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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, Ellen Alpsten, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. It was released on March 15th, 2022!
The Tsarina’s Daughter by Ellen Alpsten is the follow-up novel to Tsarina that was released in 2002. The first book is about Catherine I. This book is about her daughter, Elizabeth. This book can be read as a standalone, although I do wish I read Tsarina first. Elizabeth is born into the Romonav House and her father is Peter the Great. He has offered her hand in marriage to King Louis of France. Her hopes are high and can’t wait to assume her new role. But then her father dies and her mother, who was a former serf, rises to the throne. However, those who have their own ambitions rise in court, and Elizabeth’s life is filled with danger, even by those who she trusted. She will discover that loyalty comes and goes with the wind. She will watch the rise and fall of many leaders and hope she can survive.
It took me a while to get into this book. While the subject matter has always interested me, it just felt a little lackluster. I took a class on Catherine the Great, who I assume will be the main character in the next novel? The part that is so intriguing is the political intrigue–it is the danger and not knowing who to trust. But I felt that concept took the backburner in this story. The focus was love and Elizabeth’s loneliness after Leshy (a forest spirit) told her she would never marry. I did love the lore, but there is so much more to Elizabeth than her love life. It just made her feel so unrealistic. She felt like a character, not a historical person. But the emotion is there. Every time she lost someone in her life, it did pull my heartstrings.
After the death of Peter the Great, the pace of the novel really picked up. I did appreciate how the author talks about the different visions of the Tsars. Some wanted to change, and some wanted to keep to the Old World ideologies. While the main plot is consistent with historical facts, there were some minor details that were not accurate. For instance, Count Lestocq would always whip out his tarot cards. While tarot cards did exist then, they weren’t used for fortune-telling purposes until much later. As I said, this is a minor detail. It just felt like something that didn’t need to be a reoccurring part of the story. But I will probably look into reading the first book. I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.
It took me a while to get into this book. While the subject matter has always interested me, it just felt a little lackluster. I took a class on Catherine the Great, who I assume will be the main character in the next novel? The part that is so intriguing is the political intrigue–it is the danger and not knowing who to trust. But I felt that concept took the backburner in this story. The focus was love and Elizabeth’s loneliness after Leshy (a forest spirit) told her she would never marry. I did love the lore, but there is so much more to Elizabeth than her love life. It just made her feel so unrealistic. She felt like a character, not a historical person. But the emotion is there. Every time she lost someone in her life, it did pull my heartstrings.
After the death of Peter the Great, the pace of the novel really picked up. I did appreciate how the author talks about the different visions of the Tsars. Some wanted to change, and some wanted to keep to the Old World ideologies. While the main plot is consistent with historical facts, there were some minor details that were not accurate. For instance, Count Lestocq would always whip out his tarot cards. While tarot cards did exist then, they weren’t used for fortune-telling purposes until much later. As I said, this is a minor detail. It just felt like something that didn’t need to be a reoccurring part of the story. But I will probably look into reading the first book. I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I have mixed feelings about this book. I think it was a good book overall and I enjoyed it for the most part. It was fairly long but it had a ton of chapters and most were pretty short. This was an interesting way to write and lay out the novel. I did feel that there were a few too many breaks, but it did make it easy to put the book down frequently. This novel moved fast at times and slow at others.
The story of Elizabeth was one that I was not familiar with. I feel like she is a historical figure that is not often presented except as a side note or just a notch on the timeline. Her life was fascinating and heartbreaking. This book made me want to look more into her and I am curious where the author may have embellished and not. Some of it was so hard to read and it is hard to imagine those times, but I will hand it to this author that her words made it so vivid, it came to life in my mind.
Overall it was a good book, but I would not want to read it again.
The story of Elizabeth was one that I was not familiar with. I feel like she is a historical figure that is not often presented except as a side note or just a notch on the timeline. Her life was fascinating and heartbreaking. This book made me want to look more into her and I am curious where the author may have embellished and not. Some of it was so hard to read and it is hard to imagine those times, but I will hand it to this author that her words made it so vivid, it came to life in my mind.
