knew going in that Romanov would be an emotional read. A fantasy novel about the Russian royal family’s incarceration told from the view point of Grand Duchess Anastasia, it could hardly be a cheery book; after all, the horrifying historical ending to that imprisonment is common knowledge. However, in the first half of this novel, the author brings her characters to life with such clarity and compassion that she created a far more beautiful and moving story than I had prepared myself for.

The revolution has taken place and the Romanov family is living under house arrest in Tobolsk when we join them. The emperor has urged his children to befriend their guards in an effort to show the men that the family members are both ordinary humans and loyal Russians who want only what is best for the nation. Their behavior is to indicate in every way that they have no desire to be returned to the throne and want only to live quietly in exile. The plan is working beautifully until the Bolsheviks arrive.

At that point, the family is wrenched apart. The Tsar and Tsarina, along with daughter Maria, are taken away so that the Tsar may stand trial. As the Tsar prepares to leave, he steals a moment with Nastya (Anastasia) to give her an important mission. She must hide the family Matryoshka doll, which contains powerful spells that are their only chance of salvation.

Nastya has only a limited knowledge of spell work but even that limited knowledge is more than her siblings have. She is curious about the doll and its magic but can’t figure out how to use it. Regardless, her father warned her to save the spells within the doll until “the end” and while their situation is dire, all hope has not been lost. Nastya is distracted from her thoughts about all this by a most unexpected source. She has become fascinated by a young Bolshevik named Zash, a handsome soldier who seems as interested in her as she is in him. When, on a midnight scouting expedition she searches his belongings and finds a forbidden substance, she grows even more determined to discover all there is to know about him.

Then she learns a horrifying truth. Her father never got a trial but was moved to a dank prison in Ekateringburg along with the Tsarina and Maria. She and her brother and sisters are forced to join them. The confinement is brutal: they are allowed outdoors for only an hour or two a day, the food is limited, there are lice and the area smells. There are bright sides too, though. Nastya and her sister Maria continue to befriend the Bolshevik guards, especially Zash and his equally adorable friend Ivan. History tells us that this ends with the soldiers on one side of a firing squad and the girls on another.

It should go without saying that historical novels are not history books. The author uses artistic license throughout, especially with the ending of the story. Additionally, Nastya sees her family far differently than history sees them and that is reflected in this text. Here, her father is a wise and loving head of his family, a man who loves Russia and its people; history tends to record a weak, fallible Tsar who led his nation to near ruin. The family see themselves as simple and humble folk, ready to be exiled to a “quaint Russian village and live out the rest of their lives as the common people did.” My own understanding of Russian history, which I will grant is limited, says they had no idea how the common people lived. For example, at one point, Nastya complains about the bread, tea and soup diet they are forced to eat and speaks of how it is starving them . One of the soldiers has to point out that they are living on the same rations. She complains about the homes they are staying in, but all of them have rooms like dining rooms and living rooms and libraries, something that many homes at that time did not have. The Romanovs had a personal physician for Alexi with them, as well as a maid for the Tsarina and a cook. Those things were probably not available to many of their subjects.

It would be easy to read that and judge Nastya and her family for their aristocratic tendencies but the author does a wonderful job of showing them as kind and loving people, getting by the best they can and adjusting to their circumstances as well as they are able. She also takes pains to show us the humanity of the guards, who often do little things to make life for the Romanov’s a bit easier.

Because the family is confined to their prisons/homes in the early part of the tale, the emphasis is on the characters and their lives. In the second portion, almost everything that occurs takes place while the characters are on the move, meaning that action drives the narrative. This latter portion also concentrates far more on the fantasy and inspirational/faith aspects of the story. The theme of forgiveness, which had been central to the narrative throughout, becomes almost painfully bombastic as everything progresses. No nuance is utilized at all, making the discussion of the topic overly simplistic and one sided. I also struggled with the fantasy/magic in the tale. Nastya had a book on spell mastery but we are never told what the manual contained, only what it did not. Regardless, I felt like her knowledge after reading it was even more rudimentary than mine and I’ve never read a single spell book. I blame this, in part, on her father. He gave her the Matryoshka doll but never took the time out to explain it or the magic it wielded to her. We see the family discuss other secrets, but this, their most powerful one, is never explained to the person who most needs that explanation. The weakness of this narrative thread, combined with the near preaching tone on the subject of forgiveness, detracted a tiny bit from what was actually a pretty exciting sequence of events.

