My thanks to both NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this advance copy of a look at the event filled life of a woman who though royal in blood, was set for an arranged life of disappointment and fear, and how she made a fate of her own, scandalizing many, but inspiring others.

My father tell my brother and I when we complained about not getting something that some of the most powerful and richest people who ever lived never had air conditioning nor indoor plumbing. Well my father would be a little cruder about the indoor plumbing, but we got the point. Also unlike most powerful people my father and mother were married out of love, and not to seal some deal. This idea of the sanctity of marriage is novel, as children and marriages were no different than signatures. A prince or a princess married for property, prosperity. A pact of politics, not passion or pleasure. Courtships were conducted by court couriers, the happy couple not ever seeing each other sometimes until the wedding or even being married by proxy. This was the norm. Women would be trapped in loveless relationships, only needed to create heirs to keep a line of succession clear, the rest of the time husbands would have courtesans, wives would have to be careful. Few could escape loveless and sometimes dangerous relationships. Unless they tried very hard. The Rebel Romanov: Julie of Saxe-Coburg, the Empress Russia Never Had by historian and writer Helen Rappaport is a biography and history of a young woman who fled her husband and the scandals and tribulations that followed.

Catherine the Great was the ruler of Russia and in the year 1795 began to plan for a time that she might not be around to control things. On her list was to find a bride for Catherine's grandson Konstantin, who was the second in line of succession, but already had a reputation for trouble. Catherine dispatched one of her generals to tour Europe to find a bride. The general didn't get far, becoming sick in the town of Coburg in Germany. Becoming aware that the Duke, who had more name than wealth, had three daughters, the general wrote to Saint Petersburg saying he had found the perfect candidates. Soon Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and her sisters were off to Russia, a 40 day trip across dangerous roads, filled with bandits, disease and inns that wouldn't be even one-star. There the three were studied and deliberated on, with Julie becoming the winner. Konstantin was no real catch, a man of moods and violence, leaving Julie alone, a trapped in a marriage far, far from home. Until she found a way to get out.

I never had a sister so I don't know why so many young ladies want to be princesses. A casual reading of history shows how miserable and sad these lives must be. Even Disney Princesses have a high mortality rate. This was a really fascinating read, about a time I thought I knew, but turned out I knew from the male point of view and not from the women's. This is the second book by Rappaport I have read, and is a book that kept me far more engaged than I thought. There is a lot of history, and explanation of how people were connected to each other. However Rappaport is a really good writer and keeps everything straight for the reader. Rappaport is also very good at setting the scene, the inns the sisters stopped in, the coldness of Russia. The freedom that Julie had when she got some distance. A really excellent history.

Fans of Rappaport's other books will enjoy this, as well as people who love to read books on royalty. I must say this person was unfamiliar to me, and I learned quite a lot about which I always enjoy.

This is a well researched non-fiction book that reads like fiction. The story flows and makes history exciting. Thsnks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

I’m most appreciative to NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for an ARC of this historical insight into the royalty of the 1800s in Europe. The subject matter was well researched and beautifully documented. The book covered a lot of people and a lot of wars/disputes during that time.

In my Kindle copy the Family Tree of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was omitted as well as The Family Tree of the Romonovs, the Maps and the Illustrations. It would certainly have been helpful in understanding those family lines and political lines to have had those illustrations.

This book would be a worthy addition to the knowledge and library of anyone interested in that period.

I’ve always been fascinated by the Romanovs, so I was excited to read a book coming from the story at a different angle. This book did not actually end up being what I expected it to be. Reading more like a highly detailed scholarly work and less like a historical narrative, the text is dense and spends a lot of time on family trees and minutia and not actually as much time on the promised mysterious Romanov. It felt at times like a ton of background filler with not enough new scholarship on this woman to warrant her own book. I found the historical details interesting, but I would not necessarily recommend this book for the casual historical learner.

I absolutely love Helen Rappaport’s books. And this one didn’t disappoint. A story of a forced marriage, common in the 1700’s among royalty. It is a great story.

