Romanov was such a heartbreaking but uplifting story. It follows Anastasia Romanov. A lost princess of Russia trying to avenge her family’s deaths and trying to find a cure for her brothers sickness all the while falling in love with the enemies soldier and I cried. This book was so beautifully written and well thought out I gave it a five stars. This emotional rollercoaster of a book is perfect for historical fiction or fantasy fans and I would definitely recommend it to anyone above the age of 12 just because it does have some murder and heavy topics. ( )

2 1/2 stars. It flowed too slowly for my taste. I liked the overall story, but there were plenty of segments that could have been shorter. The narration for the audiobook was good, if you don't mind all the dialogue being in a Russian accent (I assume a fake one, I can't say I've heard a real Russian accent before). ( )

(I am using this book for the "Book with a Red Cover" Category of Extreme Book Nerd. Because let's face it, it has some red in it. ;))

I really really wanted to love this book. It came on the recommendation of a library user who I greatly respect. I also grew up in LOVE with the movie "Anastasia." I loved Dimetri; I can still quote Bartok. I sing the songs sometimes in the shower. I knew that the animated film was nothing like the real story of Anastasia. My brother also had a fascination with Russian history and the Romanov family. We all wanted to believe that somehow Anastasia had avoided the slaughtering of her family.

"Romanov" did a great job following the historical facts that we know. And the storylines of some soldiers learning to care for the Romanov family? That even seemed plausible. It was the parts of the story AFTER the assassinations, the fantastical elements, that made the book get really REALLY weird. A Russian nesting doll with spells? Anastasia and Alexi alternating between living and dead souls? The love angle even when we thought Anastasia was a ghost? Uh uh.

I get what the author was trying to do. She, like all of us, wanted to share a happier tale. That Anastasia and Alexi really did survive--which in the mid 2000's the world found out that was not the case. Still. I would have preferred more of a realistic fiction angle as opposed to a fantasy angle that just did not make sense. I really skimmed the final chapters due to its plotline (which felt all over the place)

The book had so much potential when I started. I hate that this was the outcome. ( )

The history books say I died.

They don’t know the half of it.

Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them, and he’s hunted Romanov before.

Nastya’s only chances of saving herself and her family are to either release the spell and deal with the consequences, or enlist help from Zash, the handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya has only dabbled in magic, but it doesn’t frighten her half as much as her growing attraction to Zash. She likes him. She thinks he might even like her.

That is, until she’s on one side of a firing squad . . . and he’s on the other.

Y'all. I cried. I literally sobbed. Maybe it's because I'm melodramatic and hopelessly sentimental? But I know that if I were Nastya, I know I wouldn't have been able to control myself. I would have killed Yurovsky, and the fact that she didn't wrecked me. ( )