Nadine Brandes

Anastasia "Nastya" Romanov must choose between using the ancient spell her father, the exiled tsar, trusted her to keep safe, or trust Zash, a handsome Bolshevik soldier.

Romanov

My name is Anastasia . . . 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 either to release the spell and deal with the consequences, or to 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. Praise for Romanov: “I am obsessed with this book! A magical twist on history that will have Anastasia fans wishing for more. I loved every detail Brandes wrote. If you love magic and Imperial Russia, you want Romanov on your shelf!” —Evelyn Skye “Romanov will cast a spell on readers and immerse them in a history anyone would long to be a part of.” —Sasha Alsberg “If you think you know the story behind Anastasia Romanov, think again! The perfect blend of history and fantasy, Romanov takes a deeper look at the days leading up to the family’s tragedy, while also exploring the possibilities behind the mysteries that have long intrigued history buffs everywhere. Brandes weaves a brilliant and intricate saga of love, loss, and the power of forgiveness. Prepare to have your breath stolen by this gorgeous novel of brilliant prose and epic enchantment.” —Sara Ella

Rebecca Briesemeister

Kelci

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. A phenomenal retelling of The Romanov family. As someone who is low key obsessed with the Russian tsars, a love or the Anastasia movie, and the Amazon Romanoff series, this was perfect. As I read I constantly was asking what’s next?

Lacy W

First Thoughts
I am now fully invested in the story that Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov and Alexei Romanov survived the brutal killing of their entire family. Now normally I am not really into conspiracy theories and all that, but damn, this book has me convinced. Even if it is slightly unrealistic.

Moving on to my first thoughts on the actual book (by the way, let me know if you guys like this new layout for reviews!), I fully enjoyed it. I was fully invested in Natasya's story from page one. Having the story being written in first person helped to feel every feeling Natasya felt and become fully immersed in the book. I felt this dull ache in my heart because I know what happens to this family and it just breaks my heart into a million pieces. I felt her frustration at being imprisoned and the lies that she had to listen to everyday about her family and Rasputin (although I’m not entirely sold on Rasputin and I don’t think I’ll ever be). 

The Characters
As I mentioned about, Natasya was the main character and her story was told in first person. We experienced everything through her eyes. I loved Natasya, simply put. She was just like every teenager with a love for books and mischief. She sometimes acted snotty and selfish but most of the time, she had a good heart. She just wanted to save her family and that is something I can get behind in a character. I appreciated the fact that she doesn't use her royalty status as an excuse to act like a brat. I feel like Natsya and I could have been great friends.

I liked the added twist that she was interested in spellwork, which is not something I have seen in various “Anastasia is alive” interpretations. This little twist made the book stand out ot me in a interesting way. I wasn’t super sure if I liked it or not but regardless, I enjoyed it. It brought something new to the table. 

The Plot
Okay, so the plot veered in a direction that I wasn’t expecting. I am not entirely sure if I was on board with it. To me, it felt very rushed toward the end. The big event, which if you know what happens to the Romanov family, you could probably guess, happened 70% into the book. Which mean the book only had 30% to get wrapped up nicely. As far as I know, there is no sequel to this book. Don’t get me wrong, I liked (well as much as one can like reading about prisoners) reading about the Romanovs being held prisoner but after a while, I just wanted the story to really start progressing. 
After the event, things happened so rapidly, it made my head spin. Everything had been slow and methodical up until that point. Then just turbo drive. Things also happened a bit too conveniently. There was so much angst and question in the beginning, I wanted that to continue. I guess I am just a sucker for struggle. 

The Writing
The writing was beautiful but simplistic. It was very easy to read which, at times, I dont think is a bad thing. Sometimes I just want to get invested in the story and not try to decipher was is being said. That is really all to say about the writing.

Trigger Warnings
There are two main trigger warnings with this book. They are death and severe illness. The author kept Alexei's hemophilia, which I appreciated. The death comes from a soldier getting shot and of course the Romanov massacre.

