Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
My first ever Sophie Lark book was The Sinner's duet. Going in to Anastasia I had somewhat high expectations/different thoughts than what I came out with.
This is not the 20th century fox's Anastasia story, so just boot that out of your head right away, lol. It does give subtle nods and obviously both stories are similar due to the original story of the Romanov family.
The first part of the book begins with Anastasia's childhood. There is a LOT of detail that goes in to the world building of the family and the magic that is new to this story. You kind of literally 'read' Anastasia grow up from page to page, which is great but I feel unnecessary. Unless you are going in with a completely fresh set of eyes to this story, it may seem that way to you as well.
Like I said at the beginning, my expectations were extremely high for this book but also entirely different than what I ended up with. Which is a fault of my own and not Sophie's but I just can't give this book a higher rating because it's 900 pages and it's just... there's something about it that made it an extreme struggle for me to read. I'm a romance reader by nature, so that's more than likely it.
This isn't really a romance book in my eyes as it's more of a weird historical... women's... fantasy? You don't get much romance until the book is almost done and I'd lost interest at that point, if I'm being completely honest here.
If that type of book (a sort of Historical Fantasy Novel) was my preferred genre, the rating would be higher. Also coming from this particular author, I was confused. However, this doesn't mean it's a bad read. Just wasn't necessarily my jam.
This book is extremely long, please keep that in mind when you pick it up.
However, I greatly appreciate the opportunity to read this eARC. Thank you to Sophie Lark and Social Butterfly/Literally Yours PR for this arc!
This is not the 20th century fox's Anastasia story, so just boot that out of your head right away, lol. It does give subtle nods and obviously both stories are similar due to the original story of the Romanov family.
The first part of the book begins with Anastasia's childhood. There is a LOT of detail that goes in to the world building of the family and the magic that is new to this story. You kind of literally 'read' Anastasia grow up from page to page, which is great but I feel unnecessary. Unless you are going in with a completely fresh set of eyes to this story, it may seem that way to you as well.
Like I said at the beginning, my expectations were extremely high for this book but also entirely different than what I ended up with. Which is a fault of my own and not Sophie's but I just can't give this book a higher rating because it's 900 pages and it's just... there's something about it that made it an extreme struggle for me to read. I'm a romance reader by nature, so that's more than likely it.
This isn't really a romance book in my eyes as it's more of a weird historical... women's... fantasy? You don't get much romance until the book is almost done and I'd lost interest at that point, if I'm being completely honest here.
If that type of book (a sort of Historical Fantasy Novel) was my preferred genre, the rating would be higher. Also coming from this particular author, I was confused. However, this doesn't mean it's a bad read. Just wasn't necessarily my jam.
This book is extremely long, please keep that in mind when you pick it up.
However, I greatly appreciate the opportunity to read this eARC. Thank you to Sophie Lark and Social Butterfly/Literally Yours PR for this arc!
A beautifully crafted story, that merges hope, despair, love, sadness, brotherhood and tells us a tale that will not be forgotten anytime soon. Dreams, nightmares, strength and weakness all in one and one in all.
Absolute perfection!!!
So so so amazing! Sophie Lark did it again! Honestly I had such high hopes (as you would loving the movie) and not only did she deliver but just blew me away!
So so so amazing! Sophie Lark did it again! Honestly I had such high hopes (as you would loving the movie) and not only did she deliver but just blew me away!
ANASTASIA by Sophie Lark is a fantasy retelling of the 98 (or 97?) movie, mixed with the tale of the real Anastasia.
As a first endeavour in writing fantasy, I have to praise Sophie regarding the world building and the magic system. She put a lot of effort and research into this book and you can see that.
However, this was sold to me as a fantasy romance and I found it lacking. The fantasy is there, the romance not so much.
The book is long, 849 pages long, but the real plot only starts at 70%. That felt incredibly late for me.
I still enjoyed the book and I'm curious to see how she will develop this world, as she mentioned she wants to write other books in it, but in our time and not early 20th century.
I really liked the writing as well, Sophie's writing has a certain musicality to it and it flows incredibly well.
But... Yeah. I felt a bit dissapointed at the end. I went into this thinking it would be a solid 5 stars for me and I finished it with a feeling of "oh, OK. Done then".
As a first endeavour in writing fantasy, I have to praise Sophie regarding the world building and the magic system. She put a lot of effort and research into this book and you can see that.
However, this was sold to me as a fantasy romance and I found it lacking. The fantasy is there, the romance not so much.
The book is long, 849 pages long, but the real plot only starts at 70%. That felt incredibly late for me.
I still enjoyed the book and I'm curious to see how she will develop this world, as she mentioned she wants to write other books in it, but in our time and not early 20th century.