The positive aspect of the second half of the story is that we do get to see Nastya in a much more authoritative and active role. Throughout the tale we get to enjoy her irrepressible spirits, her impish nature, and bubbly personality but watching her put all that into action was a lot of fun. This portion of the tale is also much more hopeful than the early section.

Romanov may not be perfect but it is a touching, remarkable novel. The prose is enchanting and piquant, and paints rich, emotional images. The subject matter is thought-provoking; not just what happened to the royal family but what caused things to get to the point of revolution. I’ve been haunted by the book, the sad fate of the Romanovs and everything surrounding the momentous night when they were shot since finishing it. I would strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a poignant take on an important piece of modern history.

This book instantly caught my attention. I just couldn’t put it down. It is hard to resist a good tale about Anastasia. Even after all these years people still wonder about her. I enjoyed the fantasy aspect of this story too. Jessica Ball does a great job narrating the audiobook. If you are an audio fan, I definitely recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book, which I voluntarily chose to review.

This book should have blown me away with the expectations I had for it, but unfortunately I was left slightly disappointed.

I'm not a massive reader of historical books. I stick to fantasy, sci-fi and contemporary fiction a good 90% of the time. The other 10% constitutes everything else. So for me to pick up a historical/magical realism book, it obviously appealed to me, and after hearing wonderful things about Fawkes Brandes' other book, my expectations were probably higher than they should have been.



Combining the world of magic with 1910s Russia, with the major focus on the Romanovs (a family many people, including myself, are drawn to) this book sounded like something I would love. The two topics are things I love to read about, but by the end of this book I felt let down a little. I wanted more of a plot. More intense action.

What I got was a mediocre attempt at action, sporadically placed in the last hundred pages, and climax with a typical happy ending scenario.

We all know the story of the Romanov family. How they were usurped by the Bolsheviks, reduced to common citizens, and eventually killed in July 1917. We also know the story of Anastasia Romanov, and how many believed she had survived the slaughter. This tackles both. For the first half of the book we are shown the lives of the Romanov family under house arrest, which despite the preamble being necessary, lacked action and plot.
I understand the necessity of it. After all, there has to be a build up the inevitable deaths of the family, but this took a good portion of the book, and despite the two romances, there was little happening. So little happening sometimes, that the author skips days out.
This almost made this feel like a drag, waiting for real plot to begin. I found myself wanting to skip through to the second half, but determined to read it in it's entirety, I carried on diligently.

Once the turning point happened, the action suddenly came in waves, bordering on too much action to keep up with in such a short space of time. Because of the problems caused during the slaughter, there is a need for urgency, but despite this being spread out over 3 days, it felt much more like 3 hours. One minute the family is being shot to death in a cellar, the next Nastya is fighting the Bolshevik commandant in the middle of a forest, after a wild train journey.

But despite my problems with the plot, I still enjoyed it. Maybe not as much as hoped, nor as much as I've liked other magical realism stories, but I did like it. The characters were strong, the history well researched, and the prose captivating.
Nastya, Alexei, Maria and Zash were all fleshed out and fantastically written, and the enemy scary enough to imagine as a real person. The author note at the end was particularly well written (I do have a penchant for historical fiction afterwords) and I enjoyed learning that little bit more about such a poignant moment in history.
If you enjoy magical realism, and love a good historial fiction, you'd probably love this a whole lot more than me, but this time around, this just didn't work out the way I hoped it would.

A brilliant take on the Romanov tale. The story flows well, with truly wonderful writing. Though there have been many theories around Anastasia Romanov, this book is by no means tired or ‘done before’. A well balanced story I would recommend to anyone, not just Russian history fans.

