DNF. I wish this book was stronger! The cover is beautiful and the concept is so appealing but the execution is where it falls short. The writing was bland. The descriptions were poor and it just fell flat in my opinion. It felt like the mc rarely explained how she was feeling and explained what places/things looked like around her. The stakes were high (because of the plot) but I didn't feel that through the writing.

Back when I was a youngling the Anastasia movie was shiny and new and I thought the whole thing was rather tragically romantic. Also, what if she wasn’t really killed alongside the rest of her family? That’s basically the gist of this book, but with magic, powerful artifacts, and a dash of love story thrown in for fun.

This book follows the general events and timeline of the Romanovs’ capture and final days at the hand of the Soviets. Anastasia is entrusted with the protection of a nesting doll that holds vast magics that may save the Romanov family, but can only be used in the direst of circumstances. A significant amount the plot is dedicated to her hiding/losing/finding/trying to use this item, which upon reflection does make sense since it may be the only thing that can save her family. The remainder of the plot revolved around interactions amongst the family and Anastasia’s suspicion of a particular handsome guard turning towards friendship. The ending portion of the book was definitely stretched a bit far into the fantasy realm, but props to the author for her creativity.

Overall I enjoyed magical retelling of the most well-known royal downfalls in history. It seems to have been written with a great deal of historical research and a creative flair that helped to bring the characters to life. There’s a brief section at the end of the book that describing which events and characters were true to life and what was stretched or outright invented. I enjoy historical fictions that bring forth my curiosity on a particular subject or event – it often ends with hours digging through Wikipedia.

Retellings and historical fiction have been popular lately, as have fantasy stories. This book combines all three elements. Nadine Brandes takes the rumors surrounding Anastasia Romanov—did she survive her family’s execution—and merges it with spells and magic. I was intrigued by the premise as all three genres involved here are favorites of mine.

Unfortunately, this story falls flat. Brandes attempts to cover too many ideas and elements of history and magic without giving any of them their due diligence. It’s a shame because there is promise in the premise.

Disclaimer: This ARC was provided to me free by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

A historical fiction story of the Romanovs with a magical twist. Told from the perspective of Anastasia. Anastasia and her family are hoping that the White Army will rescue them from exile, but her father stresses how important it is for them to be kind and respectful to the Bolshevik's who are holding them captive. Anastasia holds a magic Matryoshka doll that could hold the key to her families escape. However, one of the Bolshevik commanders knows she has the Matryoshka doll and will do anything take it from her.

I received my copy as an arc from Netgalley.

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

In reality this was a heartbreaking story! The book did show quiet many of those horrible moments the family had to live through. I really enjoyed the idea of Anastasia 'escape' the way the author painted it!
Stories too far away from the truth make it hard to like, but the author did her research well.

It is a YA Love story with some bloody pages. If you are aware of this and the fact that magic is a thing in this story, you will have a great time with Nastya.

The only issue I had with this story, is that I missed the explanation for the spells. I get that it is magic and we have a certain imagination of that. But either I missed it, or it was not explained, how these spells work. How do they look? How do they work? That was all up to my imagination. Which is fine in a way, but I would have liked to know more about this whole spellthing.

Knowing the history of the Romanovs well was not bad for the reading experience. The book takes another turn, obviously.

Also I liked the writing style of the Author. I literally flew through the pages.

Historical based YA story with some magic and blood! I enjoyed it very much.

I really liked the plotting and politics in this book. It was full of intrigue and I did not predict where the story was headed. I enjoyed the familial aspects and the love interest. I hope to see more books from this author. The descriptive writing is amazing!

