This was not as I expected but an interesting story non the less. If you've ever wondered about the Russians before they became negatively known this is something to consider reading.

Based off of true events, The Romanov Brides is about two German sisters, Ella & Alix, who marry into the Romanov royal family. They’re already princesses since their grandmother is Queen Victoria of England. It goes into detail of their lives leading up to their time in Russia & their personal & relationship struggles. As I am not familiar with this their story, it was interesting to read about some of the Romanov family members.

Nicholas and Alexandra in their youth. Rather a long drawn out saga about two minor German princesses who ended up married to two Russian princes, uncle and nephew. All are descendants of Queen Victoria, and all carry the gene for hemophilia. But at the time this historical novel is set, those consequences are far in the future. Alix is perpetually glum and her family recognized that she suffered from what they called melancholia. Today she would probably be diagnosed with depression or bipolar disorder. Even her cousin Kaiser Wilhelm (who isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer) thinks she’s dreary. The story is rather slow moving and would have benefitted from about 50-75 pages being edited out. Recommended if you’re a real fan of the Romanovs and Russian history.

In this excellent historical fiction novel, readers follow the Hesse-Darmstadt sisters, granddaughters of Queen Victoria through her second daughter and third child Princess Alice of the United Kingdom. Primarily following Ella and Alix (with a secondary focus on Victoria) as they deal with their mother’s death, growing up as European royalty, and the struggles of finding and marrying a husband whom they like and their domineering Grandmama Victoria approves of. Divided into multiple parts and set over the second half of the nineteenth century, McHugh’s novel follows these two young princesses as Europe changes around them and they grow up to become Russian royalty through their marriages. With alternating perspectives and a multi-decade timeline, this novel shows how the two young women grow up from children in Hesse-Darmstadt to women in Russia. Alix particularly undergoes some serious character development in this novel, but both sisters are complex characters with different personalities and unique relationships to their large network of royal relatives around Europe. Focusing on these two women before chaos and tragedy strike Russia allow readers to get a glimpse of the beauty and decadence of late nineteenth century Russia at the end of the era of European kingdoms and empires in this wonderful historical fiction novel.

Well, I am a sucker for anything Romanov, and this novel definitely had a unique twist in that instead of focusing solely on the daughters or the revolution, it instead gave us a story of the Tsarina, Alix. I always wondered about her, what she had been like before the stress and cares of caring for her hemophiliac son wore her down into a woman prone to severe headaches and susceptible to any who could offer her hope (no matter how disreputable). This was an interesting novel and I am very glad I read it.

I really enjoy reading about this time in history but I didn't really enjoy the style of writing. I wanted more about what was happening versus just imagined dialogue. It also felt more YA than I expected.

This is the story of two of Queen Victoria’s granddaughters who marry members of the Romanov family and face terrible consequences for it. The narrative could be tedious for anyone who is not familiar with the history of the Romanovs and Queen Victoria’s family. It seems almost demeaning to the actual story to try to tell through the lives and marriages of these two young women.

*2.5 stars

I wanted to love this book. I love historical fiction and have read many on the Romanovs. I loved that this book took a different approach and followed the children of Louis IV, specifically the two who would marry into the Romanov family. I had no idea that two sisters did. I also found it interesting, their oldest sister is grandmother to the late Prince Philip!

That's about it for the positives though. I didn't get "novel" vibes from this book. It had a very tell vs. show approach in the writing style. It felt almost textbook at times. I also disliked that the POV changed so often. It was hard to follow, who the viewpoint was from at times. Also, the one-off chapters from random people (Nicky, a ballerina, etc) - no. That made it even more confusing and wasn't necessary.

This book was a bit of a struggle to get through and I'm glad I kept a Wikipedia page up to keep everyone straight.

