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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
Amazing
The amount of research and care Lark went into for the backstories of so many characters is obvious as you tear through the pages of this fulfilling book.
A lot of what is in the story remains true to events that brought down the Romanovs, but her addition of magic is not jarring, it feels right.
Anastasia's growth was genuine and not forced. Damien was a rock and his perspective to teach her about the realities of Rusya was crucial. And their love is a fire you can feel the embers of even from the beginning.
The amount of research and care Lark went into for the backstories of so many characters is obvious as you tear through the pages of this fulfilling book.
A lot of what is in the story remains true to events that brought down the Romanovs, but her addition of magic is not jarring, it feels right.
Anastasia's growth was genuine and not forced. Damien was a rock and his perspective to teach her about the realities of Rusya was crucial. And their love is a fire you can feel the embers of even from the beginning.
“Whatever else is taken from you, never lose hope. Even if you see how dark the world can be, choose to believe it could be better.”
This book lived on my TBR for way too long, and now I will be recommending it like mad. Its quite long but the pacing is really well done. The world building and magic system is honestly top tier for me. It has one of the slowest and sweetest slow burns - I fell so in love with Damian and Stasia, and wanted to highlight pretty much everything they said to each other.
Also love a beautiful historical romantic fantasy that doesn’t have a million sequel books. More standalones like this please ! ❤️
This book lived on my TBR for way too long, and now I will be recommending it like mad. Its quite long but the pacing is really well done. The world building and magic system is honestly top tier for me. It has one of the slowest and sweetest slow burns - I fell so in love with Damian and Stasia, and wanted to highlight pretty much everything they said to each other.
Also love a beautiful historical romantic fantasy that doesn’t have a million sequel books. More standalones like this please ! ❤️
Phewwww, well this was a journey
this is a long, looong, loooooog, i mean loooooong book
and I can understand why ppl would DNF it. I was tempted once or twice to do it
but I was promised a HEA for Anastasia, one my favorite strong animated princesses
but if you think this is even close to the animated movie you are sadly mistaken
No lost memory
No Grandma looking for the lost princess
No Dimitry "gasp"
but we do get Damien
as I said, this is a big book
actually you can divide this book into two halves
1- the first half (mostly from chapter 1 till 29) could fall under the YA. It tells in DETIALS the background story of the Romanove's and Young Anastasia in a fantasy setting
but this should not be considered in any way a Historical fantasy, although it draws little elements from history. I read in a different review someone criticising the information and background especially the misinformation about the Cossacks.
TBH, i think this is the part were most ppl who DNFed the book stopped at. there were too many unnecessary characters and story lines that really stretched the book
you could easily cut our 300 pages from it and still wouldn't matter
also you could read few chapters here to get an understanding of the world building then skip to the juicy part
in this part we see a young sheltered Anastasia surrounded by her loved ones with only the duty of the court hanging around her shoulders
her relationship with Damien is also described and could be a slow burn if you wish
2- The second part (from chapter 30 till the end) jumps quickly to a Dark fantasy Romance. more violence, heartbreak, gore, romance and spicy scenes (little Anya grows up)
its where Anastasia, the princess we want, is seen with all here glory. Fighting her demons, reclaiming her throne, and asserting her status along side her love Damien
so how would I rate this book?
well the first part will get 2 maybe 3 stars. boring, long, little action but interesting characters with a bit of background knowledge
the second part will definetly be a 5 stars (even with the little misinformation here and there)
i loved that they made Rasputin a Vampire sucking the life of Russia
I loved that Anya (btw only Damien called her that) got her family back and became the Tsar
I loved how she won the hearts of the Cossacks
i charged her up but she illuminated everyone around her. I loved my people. To her, everyone was her people
I loved how she came to her power and used it
The action
the qoutos
THE LOVE BETWEEN ANYA AND DAMIEN OH BABY!
I'd rather be her ghost than have her be mine again
so I guess it is a 3.5 or 4
but let's go with 4 because I appreciate the work, research (although it could be better) and beautiful writing
this is a long, looong, loooooog, i mean loooooong book
and I can understand why ppl would DNF it. I was tempted once or twice to do it
but I was promised a HEA for Anastasia, one my favorite strong animated princesses
but if you think this is even close to the animated movie you are sadly mistaken
No lost memory
No Grandma looking for the lost princess
No Dimitry "gasp"
but we do get Damien
as I said, this is a big book
actually you can divide this book into two halves
1- the first half (mostly from chapter 1 till 29) could fall under the YA. It tells in DETIALS the background story of the Romanove's and Young Anastasia in a fantasy setting
but this should not be considered in any way a Historical fantasy, although it draws little elements from history. I read in a different review someone criticising the information and background especially the misinformation about the Cossacks.
TBH, i think this is the part were most ppl who DNFed the book stopped at. there were too many unnecessary characters and story lines that really stretched the book
you could easily cut our 300 pages from it and still wouldn't matter
also you could read few chapters here to get an understanding of the world building then skip to the juicy part
in this part we see a young sheltered Anastasia surrounded by her loved ones with only the duty of the court hanging around her shoulders
her relationship with Damien is also described and could be a slow burn if you wish
2- The second part (from chapter 30 till the end) jumps quickly to a Dark fantasy Romance. more violence, heartbreak, gore, romance and spicy scenes (little Anya grows up)
its where Anastasia, the princess we want, is seen with all here glory. Fighting her demons, reclaiming her throne, and asserting her status along side her love Damien
so how would I rate this book?
well the first part will get 2 maybe 3 stars. boring, long, little action but interesting characters with a bit of background knowledge
the second part will definetly be a 5 stars (even with the little misinformation here and there)
i loved that they made Rasputin a Vampire sucking the life of Russia
I loved that Anya (btw only Damien called her that) got her family back and became the Tsar
I loved how she won the hearts of the Cossacks
i charged her up but she illuminated everyone around her. I loved my people. To her, everyone was her people
I loved how she came to her power and used it
The action
the qoutos
THE LOVE BETWEEN ANYA AND DAMIEN OH BABY!
