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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Will this be the longest book I read this year? Admittedly, it didn’t feel as long as it was. It had the potential of a slow burn, but was surprisingly intriguing and hauntingly detailed.. most of the time. I feel like it’s difficult to speak on my favorite and least favorite parts without major spoilers, it’s just not one of those books you can discuss vaguely due to the sheer magnitude of what’s been left to unpack. I’ll do my best, but there will inevitably be some tells.
Anastasia’s character development is an indisputable highlight. We watch her mature and come into who she deserves to be, in a country that she wants to become what her people deserve for it to be. She has a fascination with pushing herself to the absolute brink of her capabilities, she falls in the most brutal ways possible to rise stronger, she is the exception to the rules. Anastasia and Damien’s journey was pure magic. Damien is her right hand man, it was written in the stars. For every reason they shouldn’t be compatible, their connection burns brighter. Just two kids from opposite sides of the tracks. We’ve all seen it before but, through the narration of both characters, it just feels pure and credible. The setting is so well described, I felt like I had a tour guide in my front pocket. I could write an entire essay on the magical elements and how deeply I wish that I had a gift. I’d definitely want hawk. A chaotic magical experience is my weakness and I was not let down in the slightest.
I was fully committed and along for the ride until the last few chapters. I still went along for the ride, but not without some questions. The second face off with Rasputin “resets” Anastasia, so to speak, in a moment that had all the build up of a climax. From that point on, everything felt clumsy and forged. There is a specific moment where Anastasia rushes to find Damien, he is wildly angry and grieving a very personal death. I don’t want to give away too much, but the mood conveniently shifts. Suddenly there’s romantic reconciliation, dancing around a body, and a buzz of energy towards the developing crisis. Why? And how? There are some timeline concerns I have, but that entire scene felt wrong. It’s seems that I don’t have issues where literal magical powers are involved, but grief/anger turning into lust/stamina within the matter of minutes was an absolute buzzkill. I have more questions regarding the entire ending, I just can’t ask them without being overly specific. You’ll see. I would have read an additional 50 pages for the ending that gave the brilliance of the rest of this book justice. As bothered as I was, I spent less than 10% being irritated enough to mention. The other 90% was captivating and worthy of high praises, 4 stars from me.
It’s important to mention that this is not a historically accurate reimagining. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the animated flick isn’t a work of nonfiction either. Prominent historical figures are often muses for the arts. This novel isn’t an exception. Lark’s Anastasia is our something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue all wrapped into one brilliant union with a shiny ruble on top. She illustrated a thrilling timeline with adventure, romance, a killer playlist, and SURVIVAL. She let the Princess live. Success.
Anastasia’s character development is an indisputable highlight. We watch her mature and come into who she deserves to be, in a country that she wants to become what her people deserve for it to be. She has a fascination with pushing herself to the absolute brink of her capabilities, she falls in the most brutal ways possible to rise stronger, she is the exception to the rules. Anastasia and Damien’s journey was pure magic. Damien is her right hand man, it was written in the stars. For every reason they shouldn’t be compatible, their connection burns brighter. Just two kids from opposite sides of the tracks. We’ve all seen it before but, through the narration of both characters, it just feels pure and credible. The setting is so well described, I felt like I had a tour guide in my front pocket. I could write an entire essay on the magical elements and how deeply I wish that I had a gift. I’d definitely want hawk. A chaotic magical experience is my weakness and I was not let down in the slightest.
I was fully committed and along for the ride until the last few chapters. I still went along for the ride, but not without some questions. The second face off with Rasputin “resets” Anastasia, so to speak, in a moment that had all the build up of a climax. From that point on, everything felt clumsy and forged. There is a specific moment where Anastasia rushes to find Damien, he is wildly angry and grieving a very personal death. I don’t want to give away too much, but the mood conveniently shifts. Suddenly there’s romantic reconciliation, dancing around a body, and a buzz of energy towards the developing crisis. Why? And how? There are some timeline concerns I have, but that entire scene felt wrong. It’s seems that I don’t have issues where literal magical powers are involved, but grief/anger turning into lust/stamina within the matter of minutes was an absolute buzzkill. I have more questions regarding the entire ending, I just can’t ask them without being overly specific. You’ll see. I would have read an additional 50 pages for the ending that gave the brilliance of the rest of this book justice. As bothered as I was, I spent less than 10% being irritated enough to mention. The other 90% was captivating and worthy of high praises, 4 stars from me.
It’s important to mention that this is not a historically accurate reimagining. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the animated flick isn’t a work of nonfiction either. Prominent historical figures are often muses for the arts. This novel isn’t an exception. Lark’s Anastasia is our something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue all wrapped into one brilliant union with a shiny ruble on top. She illustrated a thrilling timeline with adventure, romance, a killer playlist, and SURVIVAL. She let the Princess live. Success.
