This was an adventurous mix of historical events and fictionalized elements that kept me hovering over each page. I could not put this story down and found myself on the edge of my seat more than once. This was a thoughtfully crafted piece that will keep readers entertained. I appreciate the author’s note at the end because I love to share those insights with students. It was really interesting to see how Brandes wove the historical truths in with the fictionalized elements.

“I’d not mourn the lost good memories - I would apply them to my heart as a poultice every time it aches. That was what positive moments were for - to help heal the wounds of the future. As long as we chose to remember them.”

4.5 ⭐️I actually loved this book, in particular the first part when Nastya is with her family. It was heartbreaking to see how she loved her sibilings. Her emotions were described so well that I felt involved from the very first page. For once we have an heroine that would choose as family over her lover and it’s a thing that I can understand so well! It’s clear that the first half of the book is more historical than magical, whereas the second half is completely the opposite. Everything after 15-16 July happens very fast and I really felt worried when she was in danger! Not to mention Ivan and Zasch; I loved them and I really could picture myself falling in love with them as Nastya and Maria did.

This book has really everything you can ask: history, Magic, enemy to lovers, love for the family! It’s really worth!

From the author of Fawkes comes a magical take on the story of Anastasia Romanov.

“The history books say I died. They don’t know the half of it.” Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them . . . and he’s hunted Romanov before.

Stories of Anastasia’s survival of her family’s murder haven’t stopped by the discovery of her body in 2007. In Nadine Brandes’ Romanov her death in the Ipatiev house and disposal of her body in the woods have even been added to this unusual story about the Russian royal family, but here that is not the end of Anastasia.

The historical setting of Imperial romance, opulence and mysticism and Bolshevik brutality, has been translated into an alternate Russia of 1917, one where magic exists, although strictly controlled, and enables her to survive the firing squad. I found it a well written and compelling story that was difficult to put down.

The author has taken what we know of the Imperial Family’s time in captivity and brings that time to life. She uses historical facts, where known, to graphically evoke the daily fears, uncertainty and hardship that the real Romanovs endured to build a suspenseful story. Knowing what we know will happen to the family adds to the sense of awful inevitability in the face of their optimism and disappointed hopes of help from the White Army. Her father’s gift to her of a mysterious set of spells contained in a series of matryoshka dolls that can save the royal family only increases the weight of expectation as the story builds and suggests a way out for them all.

It’s almost shocking when Anastasia is shot in the cellars along with the rest of her family – her magic saves her and Alexei, her brother, but her imperfect understanding of how it works means the other Romanovs don’t survive. After her revival in the woods we see her quest to escape the Bolshevik soldiers who are on her trail and her journey to find the spellmaster who created the doll for her family as he is the only one who can heal her brother Alexei of his wounds.

We know that the real Anastasia was strong willed and a prankster and Brandes has created an alternate Anastasia that embodies those characteristics and makes her into a credible heroine of this story. While we know now that Anastasia and Alexei died with the rest of their family – in the magical Russia created by Brandes, they lived and found a future.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I LOVED this book.
As someone who tore through Helen Rappaports "The Romanov sisters" as well as "The last days of the Romanovs" I loved that Nadine Brandes held true to many elements of the Romanovs life in captivity.

I generally gravitate towards fantastical book, and this book definitely had a wonderfully magical element to it, while telling this incredibly sad story.

From the beautiful cover, to the writing style, to the story itself, this book is a home run.
I am officially a Nadine Brandes fan.

I am a huge fan of history. Throw on anything about the Romanovs and I am all over it! This book was really hard for me to get into... It was started of slow, but once it finally picked up I loved it. It was beautifully written.

I'm a big fan of historical fiction and quite enjoyed this book though the story did tend to drag at times overall I would recommend it

This is such a gorgeous book I just want to sit in front of it and admire it all day long!

When I got the e-mail saying my request for this book was accepted I was thrilled!!! Not only was this a retelling of Anastasia (one of my absolute favorite childhood movies ever) but it wasn't any retelling, it was a fantasy one! One could only imagine my excitement towards it.

Romanov is a historical fiction, that retells the story of the exiled tsar Nicolas and his family, with a sprinkle of magic on it.

So the story starts off with the royals in Tobolsk and we get to see their relations with their Bolshevik captors and how they got their affection through their kindness towards them. Then they get transferred (albeit not all at once) to their true exile in Ekaterinburg and that's where the true test begins.
Not only is Andeev not half as nice as the commandants they're used to, but also the Bolsheviks have no compassion whatsoever to any of the Romanovs.

