The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
loyaultemelie's review against another edition
3.0
Suffers greatly at points from showing and not telling and could be a hundred pages longer. Nevertheless this book remains endearing and enthralling. I read it in two days.
hoosgracie's review against another edition
4.0
I very much enjoyed this historical fiction based on the life of Russian Empress Maria Fedorovna. Maria AKA Minnie is a sympathetic character but also very flawed in that she and the other Romanovs can't see or choose not to see the problems brewing in Russia. The excesses are amazing.
orygunn's review against another edition
4.0
I gained much insight into the mysterious last Romanov empire. Wonderful historical fiction.
cebaute's review against another edition
4.0
This book was very, very good. My only complaint was it was sooooooo long.
marimariwooh's review against another edition
Page 243 was the last straw that made me dnf this book.
The characters are horribly inaccurate just like historical events not taking place or taking place at the wrong time. I know its no biography and creative liberties were taken with the dialogue, but placing a death 2 years earlier that it should??? Ignoring certain assassination attempts??? Just getting history wrong???
Just don't touch my beloved Romanovs to not do them justice
The characters are horribly inaccurate just like historical events not taking place or taking place at the wrong time. I know its no biography and creative liberties were taken with the dialogue, but placing a death 2 years earlier that it should??? Ignoring certain assassination attempts??? Just getting history wrong???
Just don't touch my beloved Romanovs to not do them justice
saharafrost's review against another edition
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
eeyore527's review against another edition
5.0
This was my first book about the Romanov family. This one is about the women who would become Tsar Nicolas mother. Starts off with her humble beginnings in Denmark, her fathers ascending to the Danish throne and her marriage into the Romanov family at the age of 19. The story definitely keep me intrigued so many family members to keep track of and glad for the family tree in the beginning. As I referred to it often to keep the family members straight. The story goes through her younger years as a young Tsarina , the extravagance of the royal family while the country was in turmoil and getting ready for the Bolshevik uprising in Russia as the end of the Romanovs was drew near. I never really knew what exactly happened to Tsar Nicolas and his family except they all died due to the Revolution but with the book and the afterward explaining it all and the actual proof it was truely an amazing story. 5+
airclay3's review against another edition
5.0
This read was interesting and kept me into it from start to finish. I loved the generation the author chose to write about and the beginning, the beginning of the end, and then the end. A beautiful work
cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition
5.0
A 2018 staff favorite recommended by Vanessa. Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sromanov%20empress%20gortner__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold
abbysmith0324's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0