📚 BOOK REVIEW- ROMANOV by @nadinebrandes.Thankyou @netgalley and publishers for this copy.
✏️
'Romanov' is a historical fiction retelling about the Romanov royal family, part history and part fiction to all Anastasia fans with an alternative ending.
✏️
Grand Dutchess Anastasia Nikoleavna was Tsar Nikolas Romanov's daughter.Romanav family was executed in 1918 without any trial during Russian Revolution.But the real mystery came when their grave excavated in 20th century with only nine bodies with two were missing.
Anastasia as well as her brother Alexie were missing which led to so many questions.This novel gives answers to those questions in a fictional way. ✏️
The novel begins with the execution of Romanov family with the Tsar and Tsarina has been taken for trial leaving their son and daughters.
Anastasia Nastya has been given a single mission of smuggling an ancient spell for the salvation of her family while they gets exile to Siberia.But the Bolshevik officer Yurovsky was hunting the spell masters and the spells which made threat to Anastasia too.
.What happened to them in Siberia?
.Will Nastya be able to help her family??
✏️
I am in total love with Nastya and the whole Romanov family. I have heard vaguely about their history but after reading this I wanted to know more about them. The novel keeps our grip from the very first page until the end.Although the exile and prison life was stretched too much but it doesn't matter as that's the truth of their suffer. I love the romantic scenes in between, the twists and turns. The twist at the very end was created very well that the way Anastasia fans would love to. I highly recommend this book.
Rating ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3/5

Publication Date: May 7, 2019

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 15+ (violence, death, attempted suicide)

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Pages: 352

Amazon Link

Synopsis: The history books say I died.

They don’t know the half of it.

Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them . . . and he’s hunted Romanov before.

Nastya’s only chances of survival are to either release the spell, and deal with the consequences, or enlist help from Zash, the handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya’s never dabbled in magic before, but it doesn’t frighten her as much as her growing attraction for Zash. She likes him. She thinks he might even like her . . .

That is, until she’s on one side of a firing squad . . . and he’s on the other.

Review: So for the most part I really liked this book. I loved Nadine’s take on the Romanov’s story and how the book is so heavy in history. I already knew the history of their last days, but this book made it feel more personal and real. The plot was intriguing and the writing was well done. The characters were all well developed and I loved the magic in this book.

However, I did have some issues with the book. I don’t agree with how Rasputin was shown. From my research and knowledge of Rasputin I believe him to be… incredibly creepy and I can see evidence of where he might have been inappropriate of the kids. While his visits have been regarded as innocent, I find it creepy that a grown man would go into a nursery while the four girls were in their nightgowns (which were the equivalent of underwear in this time). I’ve just always had this weird feeling that there was more to the story than what was released and since the Romanovs were incredibly secretive it’s not hard to believe that there might have been more to the story. I worked with kids and have seen them in awful situations, the things that would give you nightmares. Second, I didn’t like the romance. It felt a little forced and off. Third, I didn’t like how the magic system wasn’t fully explained. It seemed to have really cool rules and I would have loved to see it more in the book and have it fully explained. It seemed that things happened at whims. And fourth, the book was a recap of the Romanov’s time in captivity until after halfway through the book. The main focus of Anastasia’s story is after the murders, but that didn’t happen until about 53% in the book. While the book was great and I liked it, I wish that more of the story focused on after the murders, because then the rest of the book felt really fast paced and confusing.

Verdict: A great fantasy retelling of Anastasia that any fan would appreciate.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Thank you to Netgalley, Thomas Nelson and Nadine Brandes for my arc of Romanov in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: a retelling of the story of Anastasia Romanov princess of Russia. A cross between historical fiction and fantasy, interwoven with spells and magic. Anastasia was given the mission to smuggle an ancient spell into Serbia under the noses of her family's guards, Anastasia doesn't have much experience with magic but she intends to do her best, and hopefully with the help of her handsome guard Zash.

My god I wanted to like this book so badly. I loved Nadine's other book Fawkes which retold the story of the Gunpowder plot with a magical element. I have always been fascinated with the Romanov's story since first watching Anastasia when I was little (I know it's so factually incorrect but I love it, no judgement). Anyway as I got older I researched the family and the history more and of course it is an incredibly interesting but heartbreaking story. The one thing I will give the author is that she kept very close to fact, I know some people have criticised her opinion of Nicholas as a kind and caring Tsar contrary to popular belief and historical fact but we need to remember this was from the POV of his young daughter who probably did believe that. She was a child.

So what was wrong with this story? Exclusively? It was just boring. Nothing happened. The first like 200 Pages was just a repeat of them going in the garden, sitting in their rooms, going in the garden, sitting in their rooms and while this may have been the case, I imagine being imprisoned was extremely tedious, it's just not what a reader wants to read, it's hard to immerse yourself in a world which isn't very exciting and where literally nothing is happening.

