I read this book back in 2019 and for some reason never reviewed it. This past weekend I found some notes from when I was reading Romanov so I'm going to write a mini-review from the notes and what I can remember from the book.

Anastasia is a character we all already know and this book recreates her into a different version in a way. She gets to be important here and has magical realism abilities it seems. With these, she just might have the possibility to save her family, or at the very least herself. Romanov does follow the traditional timeline for the most part when it comes to the revolution and what led up to the family's demise. This is just a more fantastical element to the family's private life and how they interacted with each other and their servants.

Overall I did enjoy this book and I remember not being able to put it down because of how much I was enjoying it. Anastasia is one of those characters that I loved and Brandes did such a good job or writing her true to her age, while also giving her magical abilities and knowing how important it was for her to help her family out of the situation they were in. Anastasia comes up with a plan, that she thinks will be able to protect her family, and has an accomplish of a soldier who is to guard her family. This soldier does like Anastasia and because of that, he ends up helping her more than others might have. But of course, he is on one side and she is on the other.
The turning point in this book when you realize that history will not fully be changed is heartbreaking but also shows the strength of Anastasia and her knowing that she cannot save everyone sadly.

I can't wait to re-read this one soon and relive this retelling of a real-life story in history.

Anastasia is one of my all-time favorites. I was super excited to be able to read Nadine Brandes' spin on the Russian princess' story. Nadine can tell a story like no other, and I LOVED her historical fantasy retelling of this story.

If I could give it 1000 stars, I would!

YES! I love anything to do with the Romanovs, so this twist on Anastasia had me gripping my seat! It was engaging, well written, fast-paced and original. And as a Slavic girl myself, I always appreciate the decent Slavic representation.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get into this book as much as I thought I would, which shows this story wasn’t for me. I’m hoping to give it another try in the future because I love Anastasia and the premise for the book.

Fast-paced storyline with fantastical elements that will leave you wanting to read more and experience the life of the Romanovs for yourself.

ROMANOV is a wonderful YA historical fiction which weaves magic into the story of the Romanovs. This book completely hooked me from the start and did not disappoint with twists and turns and magic and romance that added new elements to the story we know. The book begins with the Romanovs in exile at Tobolsk. The Bolsheviks are keeping them under lock and key fairly loosely at first but the restrictions begin growing over time. Anastasia (primarily called by her nickname Nastya) is 16 years old when this has begun and looks to her father for guidance. He has endless patience and forgiveness for the soldiers who he views as also trying to do the best for Russia.

Things begin to change when her father, mother, and sister are taken to Ekaterinburg, and Nastya is given a task by her father to protect the Matryoshka doll which was gifted to her family by a powerful spellcaster. As Nastya takes this mission, she must work hard to keep the doll safe and to know when to use the spells within. She is also trying to help her brother, Alexei, who has hemophilia, and is often in pain because of it. Nastya wishes she knew more spells to heal him rather than just take away the pain, but she is also running out of the spell ink she needs to cast these simple spells.

As Nastya and her siblings travel to join their parents and Maria in Ekaterinburg, they know that everything is changing for their family for the worse. Centering around Nastya and her hopes, dream, and dedication to the mission given her by her father, this book is anything but boring. If you know the story, this follows the history pretty closely- with the added element of magic and some new characters in the soldiers who guard the Romanovs.

The first half of the book consists of a lot of character, setting, and world building; however, I found it anything but dull. I was completely caught up in Nastya, her siblings, her parents, and the Bolshevik soldiers for whom they came to care. The second half contains the death and bloodshed that are to be expected in such a story, and we felt as Nastya does, connected to these characters who will face the worst. Nastya is such a great character and so insightful at 16/17. She sees what is happening with her family, with her sister, with the soldiers, and views it from many perspectives. She has the heart of a troublemaker and uses this to help her family as they are under lock and key. Nothing is so black and white, and I think this was beautiful.

The added element of magic was interesting- this is different than the typical magic, requiring spell ink and knowledge rather than the usual formats you will see in books, and this felt really unique. With some added romance for Nastya, full of the push and pull regarding the situations and decisions they will face, this book has something for everyone. I absolutely devoured this book, and I highly recommend for people who like cross-genre YA. This is a book not to be missed!

I absolutely loved this book! A twist on the history of the Romanov family with a little magic made for a wonderful retelling. I really enjoyed the character Rasputin and his protrayal.

while i find the topic of the Romanovs interesting and thought it was a fun twist to add fantasy and magic to the famous story, i overall couldn't get into this book. it never really grabbed my attention, and i could tell it wasn't going to be a memorable read for me. it was by no means bad - just not for me.

