This is a unique WWI story as it is much more about Ballet and the romance between dancers Luka and Valentina than the war. As a historical fiction fan, with a love of Russian history, I loved being immersed into the time period and imagining what it must have been like for these dancers who could be loved and lavished one moment and then have their contract cancelled and sent into poverty the next. Talent was important, but so was your connections and for some female dancers, "protectors" (who acted like their husband in every way except that they weren't married, which of course gave a power imbalance to that tenuous relationship).
The author introduces us to the splendour and excess of Royalty and Ballet in Imperial Russia which is vastly contrasted by how most of the country lives. We see through Luka's eyes (who was a peasant himself), how these worlds never collide and how the country slipped into revolution and civil war.

The historical fiction side of this book is what attracted me and what I really enjoyed. I am not a huge Romance reader, so that aspect of the book didn't really appeal to me. On reflection I think I just never invested in the relationship between Luka and Valentina. Although the book was easy to read and the descriptions enabled a real sense of the time and place, the character writing didn't connect me to them. For that reason it is more of a 3 star book for me, but I would recommend this to those who love a sweeping forbidden romance as you may feel differently.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The title says it all: this is a novel about the fading glory of the famous Imperial Ballet of Russia. You can anticipate drama and tragedy but also glimpses into that lost world of opulence and dissipation that hallmarked the downfall of the Romanov dynasty.

1914. Enter stage Luka Zhirkov, a recent ballet school graduate, son of a factory worker, brother of a soldier fighting at the front. He is thrilled to be in the corps de ballet, although his father Vladimir calls him a coward and is ashamed of him and his “precious ballet slippers and dancing feet” that let him “hide away in his borrowed, gilded life”. Already basking in the limelight is ballerina, Valentina Yershova, who also has humble beginnings but the benefit of a protector, the cruel art critic, Maxim Illyn, who controls her life both on and off the stage. When Luka and Valentina begin an affair, they know the risks they are taking.

Real individuals have their own roles: the Grand Dukes and Duchesses, Grigori Rasputin, and former mistress of the Tsar, prima ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska. The historical background is exceptionally well-researched, with the rich sumptuousness of the privileged classes contrasting with the desperation of the starving proletariat. In spite of growing unrest in the streets, the ballet goes on as if nothing will ever change; the champagne flows and although bread is scarce the caviar remains plentiful. Finally comes the reckoning, and the last chapters make for particularly exciting reading.

Also for any balletomane, this book will bring added pleasure in its descriptions of choreography and librettos and the subtle analogy in the rivalry between Mathilde and Valentina as to who is best suited to dance Odette or Odile. A bravura debut from Australian author Kerri Turner.

Oh boy, I really enjoyed this novel. I loved the detail about the ballet. It's clear the author has intimate knowledge of the industry but this only makes the book more wonderful. The world of Russia at war is also vivid. It's always a pleasure to read about a period of history you know little about. The love affair of the main characters is a slow burn but worth waiting for. A beautiful story that will stay with me.

Today’s featured book is The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers by Kerri Turner and I would like to thank both NetGalley and Harlequin Australia (the publisher) for providing me with this free e-book in exchange for an honest review. I finished it earlier this week and it came out just over a week ago.

So what is this book about?

This book is told from two different perspectives, that of Valentina Yershova and Luka Zhirkov. Both were born peasants but through talent have come to be part of the Imperial Russian Ballet company who receive the support of the Romanovs. These two ballet dancers walk the line between a world full of all that glitters and a world full of whispers of discontent and dissatisfaction. History tells us who the winners will be, but these two dancers must decide on which side of history they will fall.

What I liked . . .

Historical fiction set in the Russian revolution. (The Russian Revolution is in my top five favourite periods)
Learning about the ballet. (I had no idea it was so popular in Russia nor had I quite grasped the hard work that goes into success.)
The fact that the storyline kept me engaged the entire way through.
What I didn’t like . . .

There was way more romance than I thought there would be. (But please bear in mind I say this with romance being my second least favourite genre and I’ve got into the habit of trying to avoid it.)
I got an insight into early 20th century Russian contraceptive methods.


Conclusions

My Rating 💭/2purpose 💭/2originality 💭engagement

Star Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This book was a fascinating read. I loved learning about Russian history and the difficulties in trying to succeed in the cutthroat world of the ballet. I thought the author did a great job at positioning me in both the opulence and extravagance as well as the extreme poverty that existed in Russia. I found the book engaging and if you want to read a book about romance and revolutions, then this might be a book for you.