Final Thoughts
Overall, this was a great book, despite the rather rushed ending. It reignited my interest in Russian history again. I have a book about Nicholas and Alexandra (written by my favorite biographer, Robert K Massie) that I will be reading soon. This was a perfect taster into the Romanov world.

As for recommendations, I recommend this very highly. You don’t have to know Russian history or the history of the Romanovs to enjoy this book. I think those who enjoy a well written story would enjoy this book.

menna

Vanessa 

anxiouspixie

Interesting that the part I enjoyed was the part more based on reality. The magic aspect was lacking, and I would have enjoyed a fictional retelling more than what it was.

adriana.

this book. oh my freakin GOODNESS. 
this is the first book i am reading from nadine brandes and it definitely won’t be the last one.
the way the Romanov family loved each other, supported each other and FORGAVE. i truly admire their courage through so many trials. the pain and suffering wasn’t enough to break them and I LOVE THEM FOR IT. psalm 27:1. periodt.

i do have to say i wanted more romance from zash and natsya but like THEY STILL SO CUTE LIKE WHAT 
and well, natsya had her own things that sort of annoyed me but well, she’s 🎶sixteen going on seventeen🎶 and, in the finale, those mishaps were resolved and my admiration for her grew.

also the magic in it was so good and simple, i love it.


safe to say, this book will forever be a precious reminder to me that even in the darkest of times, Jesus will always be there.


4.8 out of 5 stars




“why won’t you die?”

“because i have a story i was meant to live. and not even you can unwrite it.” ♡︎

Megan Lowe

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book was seriously impressive! I’ve not seen the movie Anastasia, not read anything about her or anything Russian, pretty much. What can I say? Anna Karena traumatised me!
But this wasn’t the depressing mess that Russian stories usually leave me with.
I quite enjoyed this story. Nastya was gutsy and brave. Zash was seriously lovable. Alexi was a great light point and the story was so intriguing!
I like to think what happened here was what really happened, well the afterwards part anyway.
At times I felt like the story chugged along, but towards the end it did catch up and made for a compelling read.
Is this my usual type of book? No, but I’m not sad I read it through to conclusion. If you’re looking for a historical/fantasy/retelling cross, give this a go!

Julie Janis

I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did! It is very well written, had a beautiful message, and makes me appreciate historical fiction a lot more! The main character did peeve me at one point, but after reading the whole book, I understand that without her being annoying, the theme wouldn't be executed as well. I highly recommend this one!

Steph L 

I would rate this book higher than five stars if I could. I was posting a lot of thoughts as I read, and so feel free to look at those. Here is a mini review of my overall thoughts. 

Overall- 5 stars

Overall this was a fantastic Historical Fiction with a dash of fantasy to make it a new story the author wanted to tell. This is the first Anastasia Retelling that I have read where it was set in the time period, and I loved that. 

Characters- 5 stars

Everyone from the Romanov family you know to Zash, the Bolshevik who was their guard was a delight. They all had so much live and so much heart and I loved hearing their story. Each character had their own personality, and they had had their own flaws which was great. From what I've read, The Romanov's in terms of personality, were very much like how the family was back in the day. You can tell how much research went into creating these characters, and I was so happy about that. 

Plot 5 stars

So the plot of this book takes a new direction about halfway thorough the book, and this is great because otherwise it would be like a rehash of what you already know, and would have no original story paired with it. I loved the story because it took me a on a journey, and I felt like I was on a journey with these characters. The fantasy and historical elements work in tandem to create a great story. 

Pace 5 stars

The was of this book was excellent. The long and emotional scenes pulled you in and pulled on your heart strings. The light scenes were fun and a break from the dramatic plotline in the story.

Mary Horton

*deep breath*

O K A Y.

I wanted to fall in love with this book. I really did.

But . . . to be perfectly honest, I never connected that much to it. 

L I K E S:

- Family bonds! All the close relationships among the Romanovs were lovely. It was evident that they loved each other dearly and would die for each other in an instant. I always adore a good family relationship, yes I do.