I finally managed to pick up the eARC that had been sitting on my Kindle waiting to be read for a while now. I managed to even finish it in a space of a few days, when I actually managed to pick it up that is.  When I requested this book from NetGalley I wasn’t entirely sure what the book was about as I’m not very familiar with Russian history. However, the description sounded good and also I really liked the front cover.

So let’s get down to what I thought of the book.

I really enjoyed this book. I raced through the first half of it and thought the story had a good mix of historical facts, fantasy elements that stopped the story from feeling too heavy. I did struggle a bit through the second half of the book.

There were a few inaccuracies in the details of the story which sort of made it unbelievable. The main one that comes to mind while writing this is  what happens to Anastasia/Nastya’s brother while suffering from his medical condition. This made it unbelievable as even with magic he shouldn’t be able to do what he did. (I really can’t say much more as it would result spoilers.)

I liked how the tale of the Romanov family is told through Anastasia/Nastya’s point of the view it.

I really liked the characters. I loved the wonderful relationship that Anastasia/Nastya and her family had with each other. It felt so pure and real. Anastasia/Nastya was my favourite character I liked her loyalty to her family and the people she comes across. I also liked her little playful antics, they added some fun to the storyline.

This was my first book by Nadine Brandes and I really enjoyed it even with the minor issues I had with it. A book that I would definitely recommend especially if you like historical fiction with a bit of magic and fantasy thrown in then this book is definitely for you.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher Thomas Nelson for my eARC in return for an honest and unbiased review.

4/5 stars to Romanov by Nadine Brandes. This e-arc was provided by @netgalley and I am excited to tell all that I enjoyed and felt a lot with this one!

Romanov is a YA Historical Fiction with a bit of fantasy that tells the heartfelt yet tragic story of the Royal Russian family the Romanovs. Some of you may know the famous Duchess and Princess Anastasia Romanov (from the 1997 Anastasia movie.) Before diving right into this book I watched a few documentaries of this family because I wanted to know their history and the facts. I grew invested in this family and their love for each other. I grew to sympathize for them for they were brutally wronged. And just as I dived into this book I immediately appreciated how close to the real history the author chose to stick by but of course with her own plot and elements to it. I really liked Nadine’s writing and her way of storytelling. This book was rather slow paced in the beginning but I didn’t mind that at all. It in a way made the story feel REAL and not because it DID happen, I could literally SEE the way they were treated and how they lived. I loved everything that this family stood for: Love & Forgiveness. I loved how Nastya’s character was developed, she’s so strong willed, understanding and selfless. I loved her relationship with her brother, father and sister Maria. I was slightly disappointed that her other sisters and mother weren’t developed or as involved in the story but it was no huge problem for me. Zash was a character that I slowly grew to like and trust. It was disheartening with some of his choices but I understood his position and his regrets. This book was honestly very sad because I knew where it was leading up to; the night they were all wrongfully executed. But there was always hope too and I enjoyed Nadine’s version of what happened after that night and was happy that by the end everything ended well, something I wish really ended with the Romanov’s.

I struggled with this book, which is crazy because I love anything about this time period. I'm not sure what didnt work for me.

This book provided a wonderful opportunity to learn about and become close to the last Russian tsar and his family during their captivity. They truly came alive, so much so that their inevitable fate was almost too much to bear and haunted me for days after reading about it. In the end, though, “Romanov” ends on a glimmer of hope, proving that even in the midst of darkness and tragedy, love and forgiveness can prevail. Anastasia and her brother find a way to move forward and keep their family’s legacy alive.

We are at the beginning of the 20th century, by now the Romanovs have no more power and Russia is in the middle of a revolution. You think I went to review Russian history to be able to give a correct judgment to this novel and I must say that, except for some justifiable inconsistency due to the fantasy factor, the story unfolds as described in school books. We readers enter the mind of Anastasia, known as Nastya, the fourth child of former Tsar Nicolaj II and former Tsarina Aleksandra, whom many of us, including myself, know from Fox's animated film. For this novel, forget that fictional version. Brandes tried, with satisfactory results, to recreate the character of Nastya as described in the true story. She was the most rebellious and lively daughter of the tsar and for this reason she was nicknamed shvibzik (tomboy/brawler in russian). Through her eyes we see a family united against adversity and fear, the malice and distrust of the Bolsheviks, the pain and hope for the Russian people.