They were granddaughters of Queen Victoria and two of the most beautiful princesses in Europe. Princesses Alix and Ella were destined to wed well and wisely. But while their grandmother wants to join them to the English and German royal families, the sisters fall in love with Russia—and the Romanovs. Defying the Queen’s dire warnings, Ella weds the tsar’s brother, Grand Duke Serge. Alix, whisked away to Russia for Ella’s wedding, meets and captivates Nicky—heir apparent to the Russian throne. While loving him deeply, Alix hears a call of conscience, urging her to walk away. Their decisions to marry will lead to tragic consequences.

The Romanov Brides is a moving and fascinating portrait of two bold and spirited royal sisters. The book also brings to vivid life imperial Russia—a dazzling, decadent world on the brink of disappearing forever. I have not read much in this era of history and thoroughly enjoyed the authors writing. She described the sisters so well as well as the decadent era of the Romanovs. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this book. I highly recommend it to lovers of history.

In the Romanov Brides by Claire McHugh we meet sisters Alex and Ellie along with their siblings, who were the grandchildren of Queen Victoria and unlike most daughters of gentry the father let them choose who they would marry for sister Ellie her grandmother wanted her to marry Switzerland royalty but she went against her grandmothers wishes and married a cousin Sierge. Her and sister Alex would both be thought to be the some of the prettiest eligible women in Europe at the time although many years apart Alex would meet the love of her life at the tender age of only 10 it would be her cousin the newly crowned emperor son Nikki and although Alex seem to have a much happier life with her husband that would both meet tragic ends. It seems I am glossing over the greatness that was their childhood, their great losses, there picking of their husbands and not to mention getting ready for the weddings. I think their sister Victoria did better by marrying a commoner Louis. I knew very little about Alex‘s life except the tragic ending with her husband and children in the basement and totally didn’t know it happened to Ellie as well everyone wants to write historical fiction but not everyone writes it well and I always get so excited when I get a great book I knew by chapter 3 this was going to be a great book. This book is just another reason why it makes me so happy to be an early reader I want to thank William Morrow and netGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes I am blind and dictate my review.

I don't read many books about royalty. The last being about two years ago, but when I saw this book, I knew I had to read it as it sounded fascinating.
I am always eager to read historical fiction based on facts as this book is. This material presented in this book has been thoroughly researched for which I am very appreciative. I am always ready to learn from what I read. There were many characters in the book, some with a brief mention and others playing a much larger role in the book. I enjoyed getting to know the characters, they all felt very realistic in the situations and speech they were presented with.
I thoroughly enjoyed "meeting" the four sisters of Hesse. Following the brides from childhood through their marriages and beyond. After their mother's death, Queen Victoria, their grandmother is there to guide them in what she considers appropriate marriages to English or German royal families. Despite her best, two of the sisters fall in love with Russia, and Romanovs.
I so much enjoyed entering the world of the royalty and was captivated as I read. Just like us these are flawed people, and their choices have consequences as well. There is much happiness in their lives, but tragedy also comes to visit. These are very strong people who persevere. I loved the elegant writing style of the author and will be reading more when she writes it. I want to personally thank the author for writing this book. I learned so much and found it fascinating.

Pub Date 12 Mar 2024
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

This is a very complex story and without the family trees I would have gotten lost a couple of times. The story is written in narrative form which always makes me feel like I’m on the outside looking in instead of a part of the story. The scenery surrounding the characters is very descriptive and helps with telling the story as does the descriptions of the opulence of the Russian royalty. It is an interesting story of the ways the Russian, English and Germany royalty lived at that time.

Clare McHugh's novel is about young Princess Alix of Hesse—the future Alexandra, last Empress of Imperial Russia—and her sister, Princess Ella. Their decision to marry into the Romanov royal family is what drives the story of this novel, but the book begins much earlier. Alix and Ella were granddaughters of Queen Victoria, and the queen had very strong opinions about the young women's plans to marry.

There are many things which I enjoyed about the story. For one, the rich details of the characters and events make it clear that the author has done her research. While others criticize the vast internal dialogue of the main characters, I found this to be intriguing. I also learned a great deal about Russian history and the Romanov family..

