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

“Why won't you die?”

"Because I have a story I was meant to live. And not even you can unwrite it.”

Historical. Gut-wrenching. Heartwarming.

I found this book on bookstagram (much to the dismay of my bank account) and thought it sounded interesting. I really enjoy learning about history but historical fiction isn’t usually my kind of thing. However, this was perfect. It follows The Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov (Nastya) and her family after her father, the Tsar of Russia, abdicated during the Russian Revolution; when the family were held and transferred to Yekaterinburg by the Bolshevik soldiers. It shows the day-to-day life of the Romanov family during their imprisonment, the growing relationships the family nurtured with the soldiers and the declining health of the youngest son Alexei (his chronic suffering caused by haemophilia is an important theme throughout the story). 

I loved the fact that bits of real history were interwoven with fiction and just a hint of magic. At the end of the book, Brandes explains the fact and the fiction she used to create her story. For me, it’s been an inspiring introduction into one of the world’s most renowned families and I will definitely be looking to research the Russian Revolution further now. I also loved the Russian language and titbits that were threaded throughout the story. 

Nastya was everything you could possibly want in a female hero: strong, clever and witty but also vulnerable. She didn’t get over the death of her family quickly and the realism of her internal monologues and thoughts were exactly what you would expect of someone in that situation. My only issue was some of the writing of her thoughts got a little repetitive towards the end but I think that was to reflect how highly emotional she was - it wasn’t too distracting.

I loved Zash. Just perfect character arc and you wanted them to get together (obviously).

Alexei was an interesting character throughout. Nothing irritating about him and he held his own throughout the book but the way he spoke and conducted himself came across that he was older than 13. I know the times were different and the expectations and experiences were polar opposites to teenagers today but it often felt as though a man was speaking and not a teenager which made his character difficult for me to envisage in the story.

The actual assassination was quite shocking even though I went into this book knowing that was how it ended for the family. I think the description of that scene could have been a little more shocking and drawn out for effect but I suppose it’s YA. 

Overall this is one of the best books I have read this year. It made me gasp, laugh and cry; what more could you want from a book?

Rating: ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨

Thanks for reading,

Rochelle xxx

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