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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
This one is going to the "Abandoned" shelf, I think.
My main problem with this book is that when you read fiction about real events you need something really powerful and captivating in the way the story is told - because actually you already know how it all ends.
So you need to be connected with things happening on every page, you need something that will build up the suspense and keep your interest up.
As a good example of it, the tv show 'The Tudors' comes to mind - you know very well how it goes, but you still keep hoping that maybe Anne will survive this time.
Unfortunately The Kitchen Boy lacks that bit of something. And even though there are hints about 'a twist in the end', I don't really care what it is - despite all twists in the world, the Romanovs' story ended the way it ended.
There are also minor problems, and although they are not so important, I can't help but rant.
First time I wanted to put the book down was when Nikolai and Alexandra started kissing in front of everyone. Like, really?
Second time I wanted to put it down (and actually did, mid-page and practically mid-sentence) was when Alexandra called Anastasia "Anya". I understand that author isn't Russian, but how difficult is it to research that the proper diminutive for Anastasia would be Nastya?
And yes, I googled specifically about Anastasia Nikolaevna - she, as any other Anastasia in Russia, was called only Nastya (and different forms of it, such as Nastenka).
Third, fourth, fifth and so on time I wanted to put the book down was when another Russian word was very weirdly spelled or incorrectly/unreasonably used.
The necessity behind putting some of those words in the text eludes me completely.
Especially I don't get why it's important to use 'kommunizm' instead of communism, 'bolsheviki' instead of Bolsheviks or 'arkhivy' instead of archives. But my personal favorite was, I suppose, the unexpected 'troopy' instead of dead bodies. Wrong form, by the way, in that sentence it couldn't be used in nominative case.
Also it seems like the author is a bit confused whether he wants to just use transliteration (as with 'konechno', 'shahmaty', 'russkogo'), or to get closer to the correct pronunciation (like using 'neechevo' for nichego, 'eezyoom' for izyum and 'eedee-ot' for idiot), or just to give foreign words weird-looking spelling (as with 'xoroshow' and 'xhorosho' - it's 'horosho', for God's sake; or 'zdravstvoojte' - seems like a real Dutch word, this one, especially with a j thrown in there).
Again, all these would have been just minor troubles if the story itself was great. Buuut.... nope.
My main problem with this book is that when you read fiction about real events you need something really powerful and captivating in the way the story is told - because actually you already know how it all ends.
So you need to be connected with things happening on every page, you need something that will build up the suspense and keep your interest up.
As a good example of it, the tv show 'The Tudors' comes to mind - you know very well how it goes, but you still keep hoping that maybe Anne will survive this time.
Unfortunately The Kitchen Boy lacks that bit of something. And even though there are hints about 'a twist in the end', I don't really care what it is - despite all twists in the world, the Romanovs' story ended the way it ended.
There are also minor problems, and although they are not so important, I can't help but rant.
First time I wanted to put the book down was when Nikolai and Alexandra started kissing in front of everyone. Like, really?
Second time I wanted to put it down (and actually did, mid-page and practically mid-sentence) was when Alexandra called Anastasia "Anya". I understand that author isn't Russian, but how difficult is it to research that the proper diminutive for Anastasia would be Nastya?
And yes, I googled specifically about Anastasia Nikolaevna - she, as any other Anastasia in Russia, was called only Nastya (and different forms of it, such as Nastenka).
Third, fourth, fifth and so on time I wanted to put the book down was when another Russian word was very weirdly spelled or incorrectly/unreasonably used.
The necessity behind putting some of those words in the text eludes me completely.
Especially I don't get why it's important to use 'kommunizm' instead of communism, 'bolsheviki' instead of Bolsheviks or 'arkhivy' instead of archives. But my personal favorite was, I suppose, the unexpected 'troopy' instead of dead bodies. Wrong form, by the way, in that sentence it couldn't be used in nominative case.
Also it seems like the author is a bit confused whether he wants to just use transliteration (as with 'konechno', 'shahmaty', 'russkogo'), or to get closer to the correct pronunciation (like using 'neechevo' for nichego, 'eezyoom' for izyum and 'eedee-ot' for idiot), or just to give foreign words weird-looking spelling (as with 'xoroshow' and 'xhorosho' - it's 'horosho', for God's sake; or 'zdravstvoojte' - seems like a real Dutch word, this one, especially with a j thrown in there).