I really liked the writing as well, Sophie's writing has a certain musicality to it and it flows incredibly well.
But... Yeah. I felt a bit dissapointed at the end. I went into this thinking it would be a solid 5 stars for me and I finished it with a feeling of "oh, OK. Done then".
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.85⭐️
Idk what to think. despite the fact that the first ~400 pages were slow, I ate them and the next ~300 UP
Idk what to think. despite the fact that the first ~400 pages were slow, I ate them and the next ~300 UP
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This absolute behemoth of a book was a dream to read. I think Sophie Lark made the right decision in choosing Anastasia for a retelling. The Romanovs story is well known but not overdone and that allowed her some creative liberties that added to the narrative rather than detracted, forcing the book to fight for dominance against pre-existing ones. Ok enough praise, let's get into a summary.
*Heads up, this book has elements of fantasy*
The book starts off from the perspective of an 11 year old Anastasia, the untamed 4th daughter of the Russian Tsar. She has no interest in dresses or finger sandwiches or taking orders from anyone. In an act of rebellion and good fun she sneaks onto her uncles train bound for the steppes of Russia to meet with rebel forces to sign a peace treaty. Once she is discovered as a stowaway there is nothing to be done, and her life changes forever when she comes face to face with one of the Cossack rebels. Damien Kaledin. Damien, a 14 year old Cossack with a death wish, attempts to kill the Tsar moments after meeting Anastasia and feeling his world shift. It is at that exact moment that Anastasia's power of time-walking emerges and she's able to save her father. The book moves through Anastasia's youth often jumping years ahead, but even as time passes, her impish personality rarely subsides. Another constant through it all is Damien, her long distance best friend, who makes her feel more powerful and understood than anyone else but also aggravates her to no end. Early in Anastasia's teens Rasputin emerges on the Russian aristocracy scene and slowly begins infiltrating her family and garnering their trust until the fateful night when he exposes his true colors and murders Anastasia's entire family. She manages to escape and spends the next two years living under different alias working in labor camps as Rasputin drives Russia into financial ruin and eternal winter.
**Spoils lay ahead**
I honestly don't know if that can be classified as a summary because it was almost as long as the book but please don't yell at me it all felt necessary to mention. I do not envy people tasked with writing book pitches. Let us dive into what we've all been waiting for: Anastasia and Damien's relationship.
Ok ok I didn't want to mention his death touch in the summary because it seems like kind of a spoiler but as soon as I read that I was like, Shatter Me? I digress. I really liked that Anastasia wasn't just immune to his touch, they both had to work towards controlling their gifts to be together and their dedication to do so was touching, no pun intended. Correct me if I'm wrong but I felt like romance was a subplot of the book. The main plot followed Anastasia through her journey of self empowerment and learning to distinguish and separate yourself from your mistakes, because at the end of the day they do not define you, the way you respond to your faults is what matters.
Another spoiler, Rasputin is a VAMPIRE! Well, half vampire-half sorcerer which just makes him twice as deadly. I swear I did not see it coming that Katya was going to be his *stage whisper* daughter! That was very fitting though and a great little twist.
I really liked the continuation of the "music/memory" box in the book that tied in with the movie but with a magical twist of course. Anastasia recorded the day of her sister's wedding which ended up turning into the night Damien left her and her entire family was brutally murdered. Through the two years she survived in the factories and the labor camp she kept this memento with her, and it fueled her on when she lost hope. It also gave her evidence of her claim that she was from the future because guess what! She was reunited with Damien, they got married, and then came up with a plan to murder Rasputin but Damien sacrificed himself to do it. In the exact moment he did, Anastasia was so overcome with love and rage that she traveled back in time two years to the day her family died and was able to warn them of what would happen. Nobody believed her until she showed them the memory keeper and even then, they were hesitant to take action. In the end Anastasia faced Rasputin on the battlefield alongside Damien and her family and while her father was slain, he passed his crown to her, and she was able to defeat Rasputin once and for all. The character growth throughout the entire book was beautiful, and hearing the sisters talk about Alexei's physical and mental decline was heartbreaking.
The only thing that I didn't like about the book was the sporadic "fucks" that were written into the dialogue. It did not fit with the style of the writing and felt very out of place every time it was incorporated.
Takeaway: Please do not let the association with fantasy discourage or dissuade you from reading this book, it is so much more than fantasy, so much more than romance, and more than just a retelling of an unfortunate event in history. Honestly this book has so many inspirational quotes but here are some of my favorite messages.
Find someone who acts as your true mirror and remember:
“Even if you see how dark the world can be...choose to believe it could be better. Life had been beautiful once. It could be beautiful again.”
