Romanov by Nadine Brandes (book review)



Dear reader,
The reason I brought this book was that I had already an interest in the Romanov family because I studied them a little at GCSE and found their story, though brutal, really fascinating. So I told my mum it was for school, got myself a copy and 6 months later after finishing the Romanov sector of my History lessons, I finally picked it up. I know I know I'm terrible. However, I still found this book really interesting. 
My liking for this book steadily decreased as it went on, except for a few bumps near the end. As a child, Anastasia was my favourite Disney movie and although I didn't expect that plotline I do think this story went against what had been in my head since I was a kid. Along with my dislike for the plot as the book went on I started to feel less for our main character. However, at the start of the book, I loved Nastya and thought she was a bit like me minus the whole Grand Duchess of Russia thing haha. Anastasia definitely grew as this book went on, at the start, she just reminded me of Winston from New girl, with her pranks on the soldiers. 

Though obviously, this book sways from the original story, I liked how near the start of the book the Ex-Tsar explained to Anastasia how the Soviets system of communism was flawed and gave a bit of background to the situation, using magic as an example. On the topic of magic, I do see why it was important in this book- however, I did think we could have been supplied with more background about the magic system because I thought what we where being told about it made it seem quite boring and the system basis, quite weak. Magic, at least for the first 150 pages didn't feel key to the story. 

The writing in this book was enjoyable and easy to read and speed through, I thought this book was quite a slow burner and the writing definitely made it a nice experience to read. Something I would criticise is the authors use of repeated words. I noticed they show up frequently in this book and I think the way they where used was ineffective and broke the nice flow of the book. 

I really liked Zash and Nastya's relationship, it was such a nice slow burn and I will never not love a classic enemies to lovers trope. Another relationship I loved was Alexei and Nstyas bond is was so wholesome and I loved how they always looked out for each other. Their farther really encouraged kindness throughout their lives and you could see how they were better people and less bitter when they forgave and had hope. A few characters that I feel did not get enough attention where Olga and Titania. I think we should have seen more of them so that when they later passed away we had more of an emotional connection. I also think the Mum could have been more developed however I did feel a greater connection to her character when we found out what she did for her son. It gave me more respect for her but still, I think that's the only scene where I saw or felt anything for the mum. 

There where a lot of jump scares in this book, leading to some actual scares that definitely fractured my heart. My eyes welled up 3 times, once when Ivan died, I'm honestly still not over that. I also thought it was strange how Maria barley featured after Ivans death and how Nastya rarely talked about her after her death. I almost cried again when Alexei was being shot and then once more when I thought that psycho officer tried to kill Zash. I had a strong emotional attachment to all those characters. 

The ending was a little meh for me, I thought it was satisfying enough but I just kind of wanted it to go in a slightly different direction, I thought the author could have really dived in the whole Rasputin story and it was maybe a bit of a wasted angle. But I was, of course, happy everyone was alive haha. 

Overall, I did enjoy this book.
I would probably give it a 3.7-star rating and recommend it to anyone who wants a fun twisted history lesson with a touch of magic. 

Until next time,
Issy
x

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