For more than half of the novel I felt only boredom and to proceed with reading I almost made me psychological violence. Only travel, life as prisoners, nothing particularly exciting that could keep me glued to the pages. The Romanovs are in exile, constantly surrounded and guarded by the Bolsheviks who see them as absolute evil. In reality they are a family that has always wanted to live in simplicity and has tried to lend a hand to people in need. But all this amounts to a guilt for Russia because their desire to be ordinary people and to have avoided worldly life has removed them from their duty as rulers, neglecting the people and giving rise to misunderstandings and bitter rebellions. Nastya loves her family and esteems her father very much as an example of goodness and justice. In this regard, I believe that the author has too much idealized Tsar Nicolaj, although I later thought that this was natural given that we see the story through the eyes of a daughter who deeply loves her father. He reminds her to be good and to forgive their captors who are only following orders but more they go on with the story, more these good intentions seem difficult to follow. I certainly can't blame her since the enemy treats them with contempt, leaving them just a few tiny luxury to go out for a few minutes in the open air and then execute them. But during imprisonment there is little hope and it has the shape of a matryoshka that could contain a spell that could save the family. The mission of Nastya is this: to hide it from the enemies until it was time to use it. But time is running out and the end seems close.

I want to make it clear that this is not romance, there are inevitable and pain-filled scenes like the unjustified execution of the Romanovs. Unjustified because it was not necessary to kill five innocent young people and the two parents without, however, a regular trial. This part of history really upset me. Consider that before I was too tied to the fairy tale version of Fox so you can imagine what a shock it is to discover the truth.
The romance part is really reduced to a minimum, leaving space for the history and the fantasy elements. And if we really want to be honest, this love story particle has also been unnerving and disappointing. Well, ladies and gentlemen, we are dealing with the Stockholm syndrome. Nastya is "interested" in Zash almost from the first glance and although he treats her coldly, she does not give up and manages to get close to him slowly. Showing kindness, she thought she could afford to have at least one friend in that prison but when she thought she had found it, the betrayal was hard to forgive. But despite being reject as a couple, I must say that I did not mind the characters of Nastya and Zash. And I will tell you, I think it would have been more interesting to hear the story of the latter than of Nastya. She is a rebellious Grand Duchess, a noblewoman who didn't want luxury but just being with her family while Zash is part of the people, a man who goes too far to protect those he loves. Overcoming this imaginary border will cost the heart and the soul but time heals every wound and the two young people will have to make room for forgiveness and love in order to move forward. Cute also the character of Aleksej, the only son of the tsar and the "little one of the house". Suffering from health and much loved by parents and sisters, he has a playful and, if necessary, serious character. He could have become a good ruler, but destiny wanted differently. It gave me so much tenderness.

Then we have the fantasy part. There are not so many elements but those few that we find in the worldbuilding I found them pleasant and interesting. Nastya's dream is to become a spell master. Use spells and potions as freely as Rasputin had taught them. Through a magic ink spell she managed to make the little brother's pain disappear and with the matryoshka in her possession she can't wait to use the magic it contains. Obviously magic is forbidden if you do not have the consent of the Bolsheviks but this will not stop her from practicing it.

To sum up I can say that I found more defects than merits in this reading. However, I don't feel like completely rejecting the novel. I felt bored and angry but also pleasure and sweetness in reading the adversities of this unfortunate family. In spite of everything, I felt close to them and I suffered injustice head on, also feeling hope for a free future. A book for which I had perhaps too high expectations. I was too happy to have finally found a retelling on one of my favorite characters, understand me since there are really very few. It's a shame because it could be something really wonderful.

