Really enjoyed this book and writing style although the story felt a little overdone. How many retellings can one story have?

A fantastical take on the final days of the Romanovs, the family that was assassinated by the Bolsheviks after the revolution. The story is told by the Princess Anastasia, but it doesn't turn out like the Disney movie, so don't expect that version. The premise is really interesting and I think it would appeal to a young adult readership.

Nadine Brandes's Romanov reminds me of this casserole my mom used to make: It was a hot, gooey mess, but I ate every bite and came back for seconds. You guys, this is not a great book, but it is a very fun one. Anastasia Romanov dies with her family when the Russian royals are executed — but then she, and her little brother Alexis come back to life, thanks to a long-cherished family spell's release right at the crucial moment. Aided by one of the soldiers who participated in her execution, Anastasia makes her way across revolutionary-era Russia, mastering her family's magical powers and finding a new future for herself and her brother. So I love the Romanovs and read obsessively about them in my teens, and I especially loved stories in which Anastasia escaped the massacre of her family, even though I know those stories are not rooted in historical fact in any way, shape, or form. But this wild YA novel didn't worry about historical fact, and that was fine with me: This was an imaginative, magical, alternate history that often failed to hang together but always managed to keep me reading. (I finished it in one evening.) Don't expect a literary masterpiece, but if a romp through a magical Russian countryside with some on-the-run resurrected royalty sounds fun, this is fast, frivolous read.

I got this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review. I really enjoyed this book. It was one of my favorite reads so far this year and would recommend this book to anyone.

While reading this book I was enjoying reading about the, at least slightly fictitious, life of the Romanovs as I've never really learned about them in my life -- only what I know from watching the Disney movie Anastasia when I was younger. I also adore the cover on this book! the reds and golds look stunning against the solid black

However, I was hoping that there would be a little more magic than what was presented throughout the book. Most of the time we either see relief spells or are shown/told about the Romanov doll.

There were a handful of times where I felt as if one or more of the Romanov children were forgotten about or simply glossed over. I understand that this wasn't a story from their point of view, but it would have been nice to hear more than just something like "Olga stayed behind to read to mother".

One romance I didn't mind seeing in this was between Evan and Maria and my heart felt for Maria when they were caught together during the surprise inspection and the consequences that came afterwards for them.

My three favourite characters would probably have to be Nastya, Alexei and Nikolai (their father). The bond between Nastya and Nikolai, and also Nastya and Alexei would never be broken in this story, my guess is -- only death could seperate them and even then their love would never disappear.

I may have only given this book 3 stars, but I wouldn't mind reading it again at a later date.

My favourite quote from the book is below:

"We are Romanovs. The bond of our hearts spans miles, memory and time."

Spoilers!

The romantic-type moments between Zash and Nastya weren't too bad and they were just subtle enough to make them believable -- especially when trying to stay unseen while portraying a severe Bolshevik soldier. Towards the end the romantic moments heightened though and I didn't get as into them as I did when the entire family was in the house in confinement. I would have been happy to just see the pair as friends in the end though.

End Spoilers!

I unfortunately had a hard time keeping focus with this book, so I ended up sitting it aside. I think I was expecting something much more in line with the animated Anastasia, with less of a historical focus. But I do plan to try it again sometime!

I received an advanced copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

This novel tells the story of the Romanov family after they are usurped from the throne and taken as prisoners until their unfortunate death. There have always been so many 'what if' stories about what occurred with Anastasia and questioning if the young hemophiliac, Alexie, survived or not as there was never FIRM evidence of his death.

I do love historical fiction novels that give us a different viewpoint and a possible outcome to what happened in history and this novel was enjoyable, to a point. This definitely did NOT feel like a historical FANTASY as it is labeled, the magic was not really developed enough and seemed rather jarring for a lot of the novel. I feel like this would have been a much more enjoyable novel if she had just focused on historical fiction and left the magic out. I did LOVE Fawkes and the author seamlessly flowed magic and the romance in that story and not so well in this one. The side love story of Nastya's sister was very fluid and made sense, whereas Nastya's felt very forced until the end of the novel and even then it is a bit questionable, is this love or guilt?

I will absolutely pick up another novel by Nadine Brandes as I loved Fawkes and I feel like this one just barely missed the mark and felt more forced.