Though I am both a ballet lover and a history lover, I have a limited knowledge of Russian history. What an engaging, albeit bittersweet, introduction this book was to the subject! Valentina and Luka may have been fictional characters, but their story was very much rooted in the social and political unrest in the years leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917, with the Romanovs, Rasputin, and even Mathilde Kschessinska, the prima ballerina assoluta of the Imperial Russian Ballet, all making their presence known throughout its pages.

Valentina and Luka were fascinating characters: both passionate and driven in relation to their careers, and yet expressing those qualities in such different ways. Their personal stories had so many undercurrents of tension, not least of which was the fact that neither Valentina nor Luka ever felt truly secure or happy as they pursued their professional dreams and, eventually, a clandestine relationship with each other. And on that note, I applaud the author for keeping graphic descriptions of said relationship—and others—to a minimum!

The author’s love and knowledge of ballet shines through in a way that will be accessible even to those who know nothing about the subject, but it was the way the historical setting was brought to life, and Valentina’s and Luka’s stories within that setting, that captured me most and held me fast to the end.

It’s definitely a “Brava” from me for this fellow-Australian’s debut novel.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My copy of this book was a kindle edition , kindly supplied by HQ Fiction, so I hadn't seen the gorgeous cover. I'm sure, the cover itself will be enough to captivate and draw in many readers.

My knowledge of the Romanov royals was limited to the fact that they had been murdered, so this historical trip was also a learning for me. It was very evident that Kerri Turner had well researched the setting for her tale of love, loss and revolution. A violent setting which is a sharp contrast to the beauty and grace of ballet........albeit with a dying swan.

Star crossed lovers Luke and Valentina are supported by an all star cast of villains, revolutionaries and obscenely rich aristocrat's in the time of 1914 when Russia (and soon the entire continent of Europe) was on the brink of revolution and recreation. Historical fiction, often based on real people, I was quickly caught up in the dynamics of family loyalty and the not so glamourous life of a struggling ballet dancer, surrounded the ostentatious wealth of the elite.

Ballet brings these two main characters together and I would think their passion and sacrifice, set against the turbulence of the Russian revolution would make an amazing ballet itself.

I certainly hope Kerri Turner continues with her writing career....I'm a fan. Thanks to NetGalley for this advance copy.

What a glorious cover this novel has! It caught my eye immediately and then the lure of history within the context of ballet and a revolution all sealed the deal for me. There were many elements present to make this story a great one but they didn’t quite all mesh together for me. The story itself was very much a surface tale, the romance between the two main characters overshadowing all else, and while I believe it was intended as a grand love story, there just wasn’t enough characterisation to pull this off and the way it all played out was predictable in the extreme. However, I do think my disappointment with this novel stems in part from a case of “it’s not you, it’s me”. For a start, I’m not a fan of romance. I don’t mind some romantic elements, secondary to the main plot, but where the romance is the plot, with no other forces driving the story, I lose interest. A grand love story is a different kettle of fish, but that’s not the same as romance and unfortunately, the two are often presented as one and the same. I approached this novel with an historical fiction lens, not a romance one, so that was my mistake, not the author’s. Secondly, this is the third novel I’ve read on the Romanovs and the Russian revolution. I haven’t liked any of them, so it stands to reason that this slice of history might just not be my cup of tea.

Now, I did pull a few things out of this novel that beg for greater attention. The volatility of Petrograd, and indeed the whole of Russia, during this era was particularly well rendered. On a whole, this novel was very well researched and the sense of atmosphere just crackled with authenticity. It was very much a place where people had all or nothing, no in-between whatsoever, and WWI magnified this discrepancy all the more.

‘It was true that beggars were rarely seen in this area. There was an unwritten law in Petrograd that, until now, had always been obeyed: the poor would stay within their own areas, moving from home to work to markets, and never venturing into the glistening inner-city world of the rich and privileged. They belonged where the tram tracks stopped and you had to wade through mud to get anywhere; where there was no electricity, and the nights were as black as the insides of your eyelids. Both rich and poor had silently agreed on this so long ago that no one noticed the division any more— until now, when that border was suddenly crossed by one that didn’t belong there.’

‘He walked away before she could argue or try to follow him. He couldn’t stand to be there any more, with people who were so ready to ignore those who had already lost so much and were desperately trying to survive off less food than was left over on the silver plates they dined from. What was more, he needed to get away from them so he could try to convince himself that he wasn’t becoming one of them. That he wasn’t ignoring his hungry, hurting country just because his own life had been made easier thanks to the ballet.’