Romanov, by Nadine Brandes, is an intriguing retelling of the Romanov family confinement and execution and the Bolshevik assumption of power. In the interest of transparency, I confess to having a love-hate relationship with this particular episode of history. On one hand, I remember watching with my mother the movie “Anastasia,” mesmerized with the romance and pathos of the story. I confess to reading most of the novels which portray one sister (usually Anastasia) as the hero and her family as noble victims. On the other hand, my read of history is that the Romanovs were careless, weak, indulgent, ruthless rulers who allowed thousands, if not millions, of their people to die. They were hardly the kind, heroic victims who loved their people.

All that being said, this is an engrossing novel, combining the common elements of the Anastasia “escape” story with magical power. Indeed, Brandes does create a heroine of worth, courage, and loyalty. Anastasia struggles to do right and use the power of magic to do good, despite anger and vengeance. In some ways I am reminded of Harry Potter and his use of power.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Publishers for the opportunity to read an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good book. A simplistic statement but one I'm happy to make. I was nervous about reading this because I'm such a fan of the Disney movie and wasn't sure I would be ready to read another version. Thankfully, Ms. Brandes' writing skills easily pulled me into a new version. The plot kept me engaged and kept me turning the pages until I finally finished.
There were lots of great quotes in here too. One of my favorites: "I finally realized why Papa always asked me to forgive. Because it takes more strength and courage to forgive than it does to enact revenge." Beautifully stated.
I look forward to future books by Ms. Brandes.

*I received a complimentary copy via NetGalley. My review was not required nor influenced.

The TL;DR version of how I ended up with this e-arc was I was playing around on Netgalley to possibly prepare for another book coming out when I saw this. I had heard good things about Nadine Brandes’ writing, so I thought I would submit to see how the process worked. Someone, I was approved.

This book is great, guys.

This book had two things that I really enjoyed. the first was the characters. All of the characters seemed real; this is important because the characters were actually real and therefore, they need to reflect what history and those witnesses say that they are. Second, the characters being real allows for the stakes to seem higher, especially since we know the ending. Even the secondary characters and the characters we see for brief moments let us experience what the characters are experiencing.

The second thing that I enjoyed was the atmosphere that I felt while reading. Because we know the ending, it is easy to just read the book and expect things to go a certain way and have no emotional attachment. However, with this atmosphere I felt dread coming as if it were happening in real time, especially since we all know how it ends. I was also curious as to how they were going to get out of the situation (and if they were). This book kept me engaged for the whole time and I didn’t want to read anything else.

There was one thing that I didn’t like, but it is a personal preference instead of an actual problem within the book; in fact it wasn’t the author’s fault but the marketing team. Sometime soon (hopefully) I’ll explain in more detail what I liked with more spoilers on my blog; but for now, know that I highly recommend this book.
Recommended 14+ for violence, death, magic, and romance.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Ever since the animated movie, Anastasia, came out, I've been fascinated by the Romanovs, so I was excited to get an ARC of Nadine Brandes' YA novel, Romanov (c/o NetGalley). I was eager to see how she handled this tragedy for a young adult audience and was intrigued with the element of magic.
Despite the touch of fantasy, this is not a happy story and the first half of the novel follows history fairly closely. It's when the worst happens that Brandes starts to play around with the story and attempts to take the reader on a thrilling journey that does not shy away from heavy topics like grief and forgiveness.
While I would have preferred a happier retelling along the lines of My Lady Jane, I thought this book was very well done, and the cover is gorgeous.

Romanov takes place in the early 1900s. I found the characters and story very interesting. I liked the magical twist.

The story of Anastasia Romanov has been re-written several times, including as a Disney musical. Romanov by Nadine Brandes puts a different twist to the possible survival of our favorite Russian princess. Given the task of carrying a magical relic through their captivity by the Bolshevik’s, we see a different side of Anastasia (Nastya) Romanov. Through her eyes, we see the fear, despair, and love that Nastya feels for her family and the hope that this matrushka doll she carries has a spell that can help her overcome all odds.