*Heads up, this book has elements of fantasy*
The book starts off from the perspective of an 11 year old Anastasia, the untamed 4th daughter of the Russian Tsar. She has no interest in dresses or finger sandwiches or taking orders from anyone. In an act of rebellion and good fun she sneaks onto her uncles train bound for the steppes of Russia to meet with rebel forces to sign a peace treaty. Once she is discovered as a stowaway there is nothing to be done, and her life changes forever when she comes face to face with one of the Cossack rebels. Damien Kaledin. Damien, a 14 year old Cossack with a death wish, attempts to kill the Tsar moments after meeting Anastasia and feeling his world shift. It is at that exact moment that Anastasia's power of time-walking emerges and she's able to save her father. The book moves through Anastasia's youth often jumping years ahead, but even as time passes, her impish personality rarely subsides. Another constant through it all is Damien, her long distance best friend, who makes her feel more powerful and understood than anyone else but also aggravates her to no end. Early in Anastasia's teens Rasputin emerges on the Russian aristocracy scene and slowly begins infiltrating her family and garnering their trust until the fateful night when he exposes his true colors and murders Anastasia's entire family. She manages to escape and spends the next two years living under different alias working in labor camps as Rasputin drives Russia into financial ruin and eternal winter.
**Spoils lay ahead**
I honestly don't know if that can be classified as a summary because it was almost as long as the book but please don't yell at me it all felt necessary to mention. I do not envy people tasked with writing book pitches. Let us dive into what we've all been waiting for: Anastasia and Damien's relationship.
Ok ok I didn't want to mention his death touch in the summary because it seems like kind of a spoiler but as soon as I read that I was like, Shatter Me? I digress. I really liked that Anastasia wasn't just immune to his touch, they both had to work towards controlling their gifts to be together and their dedication to do so was touching, no pun intended. Correct me if I'm wrong but I felt like romance was a subplot of the book. The main plot followed Anastasia through her journey of self empowerment and learning to distinguish and separate yourself from your mistakes, because at the end of the day they do not define you, the way you respond to your faults is what matters.
Another spoiler, Rasputin is a VAMPIRE! Well, half vampire-half sorcerer which just makes him twice as deadly. I swear I did not see it coming that Katya was going to be his *stage whisper* daughter! That was very fitting though and a great little twist.
I really liked the continuation of the "music/memory" box in the book that tied in with the movie but with a magical twist of course. Anastasia recorded the day of her sister's wedding which ended up turning into the night Damien left her and her entire family was brutally murdered. Through the two years she survived in the factories and the labor camp she kept this memento with her, and it fueled her on when she lost hope. It also gave her evidence of her claim that she was from the future because guess what! She was reunited with Damien, they got married, and then came up with a plan to murder Rasputin but Damien sacrificed himself to do it. In the exact moment he did, Anastasia was so overcome with love and rage that she traveled back in time two years to the day her family died and was able to warn them of what would happen. Nobody believed her until she showed them the memory keeper and even then, they were hesitant to take action. In the end Anastasia faced Rasputin on the battlefield alongside Damien and her family and while her father was slain, he passed his crown to her, and she was able to defeat Rasputin once and for all. The character growth throughout the entire book was beautiful, and hearing the sisters talk about Alexei's physical and mental decline was heartbreaking.
The only thing that I didn't like about the book was the sporadic "fucks" that were written into the dialogue. It did not fit with the style of the writing and felt very out of place every time it was incorporated.
Takeaway: Please do not let the association with fantasy discourage or dissuade you from reading this book, it is so much more than fantasy, so much more than romance, and more than just a retelling of an unfortunate event in history. Honestly this book has so many inspirational quotes but here are some of my favorite messages.
Find someone who acts as your true mirror and remember:
“Even if you see how dark the world can be...choose to believe it could be better. Life had been beautiful once. It could be beautiful again.”
This book was much better than I expected it to be. I haven't bothered with many kindle books. But, getting a Kindle for Christmas it was time to venture into books that are kindle only or are never printed in hardcover. The story references real-life places and parts of history but is a full-on fantasy novel. It is a romance with a little bit of spice. But, the spice is mild compared to some other books I've read. If you've read Sarah J. Maas, the spice here will be mild. The magic system isn't spectacular, the monsters are common to many other fantasy stories. The story starts off pretty standard as well. However, it is very well written. The way the book ends I did not anticipate. I won't give it away, of course. It's good, worth the read! Lesson learned for me; don't judge a book by it's available formats. I still won't read paperback as I'm hard on them. However, this book has affirmed I shouldn't shy away from books that aren't available in hardcover.