Anyone interested in the history of ballet will enjoy this novel. Kerri Turner is a ballet dancer herself and this is very much evident in the way ballet has been brought to life here on the page. The mechanics, the grace, the hard work, the competitiveness, and, much to my delight, the ugly side. I do like it when an author shows us the ugly side of something so beautiful. In this case, it is the way in which female dancers were ‘protected’, which is just a another way of saying: kept as a private prostitute. Valentina’s utilisation of this system is a big reason why I didn’t feel that connection to the love story between her and Luka. I also really wasn’t convinced by anything that she ever did that she was even worth the risks Luka was taking to be with her.

‘Baudruches weren’t an option, of course. They were supposedly effective at preventing babies, but had a reputation for being low class because of how widely used they were by prostitutes. They were also said to dull the man’s pleasure. Valentina couldn’t ask that of Maxim— why would he pay a fortune for her if he couldn’t fully enjoy her? Rather than make her his wife, he’d just find some other dancer all too willing to satiate his desires. Maxim wouldn’t like being kept waiting for so long. It didn’t matter that she was tired, that she didn’t enjoy the way his lovemaking became forceful and almost violent after a temper. She wasn’t paid to satisfy her own wants.’

‘It was a common practice in pre-revolutionary Russia for ballet dancers to take an aristocratic or influential protector to cement their position in both company and society. Given the Imperial Russian Ballet’s requirements for a high level of health and cleanliness, their dancers were considered a safe and, perhaps more importantly, respectable alternative to prostitutes.’ – Author notes

Like I said above, the ballet world was meticulously rendered and the history well laid out for ardent enthusiasts to appreciate. I wasn’t familiar with the differences between the Ballets Russes and the Imperial Ballet prior to reading this novel. I also didn’t realise just how much devastation the collapse of the Romanov dynasty had on the entire art of ballet.

‘There’s a freedom in the Ballets Russes you won’t get in most other companies. They aren’t afraid to break boundaries. Yet they also desire to drill into the very soul of what each ballet means. That is why Diaghilev attracts the best. Not just dancers, you understand. Alexandre Benois and Bakst have each painted scenery for him; Stravinsky was disregarded in Russia until Diaghilev made his name; and you’ll find Jean Cocteau running around and making the dancers laugh during rehearsals. You work hard, though; perhaps harder than in the Imperial Russian Ballet. The Ballets Russes is not a job but a lifestyle.’

‘Sadly, the Russian Revolution saw the end of the Imperial Russian Ballet. There have been other companies bearing the name in the decades since, but they are not a direct descendant of the original; it was disbanded, and ballet was shunned post-revolution as a reminder of the hated elite the country had overthrown.’ – Author notes

Luka, as a dancer with the Imperial Ballet, was protected from conscription, and despite the relief this brought him, it was also a heavy burden that he carried. Particularly since his brother was a soldier at the front. It was also the cause of friction between Luka and his father. In terms of characters, Luka was fleshed out more thoroughly than Valentina, but then, he was also a more appealing character to become invested in. He opened the novel and also closed it. Valentina remained more distant throughout and I can’t help but wonder if the novel wouldn’t have been strengthened if it had been exclusively told from Luka’s perspective. He certainly felt things more deeply, not just at a personal level, but at a civic one as well.

‘The woman was dressed in a worn sheepskin shuba, and Luka knew instinctively she was a factory worker. She had that perpetually underfed hollowness to her face and a lack of hope in her eyes that made her fit in with this crowd in a way Luka no longer did. He offered her a smile, wondering if perhaps she had seen him dance and wanted to say hello. It would be the first time anyone had ever recognised him and it coming from the area he’d grown up in would be some kind of validation. But the smile died as he saw what she held in her hands, and his stomach flipped like he might vomit. It was a white feather, so like the one he’d handed to Valentina at Mathilde’s country house. But this was not a symbol of a dream waiting to be fulfilled.’

‘Have you heard what the men lucky enough to return from the front are saying? The things they’ve had to do out there, the decisions they’ve had to make? There’s nothing noble about this war like we were told when it was first declared. I believed that lie; I was proud of one son for fighting in it, and ashamed of the other for not. But what those men have seen and done … no ruler who cares for his people could force men to go through that.’

I’ve included a lot of quotes within this review in the hopes that it will help you form an impartial view on this novel and be able to decide for yourself if it’s for you. I don’t want to discourage anyone from reading it, particularly if you favour Russian history and/or love the ballet. And if you’re a fan of romance, then this story likely has all the feels for you. I just felt that there were all of these stepping stones crafted but none of them had been lined up to make a solid path. But it is a first novel and I feel it does hint at great things to come from Kerri Turner.