If Anastasia was anything like the Nastya on these pages, it was no wonder the world loved her. This Nastya was sassy, sweet, mischievous, and clever. A story that could’ve very easily been gray and dull was filled with an ebullience and light because of her character. Not to say that there wasn’t a lot of heartache in this tale because, of course, there was. However, her character embodied hope and determination and as the reader, I couldn’t help but buy into this alternate ending to the traumatic end to the Russian dynasty.

If I had anything critical to say about this novel it would be that I wished there’d been a little bit more magic and fantasy elements to the story. At the same time I was glad that the author kept the details historically accurate. Yeah, I know those two things kind of contradict one another, but I felt it was almost in the fantasy genre, but fell just short. I wasn’t too disappointed because I did get a happy-ish ending for Anastasia which she most likely didn’t get in real life.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a free ARC of this novel through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest!

I’m not that familiar with Russian history but I have heard of Anastasia Romanov and I really want to read a book about her. That’s the first reason why I requested this the moment I saw it on Netgalley. Second, God I love the cover. It really is so beautiful and gorgeous. Just so pretty.

(Please note that I am talking about the fictional book I read, not the real history. I will never comment on a history I’m not familiar with.)

Anyway, let’s get on with stuff that matters more in the book. First, the plot. I believe this is a Historical Fiction and I’m all for it. Like I said, I’m not really that familiar with the history where it’s based, so I really enjoyed navigating through the Romanov’s life even though, yes, they’re not experiencing good things. In fact, they experienced such horrible things, my heart really goes for them. The author did succeed at making this an emotional read. But, sadly, the ‘Fantasy’ side of the story ruins it for me. I don’t mind reading a Historical Fantasy but in this case, it seemed like the author couldn’t decide if the story should be Historical Fiction or you know, just a fantasy. It’s because the Fantasy element, ‘the magic’, seemed forcedly included. Maybe it’s just me but the focus of the plot is just too conflicting. There are times that I felt like two separate things are going on in the book. The romance too, it seemed out-of-place. I would’ve been okay without it and settle for friendship.

The Characters are OK. I don’t really have any major problem with them. I like the consistency of the characters. Especially Nastya, her loyalty to her people and family and her playful antics. Her antics added some light, fun element in the storyline. I love that. Though I have one little issue about the characters. Actually more like about the narration. This is written in the first POV, with Nastya as the narrator, and maybe that’s why she can’t help but say good things about the Romanov. Like I said, I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE REAL HISTORY AND COMMENTING ABOUT THE FICTIONAL THAT I’VE READ. Nastya, in her narration, portrayed the Romanovs as perfect, humble, kind people. They’re without any blemish and I find that too pretentious. The thing is this is fiction, so maybe at least give these characters something humane. Their sufferings are humane, yes, but their personalities? Nope, they’re perfect.

The thing is the author made the Bolsheviks as human as possible. Nastya would say something like, they’re Bolsheviks and it’s not their fault that they’re in the other side of the fight. They fight for what they believe. I hope the story gave the Romanovs a little personality flaw the same way a good thing was given to the Bolsheviks.

Lastly, the writing. Too many metaphors and simile. I swear, it’s like every other sentence is a figure of speech. In some way, I’m amazed by the author coming up with plenty of metaphors and similes with but using all of them in one book is a bit too much.

Overall, this book is a solid 3-star for me. I know it seemed like I have a lot of problems with it. I do but if you look closely, I liked every element of the book, only I also found something to dislike in each of those elements. So 3 stars is fair. If you like Historical fiction with a bit of magic, this book is for you.

Having had my mind blown by Ms Brandes's previous fact-meets-fiction novel Fawkes I was more than a little apprehensive about this meeting the same exceptional standard, but it turned out to be a completely unnecessary concern. Romanov is one of my favourite novels of the year so far, and it's so breathtakingly beguiling that I started to have issues with just how rapidly I was eating into the page count. Because this was so hypnotic and beautiful every fibre of my being was recommending that I savour it, but I was simply so immersed in the compelling tale that no matter how hard I tried I couldn't slow my reading speed and wasn't entirely sure whether I wanted to either.

