This was an excellent story. I just couldn't put it down. It was that good I had to read it in one sitting. This was a fantastic debut novel that has since change its cover picture. This book had a great medium to fast pace. The brilliant storyline had lots of unexpected twists and some were quite shocking. I loved the setting of Ukraine before it's independence. Katarina's story was set during WW1. I thought the author did a great job at creating brilliant emotions throughout the book as there was plenty of uncertainty for Katarina whether to leave the family farm. I haven't read many Christian stories but the added religious elements really added another dimension to the book. The diaries are discovered and then the book flicks between 2 persons point of view during both world wars. I really recommend you read this independently published book as it is the start of what is going to be an excellent series. I always recommend you try a sample if this book to see if you will love it just as much as I did.

So much praise goes out to the author and publishing team for creating such a wonderful story.

I hope to find the second book so I can write to let you know when the second book in the series comes out.

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/katarina-s-dark-shadow-by-mj-krause-chivers-booksgosocal-independent-author-4-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

M J Krause-Chivers presents a significantly interesting and informative historical writing. Krause-Chivers' offers an ability to write a page turner book and a magnificent storyline. The book presents a significant insight into the Russian historical events, revolution and the manner in which the time period influenced people's lives. The Russian Mennonite Chronicles stays a must read book for any person interested in the Russian historical timeline.

I like reading historical fiction that causes me to look up names and events. This story did just that. Some of the story seems eerily similar to events in today's current political climate. The story is told from the pov of Katarina who lived through the horrors. The other pov is her son Peter who is trying to understand his mother through her diaries.

The idea for the book is a good one as I rarely find historical books that venture out of the regency Era of England. Historical fiction from Russia is something I would love to see more of. I truly love historical books, however this book was a hard read for me. The dialogue was very heavy between Peter and his publisher as well as the men gathered at the wedding. I realize not as many people are familiar with what happened in Russia during the first world war, but instead of explaining this all through conversations that the characters had, I feel it would have been better to have some conversation and then a separate explanation not in the forum of dialogue. It felt like more of a forced history lesson than reading for pleasure. I also felt like Katarina didn't start true to her character. Was she mature and intelligent or not? One minute she's listening intently to the men's conversation, learning about politics and being offered a job and then she can't even comprehend the severity of her sister's situation. I really wanted to like this book, but I found it so hard to get through and not satisfying since it is part of a series and nothing was resolved in this first book. Unfortunately, I won't be able to finish the series to find out what happens.

Liking historical fiction, I enjoyed this book. Set in Russia, Katerina's story was a time in history I have not come across before in fiction. A bit slow at times, it is a book I will recommend. The author put in a lot of research and I do feel I learned more about what people went through. Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

Katarina is a fifteen year old girl who lives through the Russian Revolution in this novel about the great war. All she wants to do is teach in a missionary school but will she? Readers who love history will enjoy this well researched book. It's tedious at times but interesting.

This was pretty interesting and I enjoyed it for what it was! It was an insightful and educating read and that’s what I usually love with my books’ so 5 out of 5 stars!