-The concept. Anastasia happens to be my FAVORITE Broadway musical, so the concept of an Anastasia retelling?? TAKE MY MONEY. Nadine did an admirable job of creating a spin on the Romanovs that was uniquely its own.

-The historical detail. My word, the research!! You can really tell that Nadine poured a lot of time into the research process. One thing I really respect and admire about this author is that she attempts to "do right" by history and respect historical facts. Of course, it is fiction, but that doesn't mean it should skimp on accurately representing history. Which, thankfully, Nadine never does.

-The writing style. Personally, I wasn't of the opinion that this is her best writing, but it was still poignant and evocative. 

-IVAN AND MARIA. My heart . . . I actually liked them more than the main couple. They were the absolute cutest.

-The whole matryoshka dolls/ink spells thing. Okay, so I have mixed feelings on the magic, but Nadine is an expert at creating magic systems that blow my socks off. I have a certain fondness for matryoshka dolls, and the nesting spells were so freaking cool. Also, the ink spells just reminded me of how "magical" words are. :)

-The characters (?) I didn't really connect to them that much, for the most part, but I liked them from a distance and can appreciate that they have a lot of depth. Especially Zash, Nastya, and Alexei. 

D I S L I K E S:

-The setting. I know what you're thinking. "Didn't she JUST say she loved historical detail and that her favorite musical was Anastasia? How could she not love the setting?"

The setting is not the problem; the seeming absence of one is. To be fair, this book is somewhat short, but the description is so obviously lacking that I could never quite conjure a mental picture of what it looked like. The vagueness of it all distanced me from the story and never gave me the feeling of actually being in Russia. Which is so unfortunate, given that the setting was one of the things I loved most about Fawkes and was looking forward to the most in this book.

-The plot. I loved the concept, but the plot dragged. The blurb makes it sound like the story begins close to the execution, but in actuality, that doesn't happen until over halfway through the book. *scratches head* I . . . thought this was going to be an epic, heart-stopping tale about Nastya post-execution? But instead, the first half consisted of a heckin' boring description of their life in captivity. Another disappointment, considering the potential this story had to be extremely compelling. *sighs* I also felt that the magic was used as a cheap plot device to move the characters through the story. It was an "easy escape" for the characters and deadened any sense of urgency or conflict. Because we all knew they could just use magic to escape.

-The magic was a little . . . iffy. Eh. I don't know. I'm still not entirely sure where I stand on the whole magic thing, so I may not be the best person to rely on in this area. However, despite the unique quirks of the magic system, it felt too "easy" and slightly boring. Characters could just speak a word and then Things Happened, which was underwhelming, to say the least. It didn't feel highly organized and wasn't explained very clearly. 

-I just never CONNECTED. Which is a terrible shame, it really is. I feel extremely disappointed because this story had so MUCH potential, and yet, it fell flat. The writing wasn't as compelling, the characters never grabbed my heart, the themes felt a little too "in my face," and the setting was fuzzy. I never fell in love with Romanov; I merely admired aspects of it. I don't know if that makes any sense at all, but that's how I felt. There was a disconnect in my brain that kept me from truly loving the book and for that, I'm really saddened. :( Especially in light of how much I adored Fawkes. It also was rather short, and in my opinion, would have benefited greatly from being longer. However, I still love Nadine Brandes as a person, and she's an encouraging light to everyone she meets. Even though this book wasn't my favorite, Nadine's passion and heart for others shine through clear as day. :)

3 stars

Naga

** spoiler alert **
           there are good things about the book: it stayed as true as it could to the history of the romanov family (their captures, their exile, their execution) or well, as true as the internet could tell us i think. the magical element added was pretty fun too, though sadly it wasn't really get explored (like why out of all the children it was only nastya who could do it)

however, i don't exactly dig the way anastasia is written here. it does capture her rebellious, mischievous and rather unladylike personality; i just think it'd be better if it was written in third pov. reading it from first pov was... well...
and the overused word mischief (it was said for like, 20 times. i'm sure there are other words to describe anastasia's love for silly pranks)

