Actually 2.5 stars
Catherine I of Russia was a woman of humble beginnings who rose to become Peter the Great’s second wife and later ruled in her own right as Empress Regnant of Russia. Yet, despite her fascinating and unlikely rise to the Russian throne, very few have ever dared to tell her story, as much focus has been on her granddaughter-in-law, Catherine the Great. In Tsarina, Catherine tells her own story-from her life in poverty as a serf in Estonia to the moment she takes the throne as Empress Regnant of Russia. Tsarina also shows a strong woman who overcomes much tragedy to become the most powerful woman in Russia.

Even though Catherine is the narrator and is the central figure of the novel, she often feels like an anti-heroine. If she was a character in a fairytale, she would play the role of The Evil Queen. Therefore, I disliked Catherine throughout most of this novel and saw her story more as a villainess’s story than as a heroine. I found Catherine to be very tough and strong-willed. She also loved her step-son and tried her best to protect him from his abusive father. Catherine is also very loyal to her friends. Yet, throughout the novel, Catherine does many cruel and wicked deeds. Some of those wicked deeds were so appalling that it made me want to put down the book and not read any further. I often wondered if I should continue reading her story. After I took a long break I resumed my reading, but still feeling sorry for those women she had hurt.

Catherine was not only ruthless, but she also was very vain, conniving, and often made many foolish decisions. Catherine is a dominant character until she meets Peter the Great, then she becomes mostly passive. Catherine and Peter’s relationship is the heart of the novel, but I did not like it. Peter is a dislikable character. He is very selfish and abusive. I hated how he abused his first wife and eldest son. I did not know why Catherine stayed with him when he treated her so horribly. I don’t believe she loved Peter, but stayed with him for riches and power. I also do not see what he saw in Catherine. The novel does not explain Peter’s motivations. Even though Peter married Catherine and crowned her as his empress, I do not believe he loved her. Instead, he seemed to want a woman who was totally submissive to him and whose life solely revolved around him. Thus, Peter was my least favorite character in the novel and after finishing the novel, my first thought was I understood why his grandson, Peter III and his great-grandson, Paul I turned mad. They obviously inherited their madness through Peter the Great.

Overall, this novel is about passion, greed, and betrayal. The political intrigue you would normally find in a historical fiction novel about royalty is nonexistent in Tsarina because it focuses on the personal lives of Catherine I and Peter the Great. The supporting characters are all bland and mostly seem to be in the background. This is very sad that they are not given much attention because two of them are key supporters of Catherine’s rise from Empress Consort to Empress Regnant of Russia. However, we do not know why they would risk their lives to support her. We do not know the decisions that led Catherine I to claim the throne. I wished that instead of the novel spending most of the time on the relationship between Catherine and Peter, it would spend more time on how Catherine took their throne as Empress Regnant of Russia and her brief reign. With the focus being on how Catherine obtained power, it would flesh out the supporting characters in more detail because it would give them more of a role and personality. The lush setting is the novel’s strength. It shows the grittiness of the town of Marienburg to the glamorous court of Russia. Tsarina was also a hard read because it had many graphic scenes that made me uncomfortable for me to read and made me unwilling to pick up the book. The graphics scenes made the novel repetitive, and I found many of them unnecessary in Catherine’s story. Still, this book portrays Catherine to be a compelling historical figure, and it made me wish that there was a biography on her instead of just a Wikipedia article and more novels written on her. The novel still leaves me curious to pick up the sequel The Tsarina’s Daughter, which focuses on Elizabeth, Empress Regnant of Russia. Tsarina shines a spotlight on an often overlooked and forgotten woman! I recommend this for fans of The Winter Palace, The Romanov Empress, and The Summer Queen!

Quite the interesting read considering what Putin is doing now. Sure, he's not a tsar but there's something about those Russian leaders, fighting and cruelty. This is about the first Catherine (*not* Catherine the Great) of Russia. She was only Tsarina for two years but there was peace during that time.

Catherine1 (photo)

Her life really is worth a book (or two or three)...and just like those huge Russian novels this one seems to go on and on. Alpsten covers every single pregnancy here, all 13 of them. (Spoiler alert, three of the sons are named Peter.) When it's cold, you feel the cold. ("The musicians mouths froze to their instruments.") And when Tsar Peter doesn't like someone--even his own son--it's horrifying to read.

Alpsten does a good job making the tsar and Catherine haughty and lacking any concern of their subjects (serfs). At one point, the best "weapon" in the war they're fighting is a Scorched Earth approach, where everything is burned or ruined so the army of the enemy (Sweden) can't survive...but of course the serfs can't very well survive either.

Catherine knows what works and she works it hard to stay alive. While Anne Boleyn kept Henry the VIII on a tightrope of teasing for years, Catherine has multiple children long before Peter even suggests getting married. At the end she's her own worse enemy. If your husband decided to crown you and name you Empress, what's the one thing you wouldn't do to hinder that? Well, she does it. She survives, but her amour turns into a ...bedroom decoration? Yikes!

This was a long overdue read of an advance readers copy received from Netgallery.

I love history, and I so enjoyed reading the story of Catherine the Great! What she accomplished is remarkable, and to read about how she worked her way to the throne kept me enthralled.

A poor girl rises to power in 1700's Russia. Catherine was wife to Peter the Great who died, leaving her the throne. I know little about Russian history so was interested from that standpoint. The story felt long and rough, but I suspect that was society in Russia's 1700's.