This was such a solid Anastasia retelling! It had such a strong family presence that I connected to instantly and I adored the magical elements that came into play. It was devastating at times, but ultimately such a great story!

Romanov
Four out of five stars
-This one line "Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia." That is what made me wait to read it.
-To me, this book is more about relationships than anything. But that makes sense and this is all based on a real-life family (I don't know too much about the Romanov family) and while reading you can tell the author did do some research. It was crazy while reading and it hit me that this is based on real people.
-With a dash of magic! The blending of history with magic is beautifully done. Going in I was scared that the magic was going to overtake the story but it didn't.
-The writing style fits this story perfectly. I like the world build and the vibe of this book.
-For me the family relationship is what shined in this book, I enjoyed seeing the sister's relationship throughout. Also, I was surprised about Nastya and her father's relationship. Like I said I don't know much about this topic but going in I didn't think we were going to get this father-daughter relationship like we did.
-There is a lot of Russian words used, I enjoyed that as I don't get to read/hear/see Russian so I always enjoy it when there are other languages in books.
-If you like family, books based on real events, light magic, or a book with a classic vibe; then this may be the read for you.

This book was given to me by NetGalley, however, this is my own 100% honest review.

The story of Anastasia, and the lore surrounding her possible escape from execution, is one that has always been of interest to me. When I saw that Romanov was a combination of that infamous story AND magic, I was very excited to read it. I received an eARC of the book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and was thrilled when I received the notification.

Ultimately, this book fell very flat for me. The first 2/3 of the book was just a retelling of a story that I already knew very well. Following the February Revolution, the Romanovs are imprisoned by the Bolsheviks and are ultimately moved to Yekaterinburg. This book’s storyline picks up right before the move to Yekaterinburg where they are ultimately executed. The only “magical” component of the first 2/3 of the book centers around the securing of a matryoshka doll that supposedly contains spells. That is pretty much all the magic the reader encounters until about 2/3 of the way through when a few more “magical” things happen. The last 1/3 of the book was more what I was expecting going in to the book, however the magic system was poorly explained and the magic made things way too convenient, which is one of my big pet peeves in books with poorly written magical elements.

Overall, I think I would’ve enjoyed this book as a middle grade reader, however, I think it’s too long to keep an MG reader’s attention.

Romanov was a good fantasy retelling. It was very different from her debut novel Fawkes which I absolutely enjoyed very much. Nadine is a great author everything she writes is a solid good story. I can’t wait to read more. I would definitely recommend this book or Fawkes if you like fantasy or young adult books.

Like most children of the 1990s, I had a mildly unhealthy obsession with the Romanov family. The movie Anastasia from 20th Century Fox was released in 1997 along with books like The Royal Diaries series which fictionalized diaries of individuals with Anastasia's being released in 2000 (when I was 11).

That said, seeing this novel my interest was peaked. I enjoy retellings, I enjoy magic. I was hoping that I would love this novel. Spoiler: I did not love this novel. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Was it an interesting story line? Also yes. Was it historically accurate? In a half-assed kind of way.

The first half of the book is SLOW. It takes nearly half the book to lead up to the end of the Romanov family we all know is going to happen. The first few chapters alone are Anastasia (know as Nastya to her family) trying to find a way to smuggle the family's matryoshka doll with her from the house in Tobolsk to the one in Yekaterinburg. While in the Tobolsk house, Nastya meets Zash, a Bolshevik who has been charged with guarding her family and moving them from one city to the next. We later learn that he's also smuggling spell-ink, a forbidden substance in the newly revolutionary Russia, when Nastya attempts to find the matryoshka doll after it's been removed from it's original spot.

In Yekaterinburg, Nastya has to keep the doll on her person to prevent it from falling into Bolshevik hands. Here the family is at first treated like the royalty they are (were), with good meals and garden outings. Unfortunately, Anastasia's older sister Maria has fallen in love with Ivan, another Bolshevik soldier who is friends with Zash. Throughout their time at this house, things progressively get worse for the Romanov family, ending with the death of Ivan after he was caught fraternizing with Maria, and the replacement of their kind (yet drunk) commander with the one from Tobolsk (forgive me, I could say their names however I cannot spell them and I do not have a print copy of the book to copy from). Things pick up speed from here, as perhaps a week or two after the arrival of the new commander, the family is taken into the basement and executed.