However, not only did I have difficulty getting into the beginning of the novel, I also felt as though the novel ended a bit abruptly. It left me with many questions that, while answered in the author's notes, did not make a satisfying ending for me. Furthermore, I found it difficult to keep track of all the characters/family members.

Thank you NetGalley, Harper Collins Publishers Inc, and Clare McHugh for providing an advance copy of this book!

This book was okay. The plot wasn’t super entertaining , and I felt myself losing interest frequently. I had to really push myself to finish reading it. I think I was hoping it would cover more of what happened after they got married, not just mainly leading up to it. I just felt like there wasn’t enough of a story there. I appreciated the afterword, though, because that’s really what I wanted to read about. It read more like a very young adult novel, and if it didn’t mention any details of sex (or lack thereof), I would say it would be great for middle school or younger even.

Princess Ella and her younger sister, Princess Alix, are granddaughters of Queen Victoria. They both defy expectations by marrying into the Romanov royal family of Russia. Despite warnings from their families, Ella marries Grand Duke Serge, while Alix, captivated by heir apparent Nicky, faces a moral dilemma. Their choices, driven by love and duty, ultimately shape the course of history with tragic consequences.

Knowing what happened to the Romanov family makes this a bit of a solemn read. I couldn’t help but pity both princesses, who faced pressure from all sides about who they ought to marry. I envied neither of them the wealth and fame that came with their position and family. At the same time, this made it difficult to see the romance in their courtships.

The novel is written in the present tense, which I am not a fan of, and begins just before the death of their mother. It continues up to Princess Alix’s marriage, so while we don’t see the tragedy, we see the undercurrents that build towards it. This also makes the cover a bit misleading: we never see Princess Alix as the last tsarina.

Overall, it was an interesting read. It was a bit difficult to keep up with how they were all related, but there is a chart at the beginning to help. I would recommend this to readers who have an interest in fictional tellings of historical events.

I very much enjoyed this read....it is a book about love and royal families. We first meet the royal family in England, direct descendants of Queen Victoria. The Queen runs not only the country but also her family. The Queen interacts with Ella, who seems to be a typical Princess who adores men. Queen Victoria puts guilt trips and demands on Ella on whom she will marry. It is rather interesting to see this first match play out. Ella finally chooses and a wedding takes place. On the day that the royal family of England meets the royal family from another country, Alix meets her first crush. Once again, the English family will try to influence Alix and her love life.

Anyone who follows the English royal family probably knows what happened to the girls at the end of their story. Still, it is fun to imagine the events that lead up to the love matches that would alter the course of history for one country in a theatrical way.

I really enjoyed this book. Even though I knew where it was heading, I still loved following the stories of sisters Ella and Alix. This book starts off really sad, but there are moments of hope as well. This is a slow moving character story where not a lot really happens. But I thought it was really well written and engaging.

Many thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Harper Collins Publishers for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book.

The Romanov Brides is an incredible story of two future Romanovs and their families. Obviously, the author took her time and thoroughly researched the story's history. This novel got me interested in the Romanov period and allowed me to learn about how the tsar's family made connections with many other countries. My only issue would be that there were many people to keep track of and the pacing at the beginning was pretty slow but then ramped up to the end as if the book ended out of nowhere. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading more of what Clare McHugh has to write next!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for my copy of The Romanov Brides by Clare McHugh in exchange for an honest review. It published March 12, 2024.
What a sweeping, fascinating historical fiction novel! If you knew me, you'd know that I have an affinity for Imperial Russian culture. Everyone knows that I'm always going through a "Romanov Phase". This book was an absolute treat to read about more of the family, the lesser-known family members. It was also great to learn how these brides came to be married to their Romanov men. I found that McHugh did an excellent job represented so many different historical figures, and showing just how related everyone was in European royalty, especially at this time in the late 19th-century!
If you have any interest in European Royalty in the 19th-century, and especially an affinity for all-things-Romanov, then you definitely need to give this book a read!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️


Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the early read! Great historical fiction book. Always enjoy a decently researched historical fiction book. Felt like there was a lot of thought and work that went into the telling of this story.
Will recommend!