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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
♾️/5
damien and anastasia i will forever love your story
damien and anastasia i will forever love your story
This was certainly a unique historical fantasy romance that is unlike any other I’ve read this far. I’ve always found the Romanovs to be interesting so this reimagining was fascinating. I will say that it is a bit slow in parts and in my opinion the book itself is a few hundred pages too long. A little over halfway through, the tale took a fantastical twist that I didn’t see coming and the last 40-ish% of the book is just a wild ride. Also, without going into spoilers I will say that the ending did one of the things that I most dislike in all mediums. Even so, I enjoyed Lark’s writing and plan on reading more from her soon. The romance was well developed although it was definitely on the slower burn side of the spectrum and the spice was just so so but still an enjoyable read all round.
Loved it. I have always been someone who has her interest peaked and fixates on it, after growing up loving the animation movie of Anastasia, I have in my time looked into and read up on the true story. Now I don’t remember as much as I’d like butttt some things from this book felt a little off representation but I still loved the way it was done and I could see her vision in trying to portray someone we all hope we could be in the face of horrible times and evil men. Someone who maybe was raised to believe one thing and is stubborn in it, cause it’s all we know, but as we grow and learn from other shoes we meet or have to live in, are able to realize those teaching and ideas mayyyy have been wrong or very skewed and have the courage to make a change for the better. I was verryyyy thrown off by Dimitri not being the love interest, as he was 7yr old Kallie’s love of her life but I very quickly came to LOVE Damien, now some ways things played out I was a little pained by but all for the good in the end!
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I so wanted to love this book more. I love imaginations of Anastasia's story, but this just dragged on for me. I considered DNF-ing, but kept hoping that it would pick back up and recapture my interest. Sad to say, it didn't. Things got a little too fantastical for me, and that's saying something as a lover of the fantasy genre.
adventurous
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I fully admit this low rating has more to do with me than the book itself—I was simply not the target audience. Anastasia by Sophie Lark reads very much like a young adult fantasy, but I went in expecting something closer to historical fiction with a romantic arc, maybe even something in the spirit of the 1997 Anastasia movie.
What I got instead was a highly fantastical, far-fetched retelling that didn’t feel connected to the real story in any meaningful way. I struggled to connect with the characters, which made the long page count feel even longer.
If you’re looking for a magical reimagining and don’t mind a major departure from history, this might be more your speed. But it just wasn’t what I was hoping for.
What I got instead was a highly fantastical, far-fetched retelling that didn’t feel connected to the real story in any meaningful way. I struggled to connect with the characters, which made the long page count feel even longer.
If you’re looking for a magical reimagining and don’t mind a major departure from history, this might be more your speed. But it just wasn’t what I was hoping for.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
dark
emotional
mysterious
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:
Yes
Lark’s adaptation of Anastasia’s story is pure perfection, enhanced with beautiful imagery and a playlist matched to moments throughout the book. Anastasia has always been my favorite story, one with a witty and fierce heroine set on taking the world by storm. Lark’s Anastasia is no different. This version is ripe with the history of the Romanovs, but mixed with fantasy and romance. It was beautiful and devastating and hopeful all at once. You will not regret reading this, in fact you’ll wish you could savor the experience longer.