This is the story of Anna Andersen who claimed to be the youngest daughter of the murdered Romanov family in 1917.
I found this story interesting in parts but the changes in timelines definitely had me confused, the story changes abruptly from year to year and also between weeks and months. I found myself finding a timeline I like and just focusing on those chapters.
Thank you to NetGalley and Swift Press for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review. 3

this book took me to another level of book reading excitement. i was immersed into this story from the very beginning. it had whispers of a story id learn of long ago when i first tarting reading long tombs and books. so i felt almost nostalgic thinking no as an oldie id get to delve into something i linked to a story id once been told when i was a wee lass. the excitement was there just the same, but with somewhat wiser reading knowledge i dived deeper and felt more throughout reading this book. because what a book about a whoa of a woman.
this author has such a way with words and telling stories. so much so that straight after my last one of theirs i was looking for another and that is how i came across this one. and im glad to say the skill shone through just as well in this book.
this story was inventive, true, and built layer upon layer of tension, intrigue and emotional depths. because i dont know how Ariel managed to get this story into one single book. there was so much smart, close details but somehow it spans all you need to know to feel like you are 'in the know' of everything you need to in what happened.
giving her own spin on Anna was done with such clever ways. i wondered at first how we could think any different. after all we know the truth right? we know what they say actual DNA etc has proved. but i should have put my cynicism aside..and i very much did because Ariel gives this story with such thoughtful details that it becomes more than the original story and leads to more thought provoking moments. especially around identity and what we ave been telling ourselves or even what others have been doing so.
many will know this story. some will think they know it front to back having read every piece of work, articles, thoughts on it throughout time. but somehow Ariel keeps you hooked as if she is the only one whos ever told it. and still, still in its own right so that if you actually arent a fan of the era. then you will still feel just as engrossed into this story. and i can guarantee those that dont know it will be googling with ten million tabs open trying to find out more about Anna.
this book really made me think about things we are told. and what we believe so often comes from what we need to believe at the time. our world and ourselves can be a lot of aware or emotional about things. so often led by that rather than facts and sometimes even change facts to what we need them to be. i think thats ok. but this book really highlighted how things fit, Chinese whispers of things and what is ever fact?
this book weirdly had me thinking of the huge Netflix series that was also weirdly about someone called Anna!
a spellbinding book that truly was magical to read. i loved every moment of it and really could not put it down. i had a numb bottom i was reading for so long and actually hadn't realised until i tried to move and got pins and needles that i hadn't even more for far to long, ha.