I loved how the book handled that delicate part of the story, because exile is a dire thing for anyone to go through, let alone fallen royalty whose lifestyle was so different prior to the exile.
Nadine Brandes really knew how to portray the pain, helplessness and sorrow but also the hope that kept living in the Romanov's hearts.

I loved how slowly but surly they managed to get the guards to like them and feel sympathetic toward them, some more than others *cough* Ivan *cough*.
But once things start getting better, the guards start warming up to the tsar's family, Andeev becomes a bit more forgiving with them; shit hits the fan.

I don't want to spoil anything but holy hell it really does!

Things basically go downhill from the moment Ivan and a certain someone are found together.

The rest of the book was so full of tension it exhausted me (in a good way though), I just wanted to keep reading and see what would happen next even as the clock struck 4 am and I was supposed to wake up at 6. (Thank you Nadine Brandes for my panda eyes)

All in all the plot to this book was amazing!
I loved the story in general, the little mix between reality and fiction was just about right. It was done beautifully.
The characters were very intense, I loved how each one of them had their own dilemmas to deal with, and the consequences of their own actions and those of others.
I also loved how Nastya kept struggling with whether or not should she give her forgiveness, and Zash had to live with what he's done.

The ending was very well crafted, and albeit it being quite open, I feel very satisfied with it.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing I would want more than a sequel featuring those characters in their future adventures, but for now I'm happy with how things ended.

I found some aspects of this novel interesting and liked the potential at the beginning. However, it doesn't involve nearly as much magic as expected based on the description. The family dynamics were not as interesting to me. I also found myself annoyed with the main character's inability to use the magic at the obvious times. Overall, this didn't quite work for me, but it might for others.

I did receive a copy of the book from the publisher, thoughts expressed are my own.

To be fair when I requested a copy of the book I thought that I would enjoy the premise. I didn't think that I would have an issue with magic being introduced, or the general topic of the Romanov family being fictionalized for a YA audience. I soon realized that that was not true. This book quickly became really uncomfortable to read from a pure topic standpoint, and so my thoughts on the book are slightly biased. However, even from an objective lens I feel as though this book fails. Let's talk about that.

My biggest gripe is the magic system. It feels like a silly introduction, and a way to blame the Bolshevik Revolution on that and not the poor leadership of Tsar Nicholas II. All of the problems faced in the novel are solved with magic that's never explained until literally ten pages before the end of the book. Even if it wasn't used as a scapegoat to explain why the Bolshevik Revolution came about, it didn't really add anything to the story. Anastasia was really just in the dark as the reader.

Anastasia was also a problem with this book. It was a pain to be in her head. There were also two key "action" scenes that felt out of place that starred her. I never once believed that Anastasia was capable of either of them, and they didn't really add anything to the plot. Not that there was a plot really. For part of the book the story seems to be building toward their escape, but Anastasia seemingly has no larger vision that the novel is building towards. So it's a sloppily put together story that's not really invested in being a character study either? Giving Anastasia a love interest I thought was a little in poor taste. Including Maria's was fine, I didn't have as much of an issue there. But so little was done with Zash that he didn't ever feel like a person. And the dynamic between him and Anastasia never quite clicked and so how that whole situation played out didn't feel genuine.

At no point really in the novel, but especially in the beginning did Anastasia seem to understand the gravity of the situation they were in. Whether that's because history suggests that all of the Romanov's were just that innocently minded could be true, but she increasingly putting herself in positions where she legitimately should have been killed.

Not that it mattered because Alexi was also continuously put in positions where he should have died and seemingly survived because the narrative needed him to.

The book was poorly paced, for the first 60% of the book we're going through the history of the Romanov imprisonment, which is fine. I understand that the goal there was to stick as close to the history as possible, but I think that in sticking to the history it really hurt the narrative heft of the novel. It doesn't feel like an alternative history story, even with the included magic and fictionalized Bolshevik guard. It flops. With the remaining 40% it didn't really feel like Brandes knew where they wanted the story to go, it almost felt tacked on leaving me to wish that maybe Alexi and Anastasia had died.

Overall I can't imagine recommending this book to anyone. I'm sure that there will be people that can relate to and appreciate Romanov far more than I did. I'm happy for those people. I wish that I could have enjoyed the book more than I did, just sadly wasn't the case.

The story of Anastasia has always been a childhood favorite and this book exceeded my expectations in a profound way. With deep and enriching characters, I was enthralled every single page. Alexei especially touched my heart. Nastya's courage is inspiring. Zash will stay with me for a long time. Only a handful of books have ever made me cry and this one had me tearing up multiple times, even to the point of needing to stop to breath because the feels were so intense. Reality and fiction were woven together with masterful skill, honoring the royal family's memory as they deserved, carrying the torch of hope high. Their kindness, love, hope, and forgiveness is a beacon of light and goodness.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to read this book and have already pre-ordered the hardback to add to my collection of favorite books.