Some mixed feelings about this one! It's exquisitely researched and the cast of characters assembled incredibly interesting and layered. While I wasn't necessarily enamored with Julia herself so much as the writing of Helen Rappaport, it almost feels like that was the point. The rest of her family and their descendants got to be interesting and layered because of Julia's marriage and ultimate divorce. She was really the anchor for everything that happened after her. Truly remarkable!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I knew a bit about Julie as I'm a fan of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert so reading about her life was very interesting. That area of time I have little knowledge so Helen is able to write a world in which Julie lives. She was such a sad figure and having to be a woman on your own at that time is rough. I enjoyed this book

3.5 stars
RECOMMEND

First, I must say that I wrongly assumed that this was a historical fiction novel. It was not. It was a highly researched, dense, and scholarly book. It is full of asides at the end of each chapter along with many footnotes at the end.

I was hoping to "know and understand" Julie. But, I knew more about the people around her who manipulated and used her for their gain. It all started when Julie and her two sisters were summoned by Catherine the Great as potential brides for her grandson. Julie's parents knew they were trading their daughters like cows in exchange for money to the cash-strapped Saxe-Coburg. Horrifying.

Also, this Coburg family was marrying off their children for social climbing, power, and influence with no regard for the situation that their children would encounter. No love matches at all!

I also had no idea of the intense intermarriage between the British-Russian-German royal families. First cousins were marrying first cousins and then their children married other first cousins. It genetically explains hemophilia in the Russian royal line.

I liked parts of the book, but it was a lot for me. It will be a dream for a British-Russian-German history nerd. It just wasn't mine.

TRIGGER WARNING: Death, forced marriage, violence, animal abuse, infidelity, alcohol abuse, war, intermarriage, pregnancy

Goodreads: - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7252344850 - posted 2/16/2025
Storygraph: - https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/d135289a-574d-4462-9f68-ac0725838bdc?redirect=trueposted - 2/16/2025
Books by Dorothea blog: - https://booksbydorothea.blogspot.com/2025/02/review-rebel-princess-earcebook.html - posted 2/16/2025

The Rebel Romanov is a well-organized and a well-researched nonfiction book about a strong, independent woman during this specific time period. I enjoyed learning about Julie. There were a lot of people to keep track of in the beginning, but everything was presented well. Most of my history reading has to do with the Tudors, but I do like to branch out every now and then to explore either a different time period or a different historical person. I would recommend this book to anyone who reads nonfiction, historical pieces.

Thanks to NetGalley, Helen Rappaport, and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read an advanced reader copy of The Rebel Romanov in the return of an honest review.

This was an interesting book about a little known aunt of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria. She married into the Romanov family very young (14) and did not have a happy marriage. She was able to make a life for herself, seemingly on her terms, when it was very difficult for women to do so. It was a good read.

When Catherine the Great is searching for a bride for her grandson Constantine, she turns to Germany. She solicits three sisters, from the Saxe-Coburg line, to visit Russia. There, the girls are inspected and judged. Julie is chosen to be the bride. As soon as her family leaves, Constantine turns into a temperamental monster, treating her horribly. When the emperor dies, Constantine’s brother becomes emperor, and Julie flees back to her homeland.

This book was a bit dry and slow moving. The characters were flat and a bit boring. The story was not brought to life, it was just words on a page. Overall, not a book I would re-read or recommend.

I would like to thank Net Galley and St Matin's Press for the opportunity to read this as an ARC. This is a well written, well researched book about Julie, who dared to defy the Russian Court she was married into and live her own life. It is a bit unsettling, and a bit difficult to follow in terms of the interrelations of the royal families of the times. The AC has a place for the family trees, etc, but it is not available yet. However it is a book worth reading, for a different look at a different Royal Princess.

