Reviews tagging 'War'

Romanova by Ariel Lawhon

12 reviews

julie_schoenberger's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Racism, Rape, and War

coldheartedbirch's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

absolutely loved this!!

thought to myself when i saw it on the shelf “alright but the DNA tests though……” but i figured it’d be interesting to read and learn about anna anderson and i’m so glad i did! 

while a lot of people probably wouldn’t like the non-chronological arrangement, i personally loved it! the tension as the beginning and end of the story worked towards their mutual conclusion made it impossible to put the book down. 

you really get swept up and even knowing how things work out in history doesn’t stop you from wanting to know how the book works out, even as half of the story unfolds in reverse. 

lawhon does an incredible job at conveying the mental anguish caused by the trauma over time to all of the characters involved, but especially so for anna/anastasia. lawhon’s characterization is such a mentally strong, intelligent, indignant, and Sharp woman! was captivated the entire read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Rape and Antisemitism

there's not a tag for this but also: forced adoption.

marusmill's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War

Moderate: Rape

caitrisriding's review against another edition

3.5

This book was interesting. 

I have always loved the Disney story of Anastasia and been intrigued as I grew about the actual history of the family. I quite enjoyed the storytelling of Anastasia of this in the past. I didn’t enjoy the story telling set later of Anna Anderson. I just didn’t like her character much. The way the story was set up with going backwards for her story was a bit confusing for me at times. As I got to the later half of the 2nd part & the 3rd part I did start to enjoy Anna’s chapters more and get more interested in her side of the story though. 

The book definitely got better and more intriguing as I read on. I felt like it was a pretty good ending. 

*This story involves war and revolution and has some hard topics discussing; killing, rape, vomiting, etc. So be wary going into it if you have a hard time with any of that stuff.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Vomit, and War

crystalsparkles's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I told you so

I love the way this is written, from present to past. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

finnc's review against another edition

It was far too graphic for what I was looking for when I started it. I hoped to finish it but couldn’t appreciate the plot beyond the gore. It was well written and you really understood the characters, which was part of why the violence was hard to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: War

librarianeno's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I loved this book. It's not something that I knew very much about. However, I really struggled listening to this book because it's a non-linear narrative, and the time hops sometimes got confusing. It would have been nice to be able to go back and reference where we had been. And while it's not really a spoiler on how this ends, I do have to admit that the ending was still surprising to me.  Please make sure to check the content warnings.

Most of the worst of it happens in the last few chapters. That's the main reason why this book can't have 5 stars. It's very graphic (in my opinion).

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

most of the really graphic stuff happens in the second half of the book as it gets closer to the part where they get taken to be killed. Honestly, the rest of the book wasn't that bad, but the last few chapters were super graphic

1721egp's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Warning: Some spoilers may be concluded if you are not already familiar with the history and discussion surrounding Anastasia Romanov and Anna Anderson.

Start to finish, I was ENTHRALLED. I stumbled upon this title in the "suggestions" of Audible and decided to give it a try. I actually initially thought it was a biography comparing Anastasia Romanov and Anna Anderson until a few chapters in.

I realized what Ms. Lawhon was doing with the timelines about halfway through, and truly, this IS the best way to tell this story.

She nailed it - you hold out hope until the last few pages, just as Anna Anderson's supporters did. Like them, you don't know what to believe, even if you're familiar with the legend of Anastasia. Only this style could have given us such an experience. Ms. Lawhon tells the stories of these two lives in such a way that is unbiased until the end, allowing you to draw your own conclusions.

Every little detail circles back around. The things you don't think matter end up being key pieces. In fact, I need to read it again just to see what l missed the first time around.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War

ni_kola's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Rape, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War

frantically's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I was so sure when I started reading this book: I wouldn't fall for Anna Anderson's claims. After all, it had been proven time and time again, that she wasn't Anastasia Romanov, that the Imperial family had all been murdered, their remains all uncovered.

But somehow, even I, not only a history student but also someone who's taken courses on genetic testing and its benefits for historians, started to desperately hope for this to end differently — what if we'd been wrong? What if one of the Romanovs had truly managed to escape the actions of that horrid night. Fuck all that genetic testing. It just felt to terrible to bear that all of these children had been brutally murdered. 

And that's what this author manages to convey so, so well. Yes, they're entitled, they're spoiled, they think they deserve to rule over other people but in the end, it was still a massacre. No matter how much one is personally against royalty (and god, was I happy to read a book about royals written by someone who despises them — such a difficult concept to explain to people who know that I do royal history but don't understand who I can still wholeheartedly be against royalty).

I really appreciated the author's honesty in her own probable shortcomings when it came to the historical research. It's something we see way too little in historical fiction and I'd love to see it more! After all, there's a reason why I picked up fiction instead of my books for uni — I don't want to read about historical facts, I want something that can make these historical facts and historical people feel real. And this book definitely managed to do that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gore, Rape, and Sexual violence

Minor: Animal death, Mental illness, and Medical content