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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Leonka is an old man, widowed and about to die. He records his story of the Romanovs and how they were executed. As a 14 year old kitchen boy, he saw it all. And, at the end, he tells of helping to try and save the Czar's daughter, Grand Duchess Maria. When his own granddaughter, Kate, listens to the tape, she questions some of the story and goes in search of the truth. She finds out that her grandfather created the story of the kitchen boy who married a novice medical assistant. I reality, her grandfather was one of the guards involved in tricking the Romanovs and was assigned to shoot Maria. When she survived, he helped her, and married her - running to America and creating their new identities.
While everyone knows the fate of Czar Nikolai and his family, this book takes a very different approach to tell the story. While you expect the twist about Maria surviving and being the grandmother, you never think that Leonka was a Red, let alone the soldier assigned to kill her! I enjoyed the interspersed Russian phrases as well and the look into the Czar and Aleksandra's deep love for each other and how hard it was for them to accept that they were prisoners and no one was coming to rescue them. Their brutal deaths, on order of Lenin, is horrific to imagine and is captured perfectly in Leonka's story.
While everyone knows the fate of Czar Nikolai and his family, this book takes a very different approach to tell the story. While you expect the twist about Maria surviving and being the grandmother, you never think that Leonka was a Red, let alone the soldier assigned to kill her! I enjoyed the interspersed Russian phrases as well and the look into the Czar and Aleksandra's deep love for each other and how hard it was for them to accept that they were prisoners and no one was coming to rescue them. Their brutal deaths, on order of Lenin, is horrific to imagine and is captured perfectly in Leonka's story.
I love a good “what really happened to the Romanovs” novel. This one posed some ideas I’ve never seen before.
I was really excited to read this book as I have always been interested in learning more about the Romanovs and this was a fictionalized first hand account of the last days of the family. Perfect. However, the first half of it was super slow and ridiculously repetitive. Often phrases were written out in Russian, than immediately translated. At first this was really interesting but than became a little much. Started to seem like merely a way to bump the length/word count. I wanted to give up but pressed on. I was glad that I did as it got very good and became a serious page turner...until the very end turned into complete and utter trash. I love historical fiction. I love reading a story woven with facts and information on time periods, cultures and events that I know little about. The "fiction" part though needs to be only the devise, the serving platter for those fun factoids. When the fiction part starts to take over and the author rewrites history, no thanks.
Great story, well written. I look forward to reading more of his writing.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
So enjoyable. The flow of the novel is absolutely amazing; it's one of my favorite books in that sense. The characters are developed consistently in a way that makes them interesting.
This was so good! The twist had me like "what???".
I have been fascinated by the story of the Romanov's for many years, though admit to a pretty one-sided readership of the events that occurred. Until now I've only read nonfiction, feeling as though the true story is so gripping by itself, that there wasn't really a need to fictionalize what might have happened after, who might have survived, or the like. I read this an an exception to that tendency, partly because of Book Riot's Read Harder challenge, and I'm glad I did. Knowing so much of the history really made the authors research evident and well-placed, without being overbearing. The author lets you guess at who the narrator is, and the details do a good job of supporting and then upending who you suspect. I truly did not see the twist at the end coming. And the author does a great job at building suspense to a climax that is a foregone, historical, well-known occurance.
After reading this, I'm wondering more about the other side of the story, and especially if there are any accounts from the people guarding the royal family. Reference librarian friends: Are there?
After reading this, I'm wondering more about the other side of the story, and especially if there are any accounts from the people guarding the royal family. Reference librarian friends: Are there?
Wavered between two and three stars. The writing was weak but I am a sucker for historical fiction so I thought it was a perfectly serviceable read.
The good: picks up speed after the halfway point; interested in the topic; references real historical documents.
The bad: too much love for royals (I’m way too socialist for that shit); stilted dialogue.
The good: picks up speed after the halfway point; interested in the topic; references real historical documents.
The bad: too much love for royals (I’m way too socialist for that shit); stilted dialogue.
This work of fiction was worth reading for the way the mystery unfolds.
I wanted to love this book and just couldn’t. I felt like the story just kept being dragged on and on and out. At times it seemed like the story would jump ahead and or retract a bit. I was disappointed in the writing and just couldn’t push through.