s strongest narrative arc. The shift from school drama to small-town conspiracy unfolds at a steady pace while remaining accessible to its YA audience. As Fanny and her new friends, the “Motley Crew,” uncover the layers of corruption and danger in their town, the stakes escalate without losing sight of their emotional core.

Though some of the dialogue leans exaggerated and the internal monologues occasionally drift into tangents, the story has undeniable momentum. The pacing, broken into short chapters, keeps the plot moving even when tone and realism wobble. Still, there’s something satisfying about watching a prickly character like Fanny slowly—but not entirely—soften. Her growth isn’t grand or dramatic but shows in small, meaningful shifts. She begins to open herself up to others, to see the complexity of the people she once dismissed, and to accept help.

One of the sweetest subplots is her bond with Buddy, a black lab who quietly works his way past her defenses. Their connection, simple and undemanding, becomes a stand-in for the vulnerability she’s reluctant to show anyone else. For a character who seems determined to be alone, the presence of that dog says more than she ever would out loud.

Fanny Berk Strikes Back is a debut with jagged edges—some intentional, others not—but there’s real weight to its core. It asks what strength looks like when it’s born from fear and how a teenager might hold both anger and love in the same clenched fist. Though not without missteps, the book builds a world where justice is messy, trust is earned slowly, and healing can begin with a fight.

Thank you for reading Lauren Hayataka’s book review of Fanny Berk Strikes Back by Avi Luxenburg! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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