Amanda Kordeliski

A historical fantasy that takes the Romanov myths and expand them to a fantastical realm of magic and spells. The Russian Revolution was not about politics and poverty, it is about magic. Anastasia Romanov is her families final hope after Rasputin is assassinated and her family is placed under house arrest by the Bolsheviks. Nastia had just begun to learn the spell magic that Rasputin knows and her desire to help ease the pain of her brother's hemophilia and help save her family. Set against a historical backdrop, Brandes does a good job of offering up a magical reason for the belief that Anastasia and Alexei Romanov survived the execution of the family. The Romanov family is depicted as gentle and kind and Nikolai is the stoic and caring leader who understands his people and preaches kindness till the end. While I understand that this book is a fantasy and Nastia is clearly the hero of the story, presenting Nikolai and Alexandra as kind and thoughtful makes me squirm. I think Brandes could have presented the Romanov children and a few Bolshevik soldiers in a heroic light without glossing over the anger the Russian people had at Nikolai and Alexandra and the atrocities they committed. I love the characters of Nastia, Alexei and Zash, but the secondary characters are fairly flat and static. All that being said, it is a solid choice for a historical fantasy and those who love the legend of Anastasia will flock to this book.

juliana

This book brought me back to one of my favorite stories as a child! I watched the classic movie “Anastasia” hundreds of times growing up and have always loved and had an interest in the history. Although this book is fiction, it has nonfiction roots. An absolutely lovely and courageous read.... 💗💗💗

Kathryn 

Imie Kent-Muller

Thank you Thomas Nelson/HarperCollins for sending this magnificent book my way.

We all know Anastasia, whether from history or childhood films, but be ready for an awesome new retelling by Nadine Brandes! I have been anticipating this book for AGES. All the book bloggers have been raving about this book so I knew I had to get a copy. 

This story is not like the ones you think you know. Brandes took in-depth research and her imagination to create a story that is her own but rich in history and emotion. We are shown the hell that the Romanovs were put through when they lost their throne, which really did happen, but Brandes throws in the twist of the family being magic users. Nastya is a strong woman (both in magic and willpower) which makes her a wonderful protagonist and it wouldn't be a good YA fantasy with a little romance, which adds to the plot without overpowering the heart breaking core of this story that is a tale of family and duty. 

Brandes has successfully mixed history with fiction where one does not overpower the other, instead complimenting the story to make it emotional and immersive. This book is a must read for all fans of YA Fantasy, Anastasia (whether in history or cartoon films), and anyone wanting a good book to read. Romanov blew me away!

Sheila Goicea

See this full review on my blog along with others at: foalsfictionandfiligree.com

I received an ARC of this book from Thomas Nelson via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! In no way does this impact my overall rating or review of this book.



All included quotes have been taken from an ARC and may not match the finished publication. 



Content Warning Death, Execution/Murder, Violence, Oppression, Hostage, War

  If you look at it, it’s still red. If you touch it, it’s still wet. But if you listen to it, it speaks a single name in a pulsing chant.
Romanov.
Romanov.
Romanov.
For that name alone, bound to my blood like a Bolshevik is bound to the Russian Revolution, I am destined to die. Because not even royal blood can stop bullets.

Romanov is not an easy read. The contents do not make it a “feel good” type of book, no matter how hard it may try. If you are familiar at all with the story of the Romanov family of Russia, then you know that this story doesn’t have a happy ending. It’s heartbreaking. Even so, Romanov is definitely a book worth picking up.

  Papa held himself straight and regal, despite his short stature. We walked down the chilled corridor together. In silence. Ex-tsar and ex-princess.

The story is told from the perspective of Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov, also referred to by her nickname, “Nastya” throughout. Telling the story of her parents and four siblings, Alexei, Olga, Tatiana, and Maria, quickly reveals the strong and loving bond between the family. It’s evident that their likeability caused issues for the Bolsheviks holding them captive.