By the time it did pick up, I had in all honesty lost interest. The romance element made no sense except for in a Stockholm syndrome kind of way. The plot was all over the place and there was none of the Russian cultural and historical immersion I was expecting to find in there. If I'm reading historical fiction I usually like to learn something but I really didn't from this.

I'm really disappointed with how this turned out as I really, really wanted to love it!

This was such a cool book! Like Fawkes, it was a mixture of historical fact and magical fiction. The writing is beyond beautiful and so many lines took my breath away. I will definitely be recommending this book.

I’ve always found the lore and history around Rasputin and the Romanov family crazy interesting and I really enjoyed Brandes take on integrating spells and magic while keeping to the historical fiction genre. It made the story fantastical without making it fantasy.

I enjoyed Nastya immensely; her courage and drive are something to look up to. I enjoyed how she’s able to handle herself and confident in her abilities, while at the same time having moments of weakness and failure. Her struggle with forgiveness was a great theme for the book. I anxiously turned the pages wanting to know what happens next. Now I gotta go pick up Fawkes.

First, let me get this out of the way - I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
So - I was super excited about this book especially because of my fascination with anything remotely related to Anastasia. The disappearance makes me squirm with excitement of the unknown. I went into this super intrigued. This was a good spin with a magical element unfolding with Anastasia's tale and I enjoyed Zash a lot and could empathize with the Bolshevik times. But, somewhere along the way, it fell flat. I wasn't invested in the story or the characters. The middle was a little too draggy for me and I didnt feel any suspense or chills as i would have expected too.
I loved the ending and the little tidbits at the end around the actual story and how the author had incorporated fictional elements into the actuality of the Romanov family was wonderful though!

I was very excited to read this book, but unfortunately it just fell flat for me. As someone who has always been interested in the last Tsar of Russia and the assassination of his family, this retelling of their last days sounded like a great read. Focusing on Anastasia and her brother, the plot seemed to drag right out of the gate. The book began long before the family's assassination, which to me created a pall and feeling of impending doom over everything. It caused me to not want to invest to much in Anastasia's family, knowing what would soon happen to them. That was not really much of a problem, however, because most of the secondary characters felt very one-dimensional and uninteresting.
The magical aspect of the story was not well-explained, and I never got a good grasp of it. It was barely brushed upon through most of the book and then at the end all of the plot elements completely revolved around magic, so it seemed uneven and tacked on. The conclusion felt very rushed and too much like the author was trying to give everyone a happy ending. This book disappointed me and I considered not finishing it, but ended up skimming most of it.

We know the story. Anastasia Romanov as well as the rest of her family--father Tsar Nickolas, Tsarina Alexandra, and her siblings Olga, Maria, Tatiana and Alexei, were brutally executed by the Bolsheviks after being forced to abdicate the Russian throne in 1918. Romanov supposes that the story we know took a mystical turn. Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov is given a mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them . . . and he’s hunted Romanov before.

Nastya’s only chances of saving herself and her family are either to release the spell and deal with the consequences, or to enlist help from Zash, the handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya’s only dabbled in magic, but it doesn’t frighten her half as much as her growing attraction for Zash. She likes him. She thinks he might even like her . . .that is, until she’s on one side of a firing squad . . . and he’s on the other.

Honestly, I could not put the book down. The fascination with the Romanov's and their horrific downfall remains today over 100 years later. The storytelling and characterization are well balanced with the historical facts as well as artistic license.

I must say that I have never been particularly interested in history when it was a subject in school. Pushing through historical facts was something I found rather boring. Historical books were also something I never wanted to read and ignored most of the time. But there is a niche that definitely interests me – historical fiction. I just love reading historical stories with a fantasy twist! So, when I heard that Nadine Brandes was re-writing the story of Anastasia Romanov, I was extremely hyped. And I was lucky enough to be part of Nadine’s Street Team and an organised ARC World Tour for Romanov.

Romanov is such a great re-telling. This book is full of magic, historical facts and undying love between family members. It follows the story of Anastasia Romanov, also known as Nastya – youngest daughter of the last tsar of Russia – and brings it to life. It covers everything from historical facts, intrigue and political schemes but also shows the loving atmosphere between the members of the Romanov family. It is easy to fall in love with Nastya – all of her emotions and flaws are openly written on her sleeve and as a reader, I felt incredibly connected to her as a character.