Overall it was a good book, but I would not want to read it again.
I received a free audio copy from the publisher MacMillian via MetGalley for an honest review. The narrator did an amazing job. Over it is a historical fiction book based loosely on Elizabeth the daughter of Catherine the Great. It doesn’t follow the actual history but the story she writes is well written. If she had just written a truly fictional story with fictional characters, it would have been better. I kept looking up the history to see how close the book would follow, but I ended up confused. Overall a great book if you just focus on the story told.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
4.5 Rounded to 5
What a great follow up to Tsarina! I am seriously loving the historical fiction genre. The Tsarina's Daughter is mixed with family drama, court intrigue, betrayal, love, grief, loss and rising from the ashes. Whew!!
I saw some reviews where readers didn't appreciate the backstory in Elizabeth's life, but I for one LOVED it. To see how she grew up, how the relationships, love and loss affected her and changed her were (I think) pivotal in understanding how she ended up taking over the throne.
We again get to see (albeit in small doses thankfully) the brutality and downright coldness a Tsar, and those trying to obtain and hold their position of power, can bestow. We also see how they ignore the truth of their country to self-indulge and take what they believe they are due. This is one time period I would never want to go back to!!
The writing is fantastic, the pacing good, and the character development and relationships were perfect. I love the cast of characters list in the beginning and the further explantation of the main persons at the end. It really helped to keep it all straight.
This is definitely one for fans of the genre, who also love court intrigue and family drama. This is out now so go grab yourself a copy! The Tsarina's Daughter can be read standalone so no biggie if you haven't read Tsarina BUT I recommend that one as well!
I sincerely appreciate St. Martin's Press for providing me with a review copy. All opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.
What a great follow up to Tsarina! I am seriously loving the historical fiction genre. The Tsarina's Daughter is mixed with family drama, court intrigue, betrayal, love, grief, loss and rising from the ashes. Whew!!
I saw some reviews where readers didn't appreciate the backstory in Elizabeth's life, but I for one LOVED it. To see how she grew up, how the relationships, love and loss affected her and changed her were (I think) pivotal in understanding how she ended up taking over the throne.
We again get to see (albeit in small doses thankfully) the brutality and downright coldness a Tsar, and those trying to obtain and hold their position of power, can bestow. We also see how they ignore the truth of their country to self-indulge and take what they believe they are due. This is one time period I would never want to go back to!!
The writing is fantastic, the pacing good, and the character development and relationships were perfect. I love the cast of characters list in the beginning and the further explantation of the main persons at the end. It really helped to keep it all straight.
This is definitely one for fans of the genre, who also love court intrigue and family drama. This is out now so go grab yourself a copy! The Tsarina's Daughter can be read standalone so no biggie if you haven't read Tsarina BUT I recommend that one as well!
I sincerely appreciate St. Martin's Press for providing me with a review copy. All opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Ellen Alpsten has written another immersive story about a strong woman in Russia's history. "The Tsarina's Daughter" takes readers on a journey of Elizabeth's life, the daughter of Peter. the Great and Catherine I of Russia. Readers are taken through Elizabeth's story as she navigates family, love, and loyalty. This historical fiction weaves events in Russia's history of the 1700s along with the setting of Russia's countrysides and palaces. I found this story easy to read and to follow as I navigated a new to me era in time. I found the descriptions to be so detailed that I could picture the scenes as if I was there. Thank you Ellen Alpsten, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
As someone who is interested in Russian history, I was looking forward to reading The Tsarina’s Daughter. This book was not for me as there is no sense of a timeline as the book meanders through endless little stories of Elizabeth’s life. She’s in court, she’s out of court. Thank goodness for the list of characters at the beginning of the book and the author’s notes at the end. I would have preferred an actual biography.
I haven’t been engaged in a book of this size for a long time. Definitely not for everyone, but I loved it!
This book was dense but contained so much information about the Romanovs in the 1700s that I had never learned before. With a bit of creative liberties, this book tells a fascinating story that is easy to get sucked into.
ARC: This book was less graphic and disturbing than her other book, but still very long and I feel I could do with a bit more editing to make it more concise.