  ”Rasputin,” I filled in. “The people were afraid of spell masters because of him. They blamed the tsar.”

The thing that I loved most about this book was that all of the main, vital elements were there. Furthermore, the author masterfully uses all of these elements in this historical story and infuses it with magic. While the magic itself was wildly under-developed, including it in the narrative felt natural, like it really happened. (Thanks, Disney, for forever making me believe that there were magical elements to Anastasia’s story.) 

Another great point about this book is that the author didn’t overly-criminalize anyone. Even the Bolsheviks who definitely did wrong, Anastasia offers a ground for neutrality in the end. Rasputin, although only minutely referenced, was not viewed in a negative light either. So more lore, if you will, surrounds his character as being evil. Maybe he was, but most likely, he wasn’t. Each person has a reason for the actions that they take. While some are not good, they may not have started out that way. A lot of good intentions easily run awry when people, politics, and passion without contemplation become involved. This is by no means an excuse for people’s wrongdoings. It’s a glimpse into how easily one’s intentions can quite literally, turn into a runaway train.

  I finally realized why Papa always asked me to forgive. Because it takes more strength and courage to forgive than it does to enact revenge.

The biggest theme the resounds in this book is forgiveness, and just how hard of a thing it is. With such a difficult topic, it is so easy to root for revenge, and desiring ill upon those who wronged the Romanov’s. Anastasia, however, overrules revenge, which is such a harder thing to do. Forgiveness is freedom.

I know at this point that I’ve spoke this book a lot of praise, and believe me, it deserves it. Here comes the downfall of Romanov for me. There is very little world building. Even if this book is a historical fiction and the locations where it took place could be Googled, it’s not a safe assumption that everyone will even know who the Romanovs were! Anything based off of historical fact needs some prefacing, so any reader will know exactly who the book is about and where it takes place. Romanov is set in Tobolsk, Russia in 1918. For a large portion of the story, the family is being held in a house...but that’s basically all I know. I have no idea what the house itself was like, where it was set, and how the characters arrived from one place to another. It was incredibly disorienting to try and figure out where anyone actually was, and made it very difficult to immerse myself into the story. 

Another point, which I mentioned briefly before, was that the magic itself needed more explanation. I loved the way in which the author used it, but I wanted more backstory on it, how it worked, and it’s origin. Overall, I still really liked this book, heart wrenching as it was. I believe it was well thought out, meaningful, and brought out something really special in the Romanov family’s tragic story.

Vulgarity: None.
Sexual content: Kissing only.
Violence: Quite a bit. There are several scenes of injury, some life threatening. Also a scene of an execution, and attempted murder. 

My Rating: ★★★

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Romanov includes fantastic elements but would have done just as well, or better in my opinion, had the magic been completely left out of it. As it is, the story is meant to appeal to the Fantasy YA genre, and it does well to incorporate magic without making it a gimmick or diminishing the significance of the characters and their plight. And boy, do the characters face many of those. 

Brandes does a fantastic job in this novel making the reader feel the tension in the air during the imprisonment of the Romanovs. The Bolsheviks, out of ignorance and hatred, overthrow the tsar and imprison, starve, and steal from his family in an attempt to make the country communist and “fair” for all. They only wind up turning the country into a semi-permanent war zone devoid of personal freedom and full of death and seek only to revenge themselves on others for their own perceived hurts and do not endeavor to understand the hurts of others. 

Though a harrowing read, if the reader can make it to the end of the book before giving up from grief and heartbreak, one will be rewarded thoroughly for the effort. I do hope the experience sends the reader also to the nonfiction section to pick a book about Russia before it became the USSR and learn a little bit about globally significant, catalytic events such as this.

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, for which I give my own opinion.