Anastasia Romanov[a] was the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last sovereign of Imperial Russia, and his wife. It is widely believed that she was murdered alongside her family by a group of Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg on July 17, 1918. However, after her death rumours persisted of her possible escape, fueled by the fact that the location of her burial was unknown. If you appreciate a rich, authentic historical fiction based on real events with an engaging and realistic sense of time and place written in mesmerising, lyrical prose you could do a damn sight worse than picking this up.

Those who enjoy writers like Katherine Arden will find lots to love here in this original work. Brandes is criminally underrated despite her majestic creations, authentic atmosphere which capture both the tension of 1918 Russia, the Russan Revolution and the landscape of place in an alluring manner. A sublime story and one you don't read but you live. Unreservedly recommended to all. This is an unforgettable book which demands to be reread. I've since purchased my own copy for my bookshelf, to sit alongside Fawkes, as the artwork is beyond divine. Many thanks to Thomas Nelson for an ARC.

A Romanov story that entrenched in the facts with a twist of fantasy and some stretched truths. The brutal reality of the Romanov story is one full of heart ache and you can feel it in every inch of this story. The movie is a fixture in a lot of Anastasia fans with the magic and mystery. The reality is a lot more brutal then what you see in the Disney movie, they were exiled, they were murdered and we can only hope that Anastasia and her brother really did survive for a time.

What made this story for me was it was so close to truth but it gave you heart with the dash of fantastical magic that is woven into the story. The desperate hope that you cling to that this magic will heal and will fix all the heartache that is inflicted on this family life. I really loved the solution towards the end that Anastasia really stuck to her family belief that you have to forgive those who done you harm in order to move on.

The ending was as beautiful as it could be in the trenches of all that had transpired. I almost which their were more story to tell that we get too see Anastasia fulfill her dreams of becoming a Spell Magister. That we get to see Alexei become the solider for the people that he truly wanted to be. I really enjoyed this historical fiction tale mixed with just a bit of fantasy.

Romanov by Nadine Brandes is a retelling of Anastasia Romanov. The first two-thirds of the book follow the Romanov family as they move from Tobolsk to Ekateringburg. I still don't know how I totally feel about this book. Part of me thinks that I may have been expecting too much. I felt like this was very textbook for awhile. Something you could almost read out of a history book up until you start getting to the fantasy elements of the book which is only in the last third.

Some things I liked:

I really like the family relationships. Nastya had a wonderful relationship with her sister and a wonderful one with her father. I really enjoyed reading this aspect. You could definitely feel the connection that this family had with each other.
Brandes is able to write amazing characters. I really enjoyed the fact that she could bring a character to life and really make you love them.
The romance was lovely. I will leave it at that.
I like that Brandes made the story unique and fun to her style. She too a story from history and added some twists and turns. She add heart and love. I enjoyed that aspect a lot.
All though this is not my favorite book ever written it was a cute read and I am glad that I picked it up. This book is worth reading just for the characters. Do I think it could have been executed better? Yes. The story turned out beautiful all the same. You should give it a shot because you will love these characters.

Romanov, by Nadine Brandes, caught my attention because 1) its gorgeous cover, and 2) I love the idea of fictionalizing historical events, with a dash of magic thrown in.

Though we might all, more or less, have an awareness of what happened to the Romanov family, this tale actually begins when the family is already in exile and is more of a story of domestic life than one of revolution. It’s also a story of kindness, forgiveness, and true devotion to country. I found the book to be engaging, so much so that I nearly forgot about the impending death of almost all of the Romanovs, wondering if the magic spells in the story would work to save the family and if Nastya would discover them in time to save her family.

One element of the narrative that I found distracting is the overwhelming way in which the author encourages forgiveness and “turning the other cheek.” In my opinion there are many ways to think about forgiveness and ways to go about it, but the way that Nastya handled some of the situations seemed like it could be a harmful depiction of forgiveness and possibly confusing for the age group that this book is targeted toward. However, if you can overlook that, it is an enjoyable work that provides a twist on a long-told tale and mystery.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review of #Romanov