‘I’d been on my own stage forever, and suddenly I saw the world for what it is—its potential for pain and loss, yes, but also for love that isn’t defined by any parameters. A world where a woman who once had everything could lose it all, but still find something to give to those that were forgotten or ignored. I had always believed Mathilde to be the very worst example of what was wrong with Russia— I guess the revolutionaries and I had that in common. It took two revolutions, a civil war and countless deaths for me to realise: we can be so much more than our circumstances make us appear.’


Thanks is extended to HQ Fiction via NetGalley for providing me with a copy of The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers for review.

The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers, by Kerri Turner, is a wonderful and thoroughly enjoyable story to read.

I’m a sucker for anything set in Russia. I devoured Paullina Simons’ The Bronze Horseman series, with Tatiana and Alexander and have read my way through plenty of Russian literature, including Anna Karenina and Crime and Punishment.

I’m also drawn to any story related to ballet – partly a hangover from my childhood obsession with the book, Veronica at the Wells, and partly because I’m endlessly fascinated by dancing. It all seems like so much magic to me, being entirely physically uncoordinated myself!

Turner’s debut novel is an excellent story to add to your reading list if you’re a fellow Russia / ballet tragic.

Set in Petrograd during World War I, The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers follows the careers and loves of Valentina Yershova and Luka Zhirkov. Both talented ballerinas from working class backgrounds, they must navigate the politics of the Romanovs’ Imperial Russian Ballet amidst the growing backlash against the Tsar, his advisers and everything they stand for.

Before she died, Valentina’s mother arranged for her to have a ‘protector’, leaving her daughter in the care of a wealthy patron who funded a lavish lifestyle and paved her way to principal roles in the ballet company. A typical arrangement for ballerinas of the time, Valentina traded wealth and influence for exclusive access to her bed. But Valentina has now been traded to a new protector who is more demanding – and temperamental – than her first.

Luka is a new member of the Imperial Russian Ballet and comes to it with a naive belief that advancement is awarded on merit and relationships governed by love. He soon discovers that love and merit hold little place in the Tsar’s dance company.

The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers is a well written and researched story of forbidden love in a time of war. It successfully transported me to St Petersburg (as Petrograd is now called) and then back in time one hundred years.

It was easy to feel Valentina’s and Luka’s fears of being plunged back into grinding poverty at any moment, so precarious were their situations. The building fury of the working poor towards the ‘let them eat cake’ attitudes of the rich and powerful was very well handled. If you’ve read your history, it’ll be no spoiler to remind you that this is the same period as the Russian revolution which saw the assassination of Rasputin, the ‘mad monk’ in 1916, followed by the Tsar’s abdication a few weeks later and the execution of the entire Romanov family in 1918.

This book is a real page turner, but don’t expect to be greeted with puppy dogs and roses. Kerri Turner has faithfully followed the dark traditions of Russian literature when it comes to story lines.

‘Waiting had never been so hard.’

In 1913, Tsar Nicholas II celebrated the tercentenary of Romanov rule in Russia. He ruled over a huge empire which stretched from central Europe to the Pacific Ocean, and from the Arctic to the borders of Afghanistan.
But there were many tensions in the empire. In 1914 when the Great War (World War I) broke out, Russia was not well prepared.

Against this backdrop, Ms Turner opens her novel in Petrograd in the autumn of 1914, where the Romanov’s Imperial Russian Ballet is located. Valentina Yershova was a talented dancer, determined to make her way through the ranks. But she knew that talent was not enough. Valentina’s latest protector is Maxim Ilyn. He is influential, well-connected and rich and while Valentina knows that he doesn’t intend marriage, she hopes to change his mind.

Luka Zhirkov, the talented son of a factory worker joins the ballet company. He is a skilled dancer, more talented than many others in the company. He is also regarded as a traitor by his father, who thinks he should have gone to war like his brother Pyotr.

War creates shortages and increases the unrest. People are starving. Many see the Romanov’s Imperial Russian Ballet as symbolic of decadence. The dancers are privileged individuals living a lavish lifestyle while people are starving. Luka knows that he can’t be conscripted to fight while his contract with the ballet continues. And yet he feels uneasy. He and Valentina are drawn to each other, an attraction which has its own risks. Maxim Ilyn does not like Luka and would happily bring him down. Valentina is torn between her desire for security and her growing attraction to Luka.

