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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
This was so so good.
Anastasia and Damien’s love story was adorable. Enemies to lovers my ass, this is devotional childhood friends to lovers and it is absolutely wonderful.
The twist of Rasputin being a vampire was totally unexpected but made so much sense. The way he wormed his way into the court and convinced people to do things, the magic he possessed, all of it being a form of vampirism was genius. He truly fed off of them, metaphorically and literally.
The memory keeper? I have no words. Such a sweet device that turned heartbreaking that turned into a clever little plot device. I loved that it kept coming up, that the idea of saving a perfect day took such turns.
Anastasia herself was a joy to read. One thing I really liked was that when the narration starts and she’s a child, she’s arrogant and so sure of her family’s power and status. It’s so much more realistic to have a royal child truly believe in the power of her family’s monarchy. Princesses in YA fantasy tend to have the liberal rich and powerful people suck attitude of someone who spent their entire lives doing hard labor and it’s just not realistic. Anastasia starting out believing in her family’s power and wealth and then growing and realizing exactly what her family was like and understanding and learning as she grew and turning into someone with a more realistic and healthy view of the world was a much more satisfying character arc. She changed, a lot, and it made it all the more satisfying to see her on the throne.
And Damien was wonderful. Such an unexpected turn to have the Cossack prince be Anastasia’s childhood friend and the love of her life. The fact that their powers worked together and they became powerful only with each other? Genius spectacular amazing no notes.
I loved that Damien had a whole arc too. So much time spent reading other authors (cough SJM cough) had me forgetting what it was like when the MMC gets a full character arc as well. His arc with his powers and being a Cossack soldier indentured to and in love with a Romanov was so interesting to read. His life was so difficult but he was such a strong person it made for a great character.
His powers making him unable to touch anyone, and then him finally getting to touch Anastasia? Incredible.
All in all I loved it, definitely a fantastic book. My only critique is that I wish I’d seen more of Anastasia and Damien earlier on, a lot of their story is backloaded, and the beginning is more about her family.
Also the ending? God I can’t put into words how lovely that ending was. It made me so happy. The story was so tragic, and then the ending was just absolutely perfect and lovely in every way.
I also loved having the music be interspersed in the text, it was a new experience for me but it was great because it gave my reading theme music like a movie. Also the art— I can’t say enough good things about the beautiful art. Going to be devastated when all the other books I read don’t have art throughout their entirety from now on
Anastasia and Damien’s love story was adorable. Enemies to lovers my ass, this is devotional childhood friends to lovers and it is absolutely wonderful.
The twist of Rasputin being a vampire was totally unexpected but made so much sense. The way he wormed his way into the court and convinced people to do things, the magic he possessed, all of it being a form of vampirism was genius. He truly fed off of them, metaphorically and literally.
The memory keeper? I have no words. Such a sweet device that turned heartbreaking that turned into a clever little plot device. I loved that it kept coming up, that the idea of saving a perfect day took such turns.
Anastasia herself was a joy to read. One thing I really liked was that when the narration starts and she’s a child, she’s arrogant and so sure of her family’s power and status. It’s so much more realistic to have a royal child truly believe in the power of her family’s monarchy. Princesses in YA fantasy tend to have the liberal rich and powerful people suck attitude of someone who spent their entire lives doing hard labor and it’s just not realistic. Anastasia starting out believing in her family’s power and wealth and then growing and realizing exactly what her family was like and understanding and learning as she grew and turning into someone with a more realistic and healthy view of the world was a much more satisfying character arc. She changed, a lot, and it made it all the more satisfying to see her on the throne.
And Damien was wonderful. Such an unexpected turn to have the Cossack prince be Anastasia’s childhood friend and the love of her life. The fact that their powers worked together and they became powerful only with each other? Genius spectacular amazing no notes.
I loved that Damien had a whole arc too. So much time spent reading other authors (cough SJM cough) had me forgetting what it was like when the MMC gets a full character arc as well. His arc with his powers and being a Cossack soldier indentured to and in love with a Romanov was so interesting to read. His life was so difficult but he was such a strong person it made for a great character.
His powers making him unable to touch anyone, and then him finally getting to touch Anastasia? Incredible.
All in all I loved it, definitely a fantastic book. My only critique is that I wish I’d seen more of Anastasia and Damien earlier on, a lot of their story is backloaded, and the beginning is more about her family.
Also the ending? God I can’t put into words how lovely that ending was. It made me so happy. The story was so tragic, and then the ending was just absolutely perfect and lovely in every way.
I also loved having the music be interspersed in the text, it was a new experience for me but it was great because it gave my reading theme music like a movie. Also the art— I can’t say enough good things about the beautiful art. Going to be devastated when all the other books I read don’t have art throughout their entirety from now on
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-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:
No
This would have been a five star for me, but there was just one thing that tripped me up.
The timeline. I am a history geek, and I knew going into it that this was a fantasy take of Anastasia’s story and of course it wasn’t going to be historically accurate. However, the timeline of historical events that Sophie Lark did include in this story did not line up with Anastasia’s age. One event that especially tripped this up for me is Bloody Sunday which happened in 1905 when the real Anastasia would have been four . . . In this story she is a young teen when it happens. My biggest question throughout this book was either did the author push back Anastasia’s birth year or did she shuffle some historical events around? Especially as the start of WWI is included in this story as well.
Overall, it was a great book in my opinion besides the timeline. It definitely was not what I was expecting and I was excited to see this was an entirely new take on Anastasia. I would definitely recommend this book to someone, especially someone who wants something different from your general fantasy book that is popular nowadays or historical fantasy.
The timeline. I am a history geek, and I knew going into it that this was a fantasy take of Anastasia’s story and of course it wasn’t going to be historically accurate. However, the timeline of historical events that Sophie Lark did include in this story did not line up with Anastasia’s age. One event that especially tripped this up for me is Bloody Sunday which happened in 1905 when the real Anastasia would have been four . . . In this story she is a young teen when it happens. My biggest question throughout this book was either did the author push back Anastasia’s birth year or did she shuffle some historical events around? Especially as the start of WWI is included in this story as well.
Overall, it was a great book in my opinion besides the timeline. It definitely was not what I was expecting and I was excited to see this was an entirely new take on Anastasia. I would definitely recommend this book to someone, especially someone who wants something different from your general fantasy book that is popular nowadays or historical fantasy.
3.75⭐️; This book was pretty good and actually shocked me because it had a well-detailed fantasy plot that was cohesive for majority of the book! Tbh I was expecting way more smut than plot given Mrs. Larks past works but I was pleasantly surprised
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i would wish this book on no one, not even my archnemesis
reflective
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
4.75/5
beautiful, heartwarming, soul wrenching, immaculate
beautiful, heartwarming, soul wrenching, immaculate
I have been waiting MONTHS for this book! Anastasia is my favorite so I was desperate to have this lol and it did not disappoint! It was a little longer than it needed to be but I’m also fine with how long it was. I loved it. I loved the story, I loved the magic, I loved the characters and I loved that it has these gorgeously done illustrations throughout too!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(⭐️ bc did I mention Anastasia is my favorite)
i’ve always been intrigued by the actual story of anastasia and i love the dreamworld movie. this was so good