Without wanting to fill this review with spoilers, Romanov is definitely a rollercoaster of emotions – in the best way possible. Hope and fear, love and loss, excitement and helplessness. All of this is covered by the story and it takes you on an incredible journey. The book was able to really make me crave to get to know the Romanov family even more and more often than not, I wished this story to be the true one – complete with the magic and the ending of the book, which I won’t tell you here.

While most of the first half of the book follows the true story of the Romanov’s – of course with some stretches on the story’s behalf – the second half of the book is what came from Nadine’s imagination. She fills the books with a magical touch and a joy that you can’t find in the original story. It is easy to be swept away in this beautiful retelling and I am in awe of Nadine’s writing skills.

As someone who loves fiction books/novels based on historical events I found Romanovs utterly fascinating!! I LOVE show the book was pretty accurate on a lot of points but still made you think “what if”? I think a lot of people who are fascinated with the Romanovs and especially the Anastasia twist will love this book!! I sure did!!

Since I was a child I loved the movie Anastasia so when I saw the announcement for this book I knew I have to read it. Then I saw it on here and was so happy to be able to read it before it even comes out.
I love the take Nadine Brandes takes on the story and can't wait to get a physical copy and live through the magical story of Anastasia again.

"Yes. With all of my broken Romanov heart"

* *
2 / 5

I'm not particularly familiar with Russian history, but I am a sucker for magical realism and I enjoyed Brandes' other book, Fawkes, so I decided to give Romanov a shot. The spells and magic aspect of the book is awesome, but the story itself was so incredibly slow. Perhaps this was my fault, not knowing that Anastasia Romanov spent most of her life under lock and key in a house, but I do feel like the book needed a much faster pace.

"Spells from the old artists of Russia were now forbidden. I liked forbidden things"

I haven't seen Anastasia and I'm not particularly familiar with Russian history, but I decided to give Romanov a shot. I love magical realism and the spells bit of this was awesome, but the story itself was incredibly slow (which I suppose I would have known if I knew anything about the Romanovs!), The Romanov family was the ruling dynasty in Russia, until Tsar Nicholas II abdicated under pressure from the Bolsheviks. The family is separated and placed under house arrest.

The main character is Anastasia "Nastya" Romanov, a young woman who idolises her father and loves her younger brother, Alexei, who is in ill health and has haemophilia. They're stressed, anxious, and wondering if they're all about to die. It's a pretty dark storyline, but to be honest it bored me. There was only so much worrying that I could put up with without anything more exciting happening that Nastya's sister flirting with some guard. 

Romanov will probably be of much more interest for someone familiar with Russian history. I'm not entirely sure how factual it was, but even the addition of magic and some bad romance couldn't make the book more exciting for me.

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of Romanov

This e-book was given in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited when I saw this book here at NetGalley and made a point of asking for it. I like a lot about the mystery surrounding Anastacia's story and the premise also seemed very interesting.

I really liked the idea of ​​including magic in the story, it gave a touch of originality to it. The characters also brought a wide range of emotions throughout story and got me involved with it from beginning to end.

I was expecting a little more action, but it took me a little while to find the rhythm of reading, which was a bit slower than I'd like. But the originality of the story and the immutable historical facts kept me stuck with it 'til the end.

Overall, it is a very interesting book, especially for young adult readers and for those who enjoy urban fantasy, with a historical twist.

I was pleased with the story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
First the cover is amazing it is what drew me in to this story. It doesn't hurt that I love the story of Anastasia.
The story started off very slow for me. I grew bored with the main character and her constant describing of herself as being a trouble maker. The first half was nothing but Nastya whining of the way her life has changed. She was made to appear strong but in the face of her love interest she didn't seem so to me.

It wasn't until the last 100 pages that I felt the story really started moving. I felt I never really got to know any of the characters. With brief snippets of background, I never became invested in any of the characters. I still do not understand how spells came into play other than saving her family which we did not see developed until very later in the story. The world building was slim to none unless counting vague scenes of the garden and what little we were giving of the rest of the home. Details were giving that were vague I wished they had been explained further. I did not mind the violence, it really started making the story interesting. It was at the point when things really started moving. It took so much boring filler to get there. Overall the last half of the story really made up for the lack of plot in the beginning.