The big betrayal is Zash shooting at Anastasia. We could all see it coming, he was going to be on the firing squad. As stated by Zash, "I thought it would help if you were killed by someone you knew." Personally, I'd hope I'd never find a friend standing on the other side of a firearm to shoot me, but I mean to each their own. The rest of the book is super fast paced. Anastasia and Alexei manage to escape using one of the spells within the doll (it's a spell that separates soul from body? Freezes you in stasis basically from the point the spell is enacted and reverses any damage done beyond that. I know it was so they'd have to struggle to survive, but honestly, it was a failure on Anastasia's part because she could have technically saved her family by enacting that word right as Tsar Nicholas was shot).

The rest of the book is a cat and mouse game between the two surviving royals and Zash as they race to find the spellmaster who can heal Alexei (with all of his wounds that are worsened by his Hemophilia). And the romance between Zash and Anastasia. That was... meh. It was Stockholm Syndrome at best, and poorly written and romanticized garbage at worst. While it's historically accurate that Maria did have feelings for a Bolshevik soldier named Ivan, Zash is like a Gary Sue in many regards, a self-insert of the author's imagination to shove an interest into the story to provide a feel good ending that wasn't quite as statement making as she probably intended.

Zash shot Anastasia. It's a point of contention through out the last 40% of the book. While he was traumatized by this fact, I feel that she would have been far more traumatized by this turn of events. She even points it out several times, "You shot me" "You betrayed me Zash." Both of these statements are brought up multiple times within the last 40% of the book. While I will say it was potentially important for Anastasia to let go of her anger and pain for her own sake, I don't know that forgiveness should have been extended to him. That'd be a very big thing to forgive in a span of four to five days, maybe a week at best.

Overall, if you're looking for a feel-good romance, I guess you might enjoy this book. If you're looking for a historical fiction that follows the real life of Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, keep looking, this ain't it.

Really interesting take on a story that can sometimes get a little repetitive and boring. This Anastasia isn't meek and lost, she's bold, brave, and in charge, Cunning even. I really enjoyed this take.

As I am obsessed with all things Romanov, I knew I had to read this book. It was ok, and I feel like the author did do some quality research before writing. However, for me the characters fell flat, and there was no magical feeling and dread that I normally get while reading of the Romanovs, since I care so much about their fate. But a good overall debut foray into the YA fiction scene.

I LOVE a good Anastasia retelling. This was such a great book, I highly highly recommend. The magical realism was a wonderful touch, and it was just so beautifully written! Very underrated, and I hope that this book/author gets the recognition they deserve! Following the success of Fawkes, I can't wait see what else Nadine Brandes comes up with!

<i>*This book was given to me by NetGalley in return for an honest review*</i>
Somehow, through the fantasy genre, I have discovered that I'm really interested in Russian history, fun fact. That being said, I was quick to request this for that very reason. I thought it was an easy read and though I admit, don't know a ton about the Romanov's or Anastasia (Disney or otherwise) it was a little flat for me. But plus side, once finishing the book, I went down the internet rabbit hole and discovered there are some crazy conspiracy theories about this family, yikes.

Romanov by Nadine Brandes

I dove in to this book hoping the story would be as intriguing as the family and their story that remains a source of fascination to this day. I unfortunately didn’t finish it as I lost interest in where the story was heading. Brandes stuck to history in the beginning in order to facilitate some empathy for the family as they are moved from the palace to their confinement. That part worked well, but I just wasn’t drawn in enough to continue.

his was such a solid Anastasia retelling! Out of all the ones I've read, this one is definitely a stand out. It had such a strong family presence that I connected to instantly and I adored the magical elements that came into play. It was devastating at times, but ultimately such a great story!

I really thought I was going to enjoy this, but as it turns out, this book and I just aren't meant for each other. I thought the premise was super interesting, but the execution just wasn't what I was hoping it would be. I loved the setting of the Russian Civil War, but that's pretty much the only thing that I liked.

The plot was nonexistent whatsoever. You keep thinking that something is going to happen, but you end up being disappointed. I understand that our main characters are prisoners and there isn't much they can do, but from the premise, I thought the story would take a different turn. The author tries to cover up the fact that nothing is happening with flowery writing, and it works for a while, but eventually, you realize that this book has no substance.

I also thought the main character was pretty childish. Imagine my surprise when I found out that she's sixteen! From the way she speaks and acts, I thought she was twelve. The love interest is bland and they have no chemistry.

Overall, this was a disappointment and I couldn't bring myself to finish this book. Maybe it would have gotten better in the end, but I wasn't impressed with what I read.