The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
centermemine's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Gun violence, Grief, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Blood, Torture, and War
btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Ableism, Chronic illness, Violence, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Suicide attempt
theequestrianslibrary's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
CONTENT WARNINGS: SpoilerGore/Violence, Descriptions of Blood, Descriptions of Wounds, Mild Descriptions of Starvation/Dehydration, Emotional Turmoil, Themes of being held captive, Suicidal Ideation, Lead up to Attempted Suicide, Depictions of Execution, Death of Family Members, War/Battle Themes, Bugs mentioned (specifically lice), Violence against Animals (brief), Mentions of Dead Bodies, Disrespectful Behavior towards dead bodies
**DISCLAIMER: This may or may not be a full list of every trigger/content warning found in the book, Romanov by Nadine Brandes. Please take this list with a grain of salt, as the book is a Romanov family retelling. Some triggers and content warnings may contain spoilers!
I'll start this review off by prefacing that I absolutely adore the 1997 movie Anastasia. Part of me hoped that the book was a little closer to this concept involving the conspiracies about what actually happened to Anastasia, but what the author did was also an interesting spin with adding the fantastical elements.
I think the book is very easy to read and sit through. The casual Russian words are explained in their meaning, or their definitions implied by the context of the scene, and I rather like their use throughout the novel. I think the characters were likeable enough, though some of Anastasia's thoughts irked me throughout with her constant return to the concept of forgiveness, kindness, etc. Some actions of side characters, such as her sister Maria, also irritated me, but that is more a me thing, than anything else. Most people when put through the events in the book would not return to those themes, and I think in a way, it's a nice change from the constant influx of furious and vengeful protagonists, but I also think it is unrealistic. Granted, it's a fantasy YA book, we all appreciate a bit of unrealistic traits.
Like a few of the other reviews mentioned, the events that lead up to the family being brought to the basement do take up the majority of the book. Approximately almost 200 pages of the book, give or take a little, is mostly what leads up to that fateful day. The remaining third of the book is the new adaption of the story of Anastasia, involving her brother and the book's love interest, Zash. Admittedly, I do wish their romance had been built up a little better, though the circumstances of it make that difficult and what the MC was truly focused on makes that difficult too. It did feel a bit rushed towards the end, with sudden feelings being realized despite a large plot point that should have affected things longer, or at least the remnants of it being still prevalent later on. The back and forth nature of their interactions, especially in the first 2/3 of the book, can rub the wrong way, especially with the sudden shift later on to things are all hunky-dory when they aren't, and they shouldn't have been! I still appreciate a few kisses, of course, but things felt a little too light towards the end, like all the bad things hadn't happened at all.
I don't think the book is bad, by any means, I think it was a good solid and easy read to get through. If you like the idea of the Romanovs, this would be a good book to introduce yourself into that field of literature and of retellings since it does a good job of simplifying what an average day at Ekaterinburg looked like for the family as time went on, including how things affected their servants and the soldiers guarding them, while also spicing it up a little with the spell elements involving magical ink. But, if you are more educated on what happened, then I would read this book objectively and with the means of enjoying an easy-to-read book, as many things will stick out to those more educated, and it can definitely ruin the romanticized vibe that the author might be going for.
Would I recommend the book? Sure! I would, and the cover is pretty enough to keep on my shelf to boot. But, is it one of my top favorite books? No, it's not, and that's okay!
I did appreciate the interactions between the family members, as those all felt very genuinely and real, but the interesting involvement of purifying Rasputin was also interesting. Granted, the members of the family would have garnered bias, sure, but with the concepts as we know of them, it was an interesting take on the mentions of his character.
A solid 3-star book with an overall content experience.
**DISCLAIMER: This may or may not be a full list of every trigger/content warning found in the book, Romanov by Nadine Brandes. Please take this list with a grain of salt, as the book is a Romanov family retelling. Some triggers and content warnings may contain spoilers!
I'll start this review off by prefacing that I absolutely adore the 1997 movie Anastasia. Part of me hoped that the book was a little closer to this concept involving the conspiracies about what actually happened to Anastasia, but what the author did was also an interesting spin with adding the fantastical elements.
I think the book is very easy to read and sit through. The casual Russian words are explained in their meaning, or their definitions implied by the context of the scene, and I rather like their use throughout the novel. I think the characters were likeable enough, though some of Anastasia's thoughts irked me throughout with her constant return to the concept of forgiveness, kindness, etc. Some actions of side characters, such as her sister Maria, also irritated me, but that is more a me thing, than anything else. Most people when put through the events in the book would not return to those themes, and I think in a way, it's a nice change from the constant influx of furious and vengeful protagonists, but I also think it is unrealistic. Granted, it's a fantasy YA book, we all appreciate a bit of unrealistic traits.
Like a few of the other reviews mentioned, the events that lead up to the family being brought to the basement do take up the majority of the book. Approximately almost 200 pages of the book, give or take a little, is mostly what leads up to that fateful day. The remaining third of the book is the new adaption of the story of Anastasia, involving her brother and the book's love interest, Zash. Admittedly, I do wish their romance had been built up a little better, though the circumstances of it make that difficult and what the MC was truly focused on makes that difficult too. It did feel a bit rushed towards the end, with sudden feelings being realized despite a large plot point that should have affected things longer, or at least the remnants of it being still prevalent later on. The back and forth nature of their interactions, especially in the first 2/3 of the book, can rub the wrong way, especially with the sudden shift later on to things are all hunky-dory when they aren't, and they shouldn't have been! I still appreciate a few kisses, of course, but things felt a little too light towards the end, like all the bad things hadn't happened at all.