What a delight! My husband says I'm always more chipper when I read a good book and he hasn't been able to get this normally introverted bookworm to stop talking about Romanov. Nadine' s writing is smooth and scrumptiously descriptive. Not flowery but eloquent and vivid.

The book was about Anastasia and her family and their trials after Anastasia's father abdicated the throne. I really loved the family dynamic and how family-centered the book was and how family-centered Anastasia was. It is refreshing to read in YA fiction!

I know very little Russian history but Nadine did a beautiful job immersing the reader in Russian history and culture. The book has definitely left me wanting to dive in to that history and learn more about it. I'll be honest, I totally googled Romanov history right away! From what little I've read since finishing the book, I have found that the author did an amazing job being accurate in her magical spin and treating Anastasia's story with care and respect. *On a side note, her sister Tatiana felt a little disregarded. The second time she was mentioned, I was trying to remember who she was. But all in all, I didn't mind.

The characters were complex and interesting. The magical element that she wove into the world was beautiful and believable. Anastasia's emotions were at times so real, I found myself also frustrated, wanting to know more about the spells and their masters. Zash was quite the stoic character and I admired Anastasia's desire to understand him better. Reading this story has definitely made me want to read Nadine's other magical spins on history (I just ordered Fawkes after reading this). Plus, what better way for getting fantasy lovers to read about history?

I'm looking forward to whatever else the author has to offer and I will definitely read those books.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

BTW, is there a subgenre for this type of book? Like how fairytales changed are fractured fairytales? What would we call this history for fantasy lovers? Spellbinding spins on history?

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Oh hello arc I received last year and only just got around to reading... Oops. Better late than never I suppose.
Anyway, you're going to have to stick with me here because I have a lot of thoughts on this book and not all of them make sense, it was very much a read of two halves for me, so I guess we better get started...

The history books say I died.
They don’t know the half of it.
Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them . . . and he’s hunted Romanov before. Nastya’s only chances of survival are to either release the spell, and deal with the consequences, or enlist help from Zash, the handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya’s never dabbled in magic before, but it doesn’t frighten her as much as her growing attraction for Zash. She likes him. She thinks he might even like her . . . That is, until she’s on one side of a firing squad . . . and he’s on the other.

First things first, let's just give kudos to whoever designed the cover for this because it is NOICE.
Secondly, for my thoughts on this to make sense, we need to step back in time and visit teenage!Leah. You see, much like now, teenage!Leah was really into history, which is why she was so excited to do history at A-Leve and even more so when she learned that one of the topics she would get to study was Russian history, specifically, the rise of communism, the Bolsheviks and the fall of the Romanov dynasty. Sadly, the person who was charged with teaching us Russian history, well... history at all, turned up for a grand total of three of our lessons. All term. Which meant we got merged with another history class who were doing Irish history instead. So I mean, I still got to learn about a revolution and fighting but in a different country, in different circumstances. Long story short, all I knew about Russian history then was what I had picked up as general knowledge and what I had learned from the animated movie Anastasia. Which is why I wanted to read this book, I knew it was a fictionalised retelling of the fall of the Romanov's and in particular the story of Anastasia Romanov, who, it was speculated managed to escape from execution. Only, the thing is, after reading this, I still don't have an understanding of what was going on in Russia at that time with those people. It just didn't go far enough in terms of the historical fiction element.

This was really beautifully written, the story begins with the Romanovs already in captivity and the Bolshevik soldiers guarding them are splitting up the family, supposedly for the former Tsar to be tried for his crimes against the people of Russia. (What these are aren't actually explained at any point) Only this is a ruse to move the family to another prison. I really felt immersed in the claustrophobic and oppressive atmosphere of the house that imprisoned the family, honestly, the writing style is amazing. But despite being cooped up in the house with all the Romanovs, I didn't feel like I knew any of them bar Anastasia (or Nastya as she is affectionately known).  Alexei and their father got a bit more characterisation, but the rest of the family felt very two dimensional and we never really got to find out much about the motivations of anyone. The scene setting was great, but it didn't really reveal much about what was going on in terms of society or what was happening politically.

The PR surrounding this book mentions that it is a 'fantastical' retelling of the Romanov story and there is a magical element, which was fine and is included from the beginning but I didn't really understand it. Nadine Brandes basically gives us a more magical theory to explain Nastya's escape but the magic system didn't make a lot of sense to me. How it worked, who could master it and where it came from didn't really feature and I found myself falling out of the story whenever the magic was being used because I couldn't get my head around it.