At first I wasn't sure that I was going to continue reading this book because the beginning is rather slow and a bit confusing. Everything is much clearer by about 50 pages in I would say and that's when my interest was caught. This is the story of the royal Romanov family that was held hostage in a small house for months. I really enjoyed the character of the tsar, his selfless and the way he loved his people and family was incredible. Our main character got on my nerves quite a bit but I did love her fighting spirit. I think Alexi was my favorite character and I kinda wish that he had been the main character or at least had his own POV chapters.

The ending was okay but it did wrap up rather quickly and with in a nice bow too. I gave it a 3.5 and would be interested to see what else this author puts out.

I'm what you may call the slightest bit obsessed with Anastasia Romanov. Thanks to the musical, starring Christy Altomare as the titular Anastasia, I fell in love with her story. Then, I saw the animated film, which I also adored. So, when I heard that this book is a retelling of Anastasia's story, I was intrigued.
I do think this is an informative novel and one most people will enjoy. However, the fantasy element in this book did not really play a huge part in the story and its nonexistence left me feeling disappointed. Overall, i didnt hate this, but it didnt quite meet my expectations either.

Romanov by Nadine Brandes is a YA historical fantasy retelling of Anastasia. It's an interesting take on the Romanov' family and Anastasia. Would recommend.

I really enjoyed this, the writing style was super easy to slip into. The setting was captivating although I would have loved to have read more in the greater setting of Russia I understand from the plot why that was lacking and is no fault of the book rather a compliment to the writing. It was such a fun and fast read with some heavy and heartbreaking moments that lend weight and reader investment. I would have read more books in this world

I tried really hard to get into this, and made a number of attempts to read this book but unfortunately it was just too slow to start and didn't grab me.

I really like the concept and it's a creative idea, but I think the characters need more depth to them from the get go to catch my interest long enough to persist.

Romanov was an interesting alternate history. I got sucked into the story and couldn’t put it down. I am one of those people who needs a good romance to truly love a story, and this book didn’t disappoint though the romance was by no means the sole focus. Thanks for a great read.

I’ve always been captivated by the story of Grand Duchess Anastasia and the mystery that surrounded her death. Nadine Brandes managed to stay true to the history and still tell an exciting story using a bit of fantasy. I really enjoyed this story from a new to me author and will definitely be looking into some of her other works. Fawkes has already caught my eye and is calling my name!

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This book wasn't bad, but I really prefer the real history to this strange thing with magic and love and I lost interest at the middle of the book and I forgot that I was reading this book while I was actively reading the book. It sounds so bad, but probably it means that this story is not for me and I'm okay with that. So many people could love these characters more.

I DNFed this at 30% bc i couldn't get into it unfortunately. I still don't know what it is that didn't do it for me but I just couldn't get into it..

I feel like i've never been fascinated by the original story to begin with so reading this, it didnt do anything for me at all and I culdn't bring myself to read it. I would actively avoid the book an when I realised that I was wasting my time on purpose i decided to let it go.

This is certainly a 'me' problem and has nothing to do with the book itself.

Seriously, one of the best books I read in 2019. (Yes, I'm that late with this review, sorry." I already need to read this again. I liked the way it was written, the style of the author made me want to read this in one sitting. It was such a fast read! I love how the author tried to include a lot of actual facts, but included so much fantasy too. The main character Anastasia was very likeable, and I fell in love with Zash too.. Who wouldn't?
As a small child I was already a little bit obsessed with the story of the romanovs, and I watched the animated movie way too much. (I should really watch that again) My best friend is Ukrainian and she made me interested in Russian History and Literature again.
You should read this book.

I’m not usually a fan of historical fiction but I do quite enjoy Nadine’s. version of ‘history’. She’s an expert writer. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for granting my request .

I grew up completely obsessed with the Anastasia movie! I've also been fascinated by the theories surrounding her possible survival! As a sucker for a retelling and a lover of history, this book was all the way up my alley! I really loved the more historical aspects and the message of family and forgiveness. Part of me wishes this was a dual POV book because I would have loved to have been in Zash's head for a lot of things instead of being told what he was thinking/feeling. I definitely want to pick up Fawkes now

A retelling of the tragic story of the Russian Imperial family with a magic twist. I really expected to like this story based of the premise. The Romanov family history has been romanticized through the mystery of Anastasia and Brandes plays into that fascination and adds magic and spells to this fantasy retelling. The issues I had with this story is that the descriptions fall flat and are too long causing the story to really drag.