Holy Moly. This book was amazing! Sophie knocked it out of the park with this one. I felt all of the emotions while reading this!
Anastasia by Sophie Lark is a different take on the old tale. This one takes the Romanov family we have all heard of and puts a magical twist on it. I knew of several things that would happen, but there were twists with them. I enjoyed the story overall. Anastasia is an independent and strong willed teenager in this story. She wants to learn more about her magic and looks to Rasputin to help her. He has been treating her brother Alexi, who has hemophilia. Anastasia collides with a Cossak rebel, Damien, who has his own magic to work through. While I t wasn’t a life changing work, it was a retelling with a different ending than I was expecting. It was an interesting story. I don’t regret reading it, but I wouldn’t skip over ones I really really want to read to read it first.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Screaming, crying, throwing up. I loved it!
I have so much to say about this book. It was the longest book I have ever read, and yet I was having so much fun while reading it that it seemed to fly by. I loved almost everything about it!!! The magic system was well-explained and dynamic, the main character was gloriously stubborn, the love interest was all kinds of dreamy, the villain had a great reason for his villainy while also being compelling… I could go on and on about it! I loved the historical fantasy aspect of it as well— you can tell that the author did lots of research for all the characters based on real people. I would recommend this book to fans of fantasy books!
This book is available on Kindle Unlimited!
I have so much to say about this book. It was the longest book I have ever read, and yet I was having so much fun while reading it that it seemed to fly by. I loved almost everything about it!!! The magic system was well-explained and dynamic, the main character was gloriously stubborn, the love interest was all kinds of dreamy, the villain had a great reason for his villainy while also being compelling… I could go on and on about it! I loved the historical fantasy aspect of it as well— you can tell that the author did lots of research for all the characters based on real people. I would recommend this book to fans of fantasy books!
This book is available on Kindle Unlimited!
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
firstly , thankyou thankyou to sophie for sending me an ARC of anastasia !!
i am obsessed with this book , the art that was inside was just absolutely chef's kiss. i was enthralled and enchanted by it honestly.
anastasia. she was a POWERHOUSE. a BADASS. an ICON. she had hope , love and faith in things when others didn't. she believed and wanted to make things right. she was the kind of person who was misunderstood , chaos ensued but the people's princess , through and through. she was just a girl who believed in love.
damien. he was the practical one. the person who did the grounding. the person who was willing to unleash chaos for the people he loved. as much as his anger would make him go wild , he always knew of his responsibilities and would never let his people down. AND HIS WAY WITH WORDS.
"she was my only touch , only kiss , only love."
together , anastasiadamien. they are amazing and perfect for one another. they're so similar yet so different in so many ways. i honestly am beyond words right now. they put me through a rollercoaster. they made me believe in love again. they were the people who made me feel like love can conquer anything. the faith of love and the way that love is stronger than anything. they always made one another feel like they were worth everything and more.
the characters in these books were beautifully written , even rasputin. rasputin was a character that i realised after a while why he was behaving a certain way. he also would do anything for love , except his belief in love was shattered , leaving him as an empty shell and filled with hatred and vengeance.
ily sophie , thank you once again for these amazing characters
i am obsessed with this book , the art that was inside was just absolutely chef's kiss. i was enthralled and enchanted by it honestly.
anastasia. she was a POWERHOUSE. a BADASS. an ICON. she had hope , love and faith in things when others didn't. she believed and wanted to make things right. she was the kind of person who was misunderstood , chaos ensued but the people's princess , through and through. she was just a girl who believed in love.
damien. he was the practical one. the person who did the grounding. the person who was willing to unleash chaos for the people he loved. as much as his anger would make him go wild , he always knew of his responsibilities and would never let his people down. AND HIS WAY WITH WORDS.
"she was my only touch , only kiss , only love."
together , anastasiadamien. they are amazing and perfect for one another. they're so similar yet so different in so many ways. i honestly am beyond words right now. they put me through a rollercoaster. they made me believe in love again. they were the people who made me feel like love can conquer anything. the faith of love and the way that love is stronger than anything. they always made one another feel like they were worth everything and more.
the characters in these books were beautifully written , even rasputin. rasputin was a character that i realised after a while why he was behaving a certain way. he also would do anything for love , except his belief in love was shattered , leaving him as an empty shell and filled with hatred and vengeance.
ily sophie , thank you once again for these amazing characters
Awesome!
This book is truly a masterpiece. If Anastasia would have lived I only wonder what she could have done. The fantasy world is a beautiful touch on this book as well. The characters all evolved and changed throughout the story. I really enjoyed it!
This book is truly a masterpiece. If Anastasia would have lived I only wonder what she could have done. The fantasy world is a beautiful touch on this book as well. The characters all evolved and changed throughout the story. I really enjoyed it!