Juliette Raven 

** spoiler alert **
           As a kid Anastasia was my favourite animation movie. So when this book came out with a fantasy twist I thought this book is for me. And I was right I loved everything about this book the characters (easy to be fond of) the complexity of the situation that everything was not black or white and it gives me a an happy end to this horrible historical event.

Nickie Mohler

Nastya and her family are living in exile. The former royal family now live in squalor, guarded by Bolshevics. Spell casters are being hunted. 

This book sounds great if that was what it was mainly about. Unfortunately, this book is way too sappy. The romance, and the goodness of the Romanovs was just too much for me. 

If you like characters that are good and pure, and vomit-inducing romance, this book is for you. I will stick to grimdark!!

I received a copy from Net Galley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ruth Parker 

I literally don’t know what to think of this book. I’m wavering in between 2-3 stars. 
First thing first, I like retellings of stories, especially when done right. Retelling history is a bit riskier but I still enjoy it. But when does it become wrong to rewrite history, especially something as well known as this? This book really pushes the boundaries I think.
But that wasn’t my main problem with this - the magic adds a little bit extra to the story and I didn’t hate it. It was a bit silly but suspending belief is important when it comes to books like this. It wasn’t even the portrayal of the royal family as a positive aspect of Russia - the story was told from Anastasia’s perspective, of course she is going to think her father was a great ruler and a perfect man.
No, my problem, my biggest problem, came from the romance in the story. It has to be one of the most toxic and unbelievable romances ever. I hated it. There is no way to positively spin what Zash does and I could not stand the ending. 
I wanted to love this book, so much. I’ve been so excited to read it. But now I want to bury it and pretend it never happened. I didn’t hate it, I just wish I’d not read it.

Alexis 

2/5 stars

I really wanted to enjoy this book, I think I may have gone into it with too high of exceptions. While I understand it's a retelling, it was just very boring for me. I couldn't connect with any of the characters, the plot was so so and I didn't understand the magic system. The Maine reason I even gave it two stars was because I really like the general backstory of Anastasia.

Abby Hoggatt

This book was a very interesting take on historical fiction/fantasy. I loved reading about the true historical events of the Romanov family with a special fantastical explanation of what might have happened. I loved Zash and Nastya as characters, and the exploration of each of the Romanov family members was fully fleshed out.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3/5

Publication Date: May 7, 2019

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 15+ (violence, death, attempted suicide)

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Pages: 352

Amazon Link

Synopsis: 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 survival 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’s never dabbled in magic before, but it doesn’t frighten her as much as her growing attraction for 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.

Review: So for the most part I really liked this book. I loved Nadine’s take on the Romanov’s story and how the book is so heavy in history. I already knew the history of their last days, but this book made it feel more personal and real. The plot was intriguing and the writing was well done. The characters were all well developed and I loved the magic in this book.

However, I did have some issues with the book. I don’t agree with how Rasputin was shown. From my research and knowledge of Rasputin I believe him to be… incredibly creepy and I can see evidence of where he might have been inappropriate of the kids. While his visits have been regarded as innocent, I find it creepy that a grown man would go into a nursery while the four girls were in their nightgowns (which were the equivalent of underwear in this time). I’ve just always had this weird feeling that there was more to the story than what was released and since the Romanovs were incredibly secretive it’s not hard to believe that there might have been more to the story. I worked with kids and have seen them in awful situations, the things that would give you nightmares. Second, I didn’t like the romance. It felt a little forced and off. Third, I didn’t like how the magic system wasn’t fully explained. It seemed to have really cool rules and I would have loved to see it more in the book and have it fully explained. It seemed that things happened at whims. And fourth, the book was a recap of the Romanov’s time in captivity until after halfway through the book. The main focus of Anastasia’s story is after the murders, but that didn’t happen until about 53% in the book. While the book was great and I liked it, I wish that more of the story focused on after the murders, because then the rest of the book felt really fast paced and confusing. 

Verdict: A great fantasy retelling of Anastasia that any fan would appreciate.

Hope Brockway

The bond of our hearts spans miles, memory, and time.

Romanov

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