I don't think the book is bad, by any means, I think it was a good solid and easy read to get through. If you like the idea of the Romanovs, this would be a good book to introduce yourself into that field of literature and of retellings since it does a good job of simplifying what an average day at Ekaterinburg looked like for the family as time went on, including how things affected their servants and the soldiers guarding them, while also spicing it up a little with the spell elements involving magical ink. But, if you are more educated on what happened, then I would read this book objectively and with the means of enjoying an easy-to-read book, as many things will stick out to those more educated, and it can definitely ruin the romanticized vibe that the author might be going for.
Would I recommend the book? Sure! I would, and the cover is pretty enough to keep on my shelf to boot. But, is it one of my top favorite books? No, it's not, and that's okay!
I did appreciate the interactions between the family members, as those all felt very genuinely and real, but the interesting involvement of purifying Rasputin was also interesting. Granted, the members of the family would have garnered bias, sure, but with the concepts as we know of them, it was an interesting take on the mentions of his character.
A solid 3-star book with an overall content experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Death
Moderate: Grief, Genocide, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, War, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
Gore/Violence, Descriptions of Blood, Descriptions of Wounds, Mild Descriptions of Starvation/Dehydration, Emotional Turmoil, Themes of being held captive, Suicidal Ideation, Lead up to Attempted Suicide, Depictions of Execution, Death of Family Members, War/Battle Themes, Bugs mentioned (specifically lice), Violence against Animals (brief), Mentions of Dead Bodies, Disrespectful Behavior towards dead bodiesbreedawnwriter's review against another edition
5.0
"We are Romanovs. The bond of our hearts spans miles, memory, and time."
Trigger Warnings: Almost suicide, PTSD, gunshots, death, grief, hemophilia, fights, injuries, bloodshed, drunkenness, and magic.
What a beautiful retelling of a tragic and heartbreaking part of history! I cannot believe it's taken me this long to discover that this is an Anastasia retelling, but I'm so glad I did because this book did NOT disappoint.
As someone who's always loved the animated adaptation, I was SUPER excited to find this book. And seeing that Nadine included a Fact Vs Fiction section at the end of the book literally MADE
Trigger Warnings: Almost suicide, PTSD, gunshots, death, grief, hemophilia, fights, injuries, bloodshed, drunkenness, and magic.
What a beautiful retelling of a tragic and heartbreaking part of history! I cannot believe it's taken me this long to discover that this is an Anastasia retelling, but I'm so glad I did because this book did NOT disappoint.
As someone who's always loved the animated adaptation, I was SUPER excited to find this book. And seeing that Nadine included a Fact Vs Fiction section at the end of the book literally MADE
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Alcohol
libbylou905's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, and War
foxonabook's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
The thing that drew me to this book was its premise. I have a long-standing fascination with the Romanovs and I will genuinely consume anything Romanov related (including Simon Sebag Montefiore’s brilliant history of the Romanov dynasty). So, naturally, I couldn’t resist borrowing this from the library when browsing the digital catalogue.
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve read a YA book, and I realise that I have outgrown the prose and writing style associated with the genre. However, that didn’t take away from the story, which I found very enjoyable. The plot was at some points predictable, but predictable is sometimes welcome, especially when life keeps throwing curve balls at you.
The characters were likeable and nicely rounded. However, while I’m happy that Anastasia got her happy ending, I wish the author would have touched a little more on the PTSD she, her brother and even Zash would have inevitably experienced -it would have made the ending more believable for me. I understand this is YA and fantasy is designed for escapism, but Anastasia forgiving Zash in the space of a week seemed... well, as I said, the ending felt a little too good to be true considering what the characters had all been through (and that’s more on me since I am an adult reading YA).
Overall, an enjoyable read!
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve read a YA book, and I realise that I have outgrown the prose and writing style associated with the genre. However, that didn’t take away from the story, which I found very enjoyable. The plot was at some points predictable, but predictable is sometimes welcome, especially when life keeps throwing curve balls at you.
The characters were likeable and nicely rounded. However, while I’m happy that Anastasia got her happy ending, I wish the author would have touched a little more on the PTSD she, her brother and even Zash would have inevitably experienced -it would have made the ending more believable for me. I understand this is YA and fantasy is designed for escapism, but Anastasia forgiving Zash in the space of a week seemed... well, as I said, the ending felt a little too good to be true considering what the characters had all been through (and that’s more on me since I am an adult reading YA).
Overall, an enjoyable read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, and War
ems_peach's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Confinement
Moderate: War and Gun violence
ka_ke's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A new take on an old classic.
Different from the movie, Romanov offers a more magical journey filled with spells and adventure. However, it is also more historically accurate when one thinks about the true story of Anastasia and the Romanov Empire.
The story itself is medium paced and naturally picks up after the moment of tragedy. I would have given it 5 stars if it was a little faster and perhaps more adult. It is definitely a young-adult novel.
Different from the movie, Romanov offers a more magical journey filled with spells and adventure. However, it is also more historically accurate when one thinks about the true story of Anastasia and the Romanov Empire.
The story itself is medium paced and naturally picks up after the moment of tragedy. I would have given it 5 stars if it was a little faster and perhaps more adult. It is definitely a young-adult novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, and Murder
Moderate: Torture, War, and Violence
Minor: Mental illness
lara_bk's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gun violence
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Chronic illness, and Mass/school shootings
Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol
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