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allivenger's review against another edition
1.0
I really just didn't like this book. I went into this liking the idea that this was a book that wasn't about Anastasia but about her sister. It was intriguing enough for me to buy it but the author lost me at around 43% and I will not be finishing it.
I did do some very cursory research into this once I started reading because I started to think that the story was a tad to "unbelievable". Though the author did follow most of the historical aspect of it, some of it was just not correct. And since I stopped reading when Tatiana was 14, anything that happened before that age just seems unbelievable. Able to sneak out of the palace to visit the slums when she is a child without anyone knowing? she did it. Being able to sneak off to watch her maid give birth? she also does that. It just doesn't seem likely that given she is a grand duchess that she would have been able to accomplish half of what the author is claiming she did.
I do know that Tatiana did accomplish a lot in her life but the embellishments by the author just fell flat. She is a good author, that's not in question. I just didn't like this story.
I did do some very cursory research into this once I started reading because I started to think that the story was a tad to "unbelievable". Though the author did follow most of the historical aspect of it, some of it was just not correct. And since I stopped reading when Tatiana was 14, anything that happened before that age just seems unbelievable. Able to sneak out of the palace to visit the slums when she is a child without anyone knowing? she did it. Being able to sneak off to watch her maid give birth? she also does that. It just doesn't seem likely that given she is a grand duchess that she would have been able to accomplish half of what the author is claiming she did.
I do know that Tatiana did accomplish a lot in her life but the embellishments by the author just fell flat. She is a good author, that's not in question. I just didn't like this story.
pagesofash's review against another edition
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
natashazaleski's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
jinny89's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars, IMO.
This is the third Erickson book I’ve read now, and I’ve come to a realization: if you want historical fiction that is also historically accurate, you probably won’t like Erickson’s works. But if you don’t mind authors taking some liberties with history, then you’ll probably enjoy Erickson’s novels. I fall in the latter group — I don’t mind authors making things up (though I do enjoy historical accuracy as well). And there are a lot of made up events and characters in The Tsarina’s Daughter.
In this book, the Grand Duchess Tatiana actually survived the assassination of her family and is living in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1989. She has decided to tell the story of her family during the Russian Revolution: how her father the Tsar ran the country, how her mother dealt with her “delusions” and obsession with that “healer”, Rasputin, and how she fell in and out of love over the years until she found the right man for her.
I thought it was really interested how Erickson decided to use Tatiana, the second eldest daughter of the Tsar and Tsarina, as her main character, as most novels love romanticizing Anastasia instead. I actually have never really read anything dealing with last Tsar and his family that didn’t have Anastasia as the main character, so this was a different experience indeed. I do not know that much about Tatiana Romanov, certainly not to the extent that I know Anastasia (I had an Anastasia phase when I was in middle school; I adored the mystery surrounding the missing last duchess and wanted to know everything I could about her), but I’m certain a majority of this novel is made up, especially her romances.
However, as I said before, I don’t mind historical fiction that actually puts some real fiction in it, and I thought the story was quite well done. It was interesting, it had my attention and once I started reading, I was wrapped in the story. I actually quite enjoyed the made-up romances of Tatiana. She was a teenager at the time, after all, so I thought it plausible that she had a crush or two. However, other than the romances, I found Tatiana to be a bit of a passive character. I felt like the story was really about the Russian Revolution, just seen through Tatiana’s eyes. Even though Tatiana was the main character though, I thought the most interesting characters were her parents, Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra, who were portrayed as major players in the Revolution. We see, through Tatiana’s eyes, how her parents contributed to the decline of their family, the general lack of confidence the Russian people felt towards the monarchy, and the Russian Revolution. I would love to read a novel about those two rulers, actually! (Unfortunately, the historical royalty fiction market is still quite saturated with Tudor novels, so I might be in for a long wait).
Since the author had already chosen to go down the historically fiction route (as opposed to historically accurate), I would have loved if there was a short chapter on how Tatiana’s life had been after she moved to Canada. It would have been a nice way to wrap up the story, as opposed to what I feel was a rather blunt ending, that basically said ‘I managed to escape and move to Canada, the end’ (an exaggeration, but you know what I mean). Regardless, I enjoyed this book a lot and would recommend it to people who don’t mind large doses of fiction in their historical novels.
This is the third Erickson book I’ve read now, and I’ve come to a realization: if you want historical fiction that is also historically accurate, you probably won’t like Erickson’s works. But if you don’t mind authors taking some liberties with history, then you’ll probably enjoy Erickson’s novels. I fall in the latter group — I don’t mind authors making things up (though I do enjoy historical accuracy as well). And there are a lot of made up events and characters in The Tsarina’s Daughter.
In this book, the Grand Duchess Tatiana actually survived the assassination of her family and is living in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1989. She has decided to tell the story of her family during the Russian Revolution: how her father the Tsar ran the country, how her mother dealt with her “delusions” and obsession with that “healer”, Rasputin, and how she fell in and out of love over the years until she found the right man for her.