Lots has already been said about this book that I could repeat. Historical fiction is a tough sell sometimes, but I believe that Ellen Alpsten has turned the story of the first Catherine of Russia into some thing that is both entertaining and enlightening. It helps that her subject matter is so fascinating, and that the Russian courts were both over the top decadent and pious and intriguing in ways that put the English Tudors (my other favorite historical era) to shame.

I am trying to do a couple of things with regard to my knowledge of Russia. One is to channel my slight obsession with the silly but amazing Hulu series about the second Catherine to learn more about Russia's history. The other is to try and link its history to its present. I'm attempting to get a better sense of the people and the way they were ruled for so long to understand more about it in the present day. The insights that the young Marta gives about the world as she knows it as she progresses from poor village girl to the most powerful woman in the empire, says more about her resourcefulness and the way women were/are dismissed as throw-aways only to find them in control in ways that don't always have to involve mass destruction and death than anything. But I'm eager to read more about What Happens After this to continue my journey of Russian history/present discovery.

I'll admit, I enjoyed this book so much I read it and listened to it on audible and I can say that the narrator is spot on, nailing the names that are a mouthful and a half at times, as well as making Marta's/Catherine's story even more compelling.

This account of a poor girl becoming the most powerful woman in Russia is, in one word, BRUTAL. There are few likeable characters, and those come and go so infrequently that this is a book about terrible people doing horrible things, some to survive, more to be powerful. It may be historically accurate, but it's depressing and way to long for a book essentially about war, ego, rape, and having babies to get a living heir.

Fans of Russian historical fiction rejoice! TSARINA brings the life of Catherine I to life in vivid color, from her peasant upbringing through her time as the mistress of Peter the Great, to her ultimate rise to Empress of Russia.

This book was at times brutal grim to read (wars and illness and lost children), and the characters hard to love, but ultimately I found myself quickly turning the pages. Thoroughly enjoyed.

This is a novelization of Catherine's rise to power in Russia. Catherine is beguiling and cunning, and she wants nothing more than to rule Russia for herself. As she rises up in the ranks to be the wife of the current Tsar, can she play off his death until she can seize power, or will she be killed for that can happen?

Goes into a lot of detail about Catherine's life and relationship with Peter the Great. The worldbuilding was thorough however the story was very harsh. More than likely accurate for the time but I was expecting something different. I found myself skipping parts with extreme violence. Well written book but not for me.

Of all the historical fiction I have read, Russian historical fiction is probably the time period I have read about the least. That is a shame because Russian history is absolutely fascinating and Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten highlights this fact quite beautifully. It is daunting because the story toggles back and forth between the birth of children and war. At first, glance that doesn't make sense, but when you think of it from a historical aspect those were two of the most important events in historical times, particularly when you are dealing with royalty. The successes of a monarch's reign can be measured by the wars they fought and their outcomes along with the children they sired and who survived to carry on the legacy/dynasty either by their own rule or by entering them into dynastic marriages.

Tsarina does what good historical fiction does and takes the people from history and turns them into characters that you can identify with. They are no longer just names and dates in your history book, but living breathing people with hopes and dreams.

This book was amazing!! The storytelling in this book was top notch. I was so entranced by the story I didn't want to put book down!

Ever since Doctor Shivago, I've been a sucker for Russian stories, and Tsarina is no exception. At first, Tsarina charmed me like an adult fairytale, but quickly swept me into the royal world of Peter the Great, full of intrigue and debauchery. Themes of self-reliance, survival and betrayal intertwine with a lusty and twisty plot. Kept me turning pages to find out Catherine's fate. Impressive debut novel!

I'm not sure if this supposed to be a historical fiction with erotica or erotica with historical fiction. In either case, this book fails both. It doesn't do any justice to the the real life historical figures (and it felt like the research was done straight out of Wikipedia) and it surely doesn't do any justice to sex or the sexual relationships. The only positive thing I can say is that the audiobook was narrated by a speaker who knew how to pronounce Russian names and words. That was a pleasant surprise for me and made listening to this book much more bearable.

I love historical fiction. I haven’t read anything on the Russian royal family before. I really enjoyed the story.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for the advanced e-reader copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book was a very interesting historical fiction. I really enjoy this genre, though this book had more sex and gore than I expected. I admit I did skip parts of the book as I found them hard to read. I received a copy from the publisher and NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

I LOVE historical fiction and consume a lot of it, so when I say that this feels fresh and enduring know that I mean that very seriously. This is one of my new favorites!

I stopped reading this book due to the ridiculous amount of graphic sexual assault depicted in it. This book needs a content warning in the beginning and the publisher should make reviewers aware of the disturbing content when asking them to participate in blog tours/review/promoting this novel. I was very upset and disturbed this book's content.

This was a very interesting take on the Russian Royal family. So much research and time must have gone into this work. With that being said the author did a great job making the content light and enjoyable to read.

Wow - what an incredible ride. I sometimes forget how much I leave history. It's always fun to find books that remind me, especially historical fiction novels such as this one. I think the author tells the story well. I will say there are many trigger warnings that need to be said for this book, such as sexual assault. Those portions are incredibly uncomfortable to read. However, sexual assault will always be uncomfortable.. It's also something that happened with frequency during those times and are incredibly important stories to tell, so I'm glad the author did so. I loved the unique point of view as well. I did feel the story moved a bit slowly at time, however. If you like a good historical romance, this is a great choice.

I was initially intimidated by the length of this but once I got into it, I found it delightful. It was a quick flowing story with well-drawn, remarkable characters and a very intriguing plotline. Parts of this made me cringe, but that's to be expected with Russian historical fiction. This would be ideal for book clubs.