Earlier on I said that this was a read of two halves, on the one hand, it was a deliciously written, engaging story about a family in dire circumstances, but on the other, it didn't read much like a historical fiction and the fantasy element didn't really do it for me.

Basically, I really enjoyed it, but it left me wanting more and I don't feel like I'm any the wiser about this period of history.

I wanted so badly to love this book, it sounds absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for me. I’m sure it was just a personal preference as I’m not the biggest fan of historical fiction and that it will be well loved by many others.

MAGICAL! It's all i can say about this book. It's purely magic and it makes me feel all..i don't know? Heavenly? Lucky?.There are so much great things about this book. I finished it at 5AM today and the magic of it still hasn't worn out nor i think it will for a long time. This is just BLISSFUL. There is no questioning it.

I don't really want to describe each character one by one because i don't think i can do them any justice. The author has SO beautifully designed the characters they will stay with you long after finishing the book. I found myself wondering about them so many times since the book and i had to remind myself that they are (sadly) FICTIONAL.

I will just stop my ranting here because i seriously don't want to give anyone the wrong impression of not reading this PRECIOUS book. Please please go now and read it.

( AND THANK YOU SO MUCH NETGALLEY FOR PROVIDING ME THE ARC IN EXCHANGE OF AN HONEST REVIEW. CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH.)

This fell so flat for me. The romance, the plot, the writing, and the everything. It just felt all so bland.

This book hooked me from the first page as it instantly pulled me into a fascinating world. Though I have read of this time and these characters many times before, I have never experienced this story as if it were brought to life. The family came to life as I never have read of them before and thoroughly enjoyed the magical and fantasy elements of this captivating story! It is sure to be a fantastic hit!

I always had an interest in the Romanovs and was very lucky to have received this book as an ARC.

A magical retelling of the exile of the Tsar and his family, I felt myself getting attached to so many of the characters in the book. It also made me devastated at some parts of the story. This book was also written in Anastasia aka Nasya's POV.

It was also well researched and I absolutely loved reading it!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The story of Anistasia is one that is quite popular. For many years it was pondered if the grand duchess had survived the horrific murder of her entire family. To add fuel to the fire so to speak the Royal family were sainted for their sacrifices. Not to mention the rumors and speculation that surrounded the family due to the mysterious Rasputin.

So the story in truth is quite remarkable and one I have had a passing interest in for many years, how could you not with all that!

Nadine Brande’s Romanov was spectacular! The historical aspects were well researched . So much so that you could almost believe this story to be true, even with the use of magic. The timing and events of history blended superbly with a story of survival and hope and love.

Knowing how the Romanov family died you would think it was hard to have hope for a happy ending, but the way Brande spun the tale there was one, at least for Anistasia and her brother.

This story is Rich with history and embued with hope. If you are not familiar with the story of the Romanov family then you could still get a pretty good idea about what had happened to them in this book, though let’s not forget it is a work of fiction.

The story takes place after the last Royal family of Russia had been arrested for treason for crimes against the mother country. They are being held prisoner until a decision can be made about what should be done with them. At one point the family is separated when the final verdict is exile. So the Romanov family is exiled to the edge of Russia where they are essentially under house arrest. From there the family suffer a great deal of ups and downs (you’ll have to read it to get the juicy bits). After a while things go from bad to order and the family begin to lose hope of rescue and worse hope of survival.

Laced throughout the history and bits of magic there is love. In fact two of our Royal girls find love, and heartache, entwined with their trials. Anistasia doesn’t know if she should dare to hope that love will blossom and that she will survive.

Nadine Brande, I thank you very much for your unique vision for Anistasia’s story. I only wish it were truth! I give Romanov a very enthusiastic 5 out of 5 stars!

So my little booking if historical fiction is your thing, or stories of hope and survival, or forbidden love or young adult or just about anything, then this is a fantastic book for you to read!

I was supplied an advanced copy of Romanov from NetGally for a fair and honest review.

BTW, I loved it! 😉

Where do I even start - Nadine Brandes is a go to author for Historical Fantasy YA books!

An intriguing book taking you slowly into the history of Russia and the Romanov family. What Nadine has done is weave their deep family history and added a twist of magic with spell masters. This book builds an intricate tale of family, strength, faith, and never giving up.

This book had many cultural references which was a fantastic learning experience. An Anastacia retelling at heart, this book delves into siberian adventure and magic. The atmosphere build up in this novel was incredible. I thorougly enjoyed reliving the well known tale of the Romanov family. If you like historical fiction and fantasy genres, then I would recommend picking this book up.