Medium – Book
About the Book – Anastasia Romanov, the Grand Duchess of Imperial Russia, is imprisoned with her family (her Papa, Mamma, older sisters and younger brother) by soldiers of the Bolshevik army, their every movement scrutinised, watched everyday. They are moved to Ekaterinburg in Siberia along with some soldiers including the dashing and handsome Zash. Anastasia is tasked by her father to smuggle an ancient spell out with her, that is promised to save the lives of the Romanovs. Zash and Anastasia get closer as she tries to release the ancient magic. But their attraction is terrifying, and they find themselves on opposite sides of a firing squad.
My Rating – 5/5
My Thoughts – As you may have realised, if you have read other entries in this blog, I am an absolute sucker for Russian history. I’m also fascinated by the story of the Romanovs – one of my favourite books about their last days being Helen Rappaport’s ‘Last Days of the Romanovs’, and one of my favourite films being the slightly less high-brow ‘Anastasia’. This book contains all the things I love about YA fiction – a spunky heroine, set in an interesting time in history, magic and spells, and likable characters. The fact that it is about one of my favourite times in history and (spoilers) there is a slightly happy ending to what in reality was a tragic and terrible occurrence, ticks all the boxes for me.
The book is split really into two halves – the first half set before the night of the 16/17 July 1917, and the second half after this. Without wanting to give too much away, both halves have slightly different feels – the first is more threatening, the second more adventurous. The characterisation is fantastic – I really liked the portrayal of Tsar Nicholas II, Anastasia’s lovely Papa, and of Alexei, her little brother. The elements of magic in the storyline don’t feel forced – they kind of ‘pick up’ at the point when the story turns from (semi) non-fictional to fictional, and I liked that about it. As someone who is a Christian, I also really enjoyed the exploration of Anastasia’s faith, and her wrestling with the forgiveness of the people who imprison and hurt her. I have a feeling that this will only be a standalone novel, but it is great and I will definitely read more from the same author.
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