Again, all these would have been just minor troubles if the story itself was great. Buuut.... nope.
*2.75
The first part read as a history book (granted, it was very well researched) with a fictional storyline put in, and perhaps it would have been more interesting had I not known anything about the Romanovs, but I had to read several books on them for my high school end paper thingy, so nothing was, history wise, new. The impact of the fictional storyline only became apparent at the very end, which is also where I actually started to enjoy the novel, and stopped skimming. However, the story on the whole fell quite flat for me, especially the characters. The Romanovs were like stereotypes and didn't have real personalities one could relate to. This probably also added to my idea of the novel as a non-fiction history book (and again, I already knew a lot about them, and it was like I was literally reading one of those books I read in high school).
The first part read as a history book (granted, it was very well researched) with a fictional storyline put in, and perhaps it would have been more interesting had I not known anything about the Romanovs, but I had to read several books on them for my high school end paper thingy, so nothing was, history wise, new. The impact of the fictional storyline only became apparent at the very end, which is also where I actually started to enjoy the novel, and stopped skimming. However, the story on the whole fell quite flat for me, especially the characters. The Romanovs were like stereotypes and didn't have real personalities one could relate to. This probably also added to my idea of the novel as a non-fiction history book (and again, I already knew a lot about them, and it was like I was literally reading one of those books I read in high school).
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
While this was exactly in my wheelhouse and something I should have loved deeply, I feel that it was too long and the “twist” was very contrived. The very end was really what ruined this book for me.
This was a very entertaining book about the imprisonmnent and execution of the Romanov family (the last Tsar of Russia). Entertaining is a strange word to use for such a grave subject, but in this case it is an appropriate choice.
The book is about an elderly man who lives in America and is preparing for his death. In doing so he makes a recording for his granddaughter that retells the story of the last days of the Romanov family. In the tape the man reveals that he was the lowly kitchen boy in the house that ultimately became the conduit through which the Romanov's were able to send and receive correspondence to the outside world.
There is still a lot of unanswered questions about this tragic event in history. It has been an interest of mine for many years, this book will be added to my section of Romanov books to be read by anyone likewise intrigued.
The book is about an elderly man who lives in America and is preparing for his death. In doing so he makes a recording for his granddaughter that retells the story of the last days of the Romanov family. In the tape the man reveals that he was the lowly kitchen boy in the house that ultimately became the conduit through which the Romanov's were able to send and receive correspondence to the outside world.
There is still a lot of unanswered questions about this tragic event in history. It has been an interest of mine for many years, this book will be added to my section of Romanov books to be read by anyone likewise intrigued.
http://www.lovelylittleshelf.com/2010/06/14/review-the-kitchen-boy/
I really enjoyed this take on the Romanov family and their demise. Really interesting novel, the writing was good, the mysterious aspects of the plot were very effective. I've always been fascinated by the Romanov family and their last days. I thought that Alexander did an excellent job of giving the reader an insight into that time in history while also telling an excellent story. It was very readable and very interesting! I definitely recommend this one!
Although I can see why certain readers, particularly avid history buffs, might have a problem with some of the things Robert Alexander did with this novel, quite simply I found it really entertaining. I know people have talked about it being repetitive, and maybe I would’ve found that to be the case if I’d already been familiar with a lot of the details, but as someone who knew nothing about the Romanov family’s captivity and execution, I just felt like I was always learning. So, although it’s a work of fiction and a lot of creative licence was taken, The Kitchen Boy was the perfect introduction to this part of history because it piqued my interest, and I immediately started doing my own research after finishing it.
Was I taken aback by the ending and unsure how to feel about it? Sure. But it was also refreshing to be surprised and challenged in my thinking (is the twist wildly insensitive? I still can’t decide) by a book I didn’t exactly expect to do any of those things. A jaunt into alternate history is always going to be a literary risk and, even if I end up changing my mind a hundred times about the direction it took, I think The Kitchen Boy will remain pretty memorable.