Do Luka and Valentina have a future together?

Ms Turner brings both the dancers and this hectic period of Russian history to life. The contrasts between poverty and wealth, the insecurity of a dancer’s life, the need to have a patron or protector. There are historical figures here as well, including the infamous Grigori Rasputin, and the fascinating ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska. This is Ms Turner’s debut novel, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and HQ Fiction for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This is the type of book I wish I could read all the time. Set against the backdrop of pre-revolution Russia, we get a look into the privileged lives of the dancers of the Tsars Imperial Ballet. Concentrating on famed soloist Valentina and up and coming corps dancer Luka, and their illicit love affair, we move from rehearsals, to performances and then to the dancers private downtime. Yet their affair seems to be doomed, as Valentina has a protector, Maxim, a man who has paid for her lifestyle, and his job is to move her forward in the company, in exchange for sole use of her body. As Luka urges Valentina to leave Maxim, the revolution hits, and suddenly not only the exclusive existence of the dancers is in danger, but their lives as well.
This book had everything. Star-crossed lovers, a well researched history, and a realistic look into the lives of the rich and famous in war torn Russia. Kerri Turner's novel is extraordinary, her love of dance shining through. I can't give this book enough accolades, it is one I'll return to again and again. Now, I'm off to buy tickets to the ballet...
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Days Of The Romanov Dancers was a tough read with the contrast between Luka’s affability and Valentina’s prickliness, which kept this reader turning the pages. The story is depicted in a turbulent time with many shaky elements for its character’s that made for an overall absorbing read.
Review copy received from Harlequin MIRA via Netgalley

1914. The people of Russia were told the war would last a maximum of three months.
As men were going off to fight, Luka Zhirkov remained in Russia and was unable to be conscripted as long as his contract with the Romanov's Imperial Russian Ballet continued to be renewed. For Valentina Yershova, the Romanov's Imperial Russian Ballet is what kept her from a life of poverty. Their skill in the art of ballet kept them from something they feared and allowed them to experience love, but at what cost?

The novel follows both Luka and Valentina through their difficult decisions and unfortunate circumstances during what would become the First World War.

Luka is the son of a factory worker desperate to prove his worth and talent despite his background. He is kind and wants nothing more than to perform in the ballet. He is skilled in the art form and so passionate about dancing that he loses himself whenever he performs. Making friends is difficult as he surpasses many of the corps dancers who have been working for the chance for years. However, there is one dancer who sees his talent and sways his heart.

Valentina is trying to secure herself financially so she never has to live in the life of poverty her mother made her work so hard to get out of. Valentina has a protector - a wealthy male in society who will financially support a dancer as long as the dancer warms their bed - and she wants to make him her husband so she no longer needs to fear a life without money. The problem is, she has never loved anyone as much as she loves ballet until she meets someone unlike anyone else in their high-end world.

I liked the main characters, but it took me a while to truly care about their fates. I also felt the first two-thirds of the novel was a tad slow for my liking. I found myself pushing ahead simply because I wanted to know if I had correctly predicted the ending. Once the story reached the danger and panic, the story sucked me in and I felt every ounce of pain and suffering. The way in which the ending was written and paced had me hanging off every word. I also loved the ending as it tugged at every heart string and beautifully depicted some of the devastation and suffering people experienced during that time.

I really appreciate the time and effort Kerri Turner must have put into the research of this novel. The history and the insight into that turbulent time for dancers in Russian during the war was rather interesting. I also love that while the main characters and their love were fictional, the rest was as historically accurate as the research would allow. 

A somewhat slow read, but rich in history and a rather beautiful story of life, love and dreams.

The Last of the Romanov Dancers is the debut novel by Aussie author Kerri Turner and is a good combination of fact and fiction on a well versed topic but with a fresh twist. An intriguing historical venture into Russian ballet during the dying days of the Romanov rule.

This is a well researched book detailing lives - both real and fiction - during pre revolution Russia and branches across all levels of the social spectrum. Struggling with their involvement in WW2, the balance between the ‘have and have nots’ was coming into stark contrast in war torn Russia. Jealousy and hate at the forefront, as the lives of the royal family (with guest appearances by Rasputin) seemingly in sharp contrast to the ordinary Russian struggling to live on the street. With a focus on the Imperial Russian ballet - something the aristocracy thought would prove a worthy distraction to the war effort - all badly backfired and was held up as the ultimate symbol of everything they were fighting against.