I thought it was really interested how Erickson decided to use Tatiana, the second eldest daughter of the Tsar and Tsarina, as her main character, as most novels love romanticizing Anastasia instead. I actually have never really read anything dealing with last Tsar and his family that didn’t have Anastasia as the main character, so this was a different experience indeed. I do not know that much about Tatiana Romanov, certainly not to the extent that I know Anastasia (I had an Anastasia phase when I was in middle school; I adored the mystery surrounding the missing last duchess and wanted to know everything I could about her), but I’m certain a majority of this novel is made up, especially her romances.
However, as I said before, I don’t mind historical fiction that actually puts some real fiction in it, and I thought the story was quite well done. It was interesting, it had my attention and once I started reading, I was wrapped in the story. I actually quite enjoyed the made-up romances of Tatiana. She was a teenager at the time, after all, so I thought it plausible that she had a crush or two. However, other than the romances, I found Tatiana to be a bit of a passive character. I felt like the story was really about the Russian Revolution, just seen through Tatiana’s eyes. Even though Tatiana was the main character though, I thought the most interesting characters were her parents, Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra, who were portrayed as major players in the Revolution. We see, through Tatiana’s eyes, how her parents contributed to the decline of their family, the general lack of confidence the Russian people felt towards the monarchy, and the Russian Revolution. I would love to read a novel about those two rulers, actually! (Unfortunately, the historical royalty fiction market is still quite saturated with Tudor novels, so I might be in for a long wait).
Since the author had already chosen to go down the historically fiction route (as opposed to historically accurate), I would have loved if there was a short chapter on how Tatiana’s life had been after she moved to Canada. It would have been a nice way to wrap up the story, as opposed to what I feel was a rather blunt ending, that basically said ‘I managed to escape and move to Canada, the end’ (an exaggeration, but you know what I mean). Regardless, I enjoyed this book a lot and would recommend it to people who don’t mind large doses of fiction in their historical novels.
ckjaer88's review against another edition
3.0
A good historical novel, that gives a glimpse of how horrible and terrifying it must have been for a nation in open war with itself.
bookishblond's review against another edition
1.0
It's not often that I leave a one-star review for a novel, but this one truly is a royal mess. How do I despise thee? Let me count the ways!
From everything I've read about the four Romanov Grand Duchesses, they were incredibly close to one another and excessively sheltered. Why is it, then, that the other three girls are barely mentioned in this book? Why was Tatiana (no one called her Tania) always sneaking out of the palace to hang out with servants and peasants, having sex (with her aunt's approval!), and having countless absurd adventures? At one point "Tania" stops Sigmund Freud from committing her mother to an asylum (really). "Tania" also shows up at Rasputin's apartment and in another scene tries to shoot him!
What really irks me is that many readers don't know anything about the Romanovs and will happily "learn" about them from this terrible novel.
Why, Carolly Erickson, why?
From everything I've read about the four Romanov Grand Duchesses, they were incredibly close to one another and excessively sheltered. Why is it, then, that the other three girls are barely mentioned in this book? Why was Tatiana (no one called her Tania) always sneaking out of the palace to hang out with servants and peasants, having sex (with her aunt's approval!), and having countless absurd adventures? At one point "Tania" stops Sigmund Freud from committing her mother to an asylum (really). "Tania" also shows up at Rasputin's apartment and in another scene tries to shoot him!
What really irks me is that many readers don't know anything about the Romanovs and will happily "learn" about them from this terrible novel.
Why, Carolly Erickson, why?
jennifermreads's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderful to read about another Romanov daughter. A must-read for any Romanov dynasty junkie!
rebeccatc's review against another edition
2.0
This is a fictionalized account of the second daughter of Nicholas and Alexandra Romanov, the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia. In the book, unlike in life, Tatiana escapes execution by the Bolsheviks and lives to tell her tale. Unfortunately, the tale she tells is not only historically inaccurate but cliched and poorly told. From what I have read about the Romanov family -- mainly Massie's excellent biography Nicholas and Alexandra -- they may have been weak rulers but they were a close-knit and loving family. In this version, Nicholas is a childish, distant drinker; Alexandra is a paranoid, whining drug addict; Tatiana's sisters are petulant, vapid, and sloppy; and her brother Alexei, the hemophiliac heir, plays almost no role. I was starting to wonder if the author was a closet Bolshevik, and it almost seemed that as the lone survivor Tatiana was almost glad to be rid of her annoying family. This time period and the story of the Romanovs is fascinating, but I'm sure there are many better books than this one.
bookishnicole's review against another edition
4.0
I actually enjoyed this book despite the huge inaccuracies, i really enjoyed reading this book. It was a fun twist on a widely speculated topic
overlookingcovers's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to read this book for a VERY long time. I really love Carolly Erickson's books but this one... not so much. The beginning for me was in fact, VERY BORING. Thats just my opinion but if you seriously want to read this book, don't let the first few chapters bring you down. To tell you the truth, i forgot i was even reading this book till i asked my mom to give the book i was reading to me and she gave me this book and i was like "Whats this?? I'm reading another book" Thats how much i forgot about it. But finally i got through those first few chapters and found myself loving the book but it wasn't worthy of getting a 4 or 5 star from me.