I was especting a lot from this book afer the first part, but I found it dense and slow... The story didn't interested me as much as the first book did. Still, I must say the writing was good

This was a gorgeous fantasy that retold the downfall of the Romanov Sisters. The tale was so heartbreaking that I dreaded the ending. I have not read the first book, but I will definitely read it! I loved to know more these sisters. This is a perfect read for fans of Anastasia!

I still feel that the first book ended too abruptly, and really the two should have been published together. The first might've been a novella, but this was definitely long enough to qualify as a novel, leaving me really wondering why it was published as part of the novella line (though I see others in that line-up now that I wouldn't have called novellas). Does The Sisters of the Crescent Empress satisfactorily complete what The Five Daughters of the Moon began? Well, sort of.

I did enjoy this a lot: the interactions between the sisters, the way it embellishes the basic story of the Romanov princesses in a fantasy world, the complex relationships and allegiances between the characters, torn between the old world and the new. I enjoyed the development of some of the characters, particularly Sibillia, and getting to see more of Celestia and what made her tick.

I did feel that it ended abruptly, again, and that there's so much more of the story I want to know, and which the duology feels incomplete without. Does Celestia succeed in ending the riots? What role does Elise play? Does the body-swapping trick work, and how does that end up? Sibillia's story just ends in a way that feels almost like wasting her character development, but she's the only one who does get a solid end.

I also felt that sometimes the way the characters spoke felt wrong: the abrupt sentence fragments, for example, just left some of the characters sounding like automatons, when that plainly wasn't the intent.

I definitely enjoyed this duology, but I wanted more from it, too.

The second book in Likitalo's duology, a fantasy/alternate history inspired by the Romanovs, left me almost breathless! I loved the journeys of the five sisters (though Elise is more sympathetic and compelling in the first one) and the end had me going “oh whaaaaaaat” but like in a good way. I am pretty sure this is the end of the story, and while I found the ending fitting, I would one hundred percent read more in this universe. And will definitely read more from this author. A/A-.