Helen Rappaport turns her knowledge of the Romanov family to the mysterious Julie in The Rebel Romanov. I quickly got completely confused with Rappaport’s dive into the the Saxe-Coburg’s family tree at the beginning of the book (the actual family tree is not included in the advance copy I read) but the high profile connections are easier to follow throughout the book. In the most simplistic explanation, Queen Victoria’s grandmother, a duchess of Saxe-Coburg, was the first real instigator of marrying descendants off across the breadth of Europe. One of the first being her daughter Julie (Queen Victoria’s aunt) to Konstantin of the Russian Romanovs, granson of Catherine the Great and brother to Tsars Alexander and Nicholas. This doesn’t go so well for Julie as Konstantin is a crazy jerk, and when Catherine dies and Konstantin’s crazy jerk of a father, Tsar Paul, takes the throne it gets even worse. Julie is eventually able to leave, essentially living the rest of her life as a Russian Grand Duchess, in almost an exile situation. Not that she lives poorly - she lives in quite a bit of comfort that is financially perilous. I’m reminded that this didn’t seem to matter to this group of people, and while I certainly empathize with a young woman being married off to a abusive man with no say and little power to escape, I imagine there were plenty of women across time that didn’t receive the benefits that she did for the same kind of suffering. It is fascinating, and after (and probably before) being separated from Konstantin didn’t let it stop her from romantic liaisons. Knowing that her mother Auguste was the one that truly started the marriage arrangements was something astounding for me, and that Victoria’s machinations were a second layer that existed on top of a previous generation, all originating in a cash-strapped principality in Germany. The book managed to make me feel both sympathetic for a young girl taken away from her home to be treated cruelly in a foreign country and also somewhat unsympathetic for the life of luxury she got to lead when many other women of her time were in much more dire straits. It definitely serves as a chilling reminder of living a life without the autonomy to make your own decisions and be at the whim of others. The book reads fairly quickly but is sometimes limited on details because of the lack of historical sources available. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and thank them for the opportunity to read it. It tells the story of a Grand Duchess whose life was relatively unknown. Julie, later known as Anna, was the wife of one of Catherine the Great’s grandsons, Konstantin, a man that enthralled with his regiment’s much like his grandfather. Konstantin was a cruel and unstable man. Julie’s marriage and life are described along with her relationship with her family and her sisters who were part of the royal families of many nations. It was an excellent read.

The Rebel Romanov by Helen Rappaport was a fascinating biography, very interesting and well written.

Well researched book about Grand Duchess Anna Fyordornova considering there is not much that survives of her letters. She was very courageous for keeping her independence from the Romanov family.

I received a free copy of, The Rebel Romanov, by Helen Rappaport, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Julie of Saxe-Coburg was selected to marry Catherine the Great of Russia, grandson Considine. This was a deep read, unsettling at times.

The Rebel Romanov is the second book that I have read by Author Helen Rappaport.

I do thoroughly enjoy her books and writing style.

This story is a nonfiction tale about Julie of Saxe-Coburg who is matched in marriage by Catherine the Great of Russia to her grandson Constantine.

The young and innocent bride becomes alone in a world so different than how her life was in Germany.

She becomes a very strong woman and makes her own place in history.

The Romanov family is a very intriguing part of history, and this Author has done a great deal of research in her work.

I recommend this book to any reader who enjoys history, during this period.

Thank You to NetGalley, Author Helen Rappaport, and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced copy to read and review.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Romanov Sisters comes the story of a courageous young Imperial Grand Duchess who scandalized Europe in search of freedom. A historical story of Russians will make you fascinated along the way.

4.5. I found this to be an interesting and intriguing book. I'm semi-obsessed with the entire Romanov family, so I was excited to read this book!

I thank my lucky stars that I'm not royalty. Poor Julie. She had to endure a grueling 40-day journey to meet a young man who was unruly and confrontational. After 8 torturous days, Konstantin picked Julie for his bride. Then her new life started at 14 years old. Her new husband was abusive, promiscuous, and unfaithful.

Fortunately, Alexander and Elise cared about Julie's welfare and helped her many times. In fact, Tsar Alexander allowed Julie a divorce after 24 years of marriage. The rest of her life was filled with joy and sadness.

This is the perfect book for anyone who has a love for history! The author's research is extensive. I'll definitely be reading more of her books!

I was provided a complimentary copy of the book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.