‘He couldn’t stand to be there any more, with people who were so ready to ignore those who had already lost so much and were desperately trying to survive off less food than was left over on the silver plates they dined from. What was more, he needed to get away from them so he could try to convince himself that he wasn’t becoming one of them.’

This is where a fresh insight is provided for this well versed period in history as it is told through the eyes of the dancers. Kerri Turner (an obvious dancer herself) presents the world of ballet with everything from Swan Lake roles, to blistered feet from pointe shoes and the various ballet movements and technique. You are taken into the heart of the Imperial Russian ballet of the day where politics, deception and intrigue rule the way.

Throw into this mix of revolutionaries and ballerinas, two lovers caught in what would prove to be, a catastrophic crossfire, and you have a well rounded story. At its core, however, this is a love story. Luka Zhirkov - a gifted dancer but from a proletariat background and Valentina Yershova who exchanges physical relationships with a ‘Protector’ in order to have influence in the ballet company. This is perhaps the slight downfall of the novel, as undoubtedly one can hazard an accurate guess of how this story will play out and the ultimate conclusion it will arrive at.

Still, I recommend this for lovers of historical fiction, particularly for the fresh perspective it brings to this revolutionary state with the interesting cultural aspect of Russian ballet.




This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release

It was 1914 in Petrograd and Luka Zhirkov was nervous as he walked into the rehearsal room. His lifelong dream had always been to dance. Now he’d been given the chance to dance with Romanov’s Imperial Russian Ballet and he knew that he could go far if he was accepted. His awe at the beauty and talent of Valentina Yershova when he first saw her was such that his desire to dance as her partner one day was foremost in his mind.

Valentina was one of the many who had a protector – a man who would own all but her heart. As Luka’s talent grew and his contract was renewed, so too did his admiration for Valentina grow. But they both knew it was a useless fantasy – Maxim would never let her go; in fact, he could ruin Luka’s career quite easily. Luka was also burdened with guilt over his role in the war that had invaded Russia – his brother had gone to fight for his country; his father was proud of his soldier son, and ashamed of the son who danced while the country suffered.

Poverty and starvation were rife through the streets of Petrograd and when the revolution took hold, the danger was there for all to see. What would be the outcome for the members of the Imperial Ballet and all its dancers? And would Luka and Valentina ever know happiness?

The Last of the Romanov Dancers is the debut novel by Aussie author Kerri Turner, and it was an exceptional read in my opinion. Based on many facts – as told at the end of the novel – I found it to be a poignant, heartbreaking and intriguing historical novel which I thoroughly enjoyed. Well researched, the lives of the characters in war torn Russia were chaotic and filled with envy, jealousies and hate. But above all, their love of the dance shone through. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

ARC received via Netgalley for an honest review

The Last Of the Romanov Dancers is story set in the back ground of pre-revolution Russia.

Kerri Turner's debut sets real life figures amongst fictional characters in the Imperial Ballet, where ambition walks and money talks.

It did take me a little while to get into this book, and I did consider DNFing at one stage, however I think that had more to do with me and end of year burn out rather than the book. Once I got past that stage I couldn't wait to turn each page.

Luka and Valentina's story is not always an easy one to read, which is to be expected with the time it is set. Despite all the differences, you can't help but want them to be together.

I got swept away with this story, and even though I knew where the story would eventually take us, I enjoyed the journey.

I am looking forward to what Ms Turner brings us in the future.

The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers is a sweeping story that offers a tantalising view of the revolution through the eyes of people caught between the two camps. I particularly loved the way Turner brought the world of the ballet to life; it's easy to tell that she is a dancer herself from her lovely descriptions during those scenes. The love story didn't always work for me. I had trouble seeing Luka and Valentina as a workable couple at times. They didn't feel a natural 'fit' to me. But in all other respects I enjoyed this book, and I would definitely read more from Kerrie Turner in the future. I recommend this one for fans of historical fiction looking to see the Russian revolution told from a fresh perspective.

So: picture Moulin Rouge, but in pre-1917 Revolutionary Russia. Basically its this book.

I loved the first half; absolutely frothed it (apart from probably the shifting POVs but that's a personal thing - I'll get over it one day probably). But got to the halfway mark and I guess...stopped enjoying it as much? Insta-love seemed a bit //too// insta-lovey and random in this one? And the story time-hopped a bit too uncomfortably to flow well. I did like the vibe though, and am definitely glad I read this one.

VERY EXCITED to see where Kerri Turner goes next; Australia needs more fresh voices in historical fiction! Thanks Netgalley!!