Title: Romanov
Author: Nadine Brandes
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
First published: May 7th 2019
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Finished reading: April 29th 2019
Pages: 352
“Something you should learn about us Romanovs is that we like to defy supposed tos.”
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
I knew I had to read this book as soon as I first heard about it. A magical retelling of the story of Anastasia Romanov? How can I resist that?! I confess I had forgotten a lot of details around the Romanov family and their tragic ending… But that didn’t make me enjoy Romanov any less. This retelling mixes historical facts and magic in an expert way and gives us a whole new take on the events set in 1918 Russia. While Romanov can mostly be considered and in fact mainly reads like a historical fiction story, there are also magical elements incorporated that give the story a little something extra. I really liked the magic as described in Romanov and I almost wished we would have seen and learned more of it during the story. Instead, the main focus is on the Romanov family and what happens to them after Nastya’s father had to abdict and the whole family is exiled in Siberia. It’s a story of a family fighting to stay together while they try to hold on to a shred of dignity… The mayority of the story is focused on their time as prisoners in exile and not on the events after as I would have guessed. I enjoyed the writing style, although I do have to admit that the pace is considerably slow and this might be a turn off for those who don’t enjoy slower and more character driven historical fiction. Romanov focuses mostly on the characters and their development, and only gives you a healthy dose of action and magic more towards the ending. I personally didn’t really mind most of the time, although the middle part could get a tad too slow and tedious. The characters and magical take on this famous family mostly made up for it though, and I can definitely recommend it. Historical fiction fans: don’t be put off by the fantasy elements in this story, as it’s surprisingly light on the magic and focuses mainly on the historical elements.
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Wonderful review! I like the sound of this one!
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It was without doubt an interesting take on the Romanov story!
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I’m currently reading this one and i’m happy to see that you liked it. I’m enjoying it so far too. 🙂
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That’s great to hear! I hope you will keep enjoying it.
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I must admit the name Romanov doesn’t ring any bell (I suck at history!!!) But the book sounds brilliant!
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Pssst it’s the last tsar and his family; his reign ending with the Russian revolution and then Lenin taking over… I’m sure you’ve heard that mentioned before. 😉 Confession: my knowledge of that part of history isn’t all that great either haha. The story is great though even if you don’t know anything about the historical facts!
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The Romanov’s have always fascinating me. Glad you enjoyed this one!
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It was an interesting take on their history!
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This sounds really good! I love throwing the magical element into the historical story!
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It definitely gave the story a little something extra.
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Great review! I don’t know much about Anastasia Romanov, but this book sounds interesting.
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My knowledge is pretty limited as well, but it’s easy to follow this story even if you don’t know anything about their history.
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Great review, glad to see you enjoyed it. I can’t wait to pick up a copy!
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I hope you will enjoy it when you do!
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Sounds good! Great review!!
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It definitely was. 🙂
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The minute I saw you reading this on Goodreads, I was eagerly wanting to read your review. This sounds brilliant and very intriguing! Great review 🙂
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I love the mix of historical fiction and magic! It’s definitely an unique twist to the original Romanov story.
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