I'd rather be her ghost than have her be mine again
so I guess it is a 3.5 or 4
but let's go with 4 because I appreciate the work, research (although it could be better) and beautiful writing
Let me preface by saying that I absolutely adore the animated Anastasia movie. I went into this book thinking I wouldn’t be able to love this more than the movie and… wow, was I wrong.
This book has easily surpassed others into my list of top reads of all time and I would gladly recommend this book to all I know.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
The reimagined story begins in Anastasia’s childhood following her all the way to the beginning of her adulthood. We see her grow up, we learn with her, fight with her, we lose with her, we love with her. As we meet Damien, we see the enemies to lovers plot begin to unfold, experiencing those same emotions with her. Around page 500 after the fighting and betrayal comes to a standstill, I was itching for them to finally come together after being apart and alas my itch was scratched. It was the perfect reunion. If only I had known what was to come.
After the Red Terror, we see Anastasia as we most commonly see her in the movie, lost and displaced. The novel takes it to a whole other level by bringing us to the lowest point with her. The pain is so magically captured that us as the readers feel it with her. Longing to get back to our Damien, our wish is answered as she makes her escape into his embrace. There is no love lost between the two making this even more heartwarming.
Reading about them learning each other and how to love one another only endeared them further to me. They became my favorite characters in the story if they weren’t already. I would’ve been happy to see the story end there with them together and happy at last but as we all know, Rasputin must be defeated. With tears in my eyes I scrolled through page after page only to end up as shell shocked as Anastasia.
With a second chance at fate, Anastasia begins her journey anew trying to save those around her and those she loves most, especially Damien who in another life gave his all for her. I flew through the last pages eager to learn the fate of our beloved characters and was overjoyed to see that most had received their happy ending; especially the one that Damien and Anya deserved.
This book was more than I imagined and better than I could’ve dreamed. I wish I could experience reading this again for the first time but I will settle for rereading this novel that has cast a magic spell on my heart.
This book has easily surpassed others into my list of top reads of all time and I would gladly recommend this book to all I know.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
The reimagined story begins in Anastasia’s childhood following her all the way to the beginning of her adulthood. We see her grow up, we learn with her, fight with her, we lose with her, we love with her. As we meet Damien, we see the enemies to lovers plot begin to unfold, experiencing those same emotions with her. Around page 500 after the fighting and betrayal comes to a standstill, I was itching for them to finally come together after being apart and alas my itch was scratched. It was the perfect reunion. If only I had known what was to come.
After the Red Terror, we see Anastasia as we most commonly see her in the movie, lost and displaced. The novel takes it to a whole other level by bringing us to the lowest point with her. The pain is so magically captured that us as the readers feel it with her. Longing to get back to our Damien, our wish is answered as she makes her escape into his embrace. There is no love lost between the two making this even more heartwarming.
Reading about them learning each other and how to love one another only endeared them further to me. They became my favorite characters in the story if they weren’t already. I would’ve been happy to see the story end there with them together and happy at last but as we all know, Rasputin must be defeated. With tears in my eyes I scrolled through page after page only to end up as shell shocked as Anastasia.
With a second chance at fate, Anastasia begins her journey anew trying to save those around her and those she loves most, especially Damien who in another life gave his all for her. I flew through the last pages eager to learn the fate of our beloved characters and was overjoyed to see that most had received their happy ending; especially the one that Damien and Anya deserved.
This book was more than I imagined and better than I could’ve dreamed. I wish I could experience reading this again for the first time but I will settle for rereading this novel that has cast a magic spell on my heart.
Honestly I am kind of speechless. There really isn't many good words to describe this book perfectly. I let myself be with my thoughts for a few hours in order to get my thoughts in order, but I still don't know what to exactly say.
I think I am gonna be thinking about this one for a long time. Spohie really took everything she had and put it in this and then some. In my humble opinion, this is her best work yet. I didn't really love her other books(at least the other two that I've read), but this one is just truly magical.
Please take your time reading this book, because its HEAVY. In terms of words and story wise.
I think I am gonna be thinking about this one for a long time. Spohie really took everything she had and put it in this and then some. In my humble opinion, this is her best work yet. I didn't really love her other books(at least the other two that I've read), but this one is just truly magical.
Please take your time reading this book, because its HEAVY. In terms of words and story wise.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Enemies to lovers
• Forbidden romance
• Soulmates
• Dark fantasy
I enjoyed this book although found it slightly slow paced in places and think if it had been a bit shorter overall it would have flowed better. Having said that; I loved how raw and believable many of the characters were, I loved how the romance was a slow, subtle burn but still passionate and intense. The magic system was really quite fascinating and I enjoyed the strong symbolism and attention to detail from the author. The book also piqued my interest to research further into the history of the period this book is loosely based around.
Finally, the cherry on top is the exquisite artwork throughout and the carefully chosen songs to compliment and enhance key scenes of the story.