Was I taken aback by the ending and unsure how to feel about it? Sure. But it was also refreshing to be surprised and challenged in my thinking (is the twist wildly insensitive? I still can’t decide) by a book I didn’t exactly expect to do any of those things. A jaunt into alternate history is always going to be a literary risk and, even if I end up changing my mind a hundred times about the direction it took, I think The Kitchen Boy will remain pretty memorable.
This was sooo sloooow. It took me nearly 3 months to knock out 70 pages because it was boring and depressing. I kept waiting for the story to pick up because there were moments when it really seemed like something interesting was about to happen, but mostly it was tedious and semi sporadic details of the author's imagined version of the Romanov's imprisonment. After making it to chapter 7, I started skimming and then just read the end. I found the 'twist' to be absurd and pretty insulting to the Romanov's memory. I'm all for historical fiction, even if it's unrealistic. Heck, one of my favorite kids movies is Anastasia, and we all know how unrealistic that version of the story is, but I'm not a fan of turning someone like our MC into a hero. It's pretty sickening.
I was assigned this book for school; my Ma hadn't read it, just bought it offline. It went with our last year's study of Russia, and the Romanov family. Granted, of course, we learned plenty and read books on the time line, learned about Russia, saw the anger and the mobs during that bad time, etc.
But no book brought to life just how tragic and serious that time of history was like this fictional novel. Not for me.
I was never interested much in the history of Russia. I'd started reading the Last Tsar, and found that obviously the history was absolutely awful. An entire royal family being murdered in the same room, with their servants and their dog, too; I couldn't imagine that graphic, that horrific kind of thing.
This book is from the fiction perspective of the 'kitchen boy'- he lives with the Romanov family while they're 'under lock down' (basically, that's what happened). Honestly, I can't give much of this story away because it's just... so stunning and astonishingly told.
The story leads you on. Not slowly, nor so fast you lose track of what's happening. I loved how it was told, the style of writing. It wasn't some far-fetched, extravagant tale- no. It was told in a serious, startling tone. That time of history was crucial- and it was told as such. It wasn't on a whim; the story and the perspective it was told from was all very keen.
I was never bored. I was dragged in so fast, by the writing, by the story: I was gaping. At how significant it all was. How it all happened in history. Whether I was grounded by the actual history, or the fictional bits that slid so perfectly in alignment with the truth (the history)....
It seriously all fell into place. Into perspective. Into line. Whether I was staring in utter surprise, or covering my mouth because 'Dang. Dang.': it was all real. Real, cruel, hard, smooth and then jagged, hope and no hope....
The only thing that bummed me with this book, was the fact there seemed to be no hope. If there was, it was crushed and found as a lie. I didn't particularity like that- with the kitchen boy's end... I feel that he didn't have to end like that. With no hope. Perhaps the author (and the world) found what ended and how the boy's thoughts were in his final time more 'realistic' or something... But I don't. As the story is told, yes, the narrator did some very, very bad things. But I was forced to think as I read: would God forgive him? If the man asked for forgiveness for what he had done, would Yeshua have forgiven him? I do not know if the author was a Christian or such; but that ending, that part, I found wrong. Hope, faith, it IS there. We are not lost cases. Not with God.
God was in no part of this book, so I didn't quite expect for hope to be found in the story: but I wish it had. I think that if faith in God had been a part of the narrators heart: it would have been different for him. Because he did not, I felt deeply sorry for him. It was that gripping and moving of a book, in a way; though I wrestled in distaste because no hope was present, I still saw the character's utter lost self. It showed me what we really are without God, when we face our sins and past alone. Without mercy, without His Love.
This book is still one of the best I think I've read. It was a fascinating, heart wrenching story. The history itself has lessons to teach, and to see it written out in such a story really made it all the more vivid.
This book is not a 'clean' novel: it is about a very dark, horrific time in history. It portrays the history as such. Because of this, this book is graphic, and bad cussing is used once in the book (at least, super bad cussing.).... While some of the facts of this book may be unsettling for others, it was not that bad to me, and the book seemed very honest to me... I got the insights of just how bad it was.
But no book brought to life just how tragic and serious that time of history was like this fictional novel. Not for me.
I was never interested much in the history of Russia. I'd started reading the Last Tsar, and found that obviously the history was absolutely awful. An entire royal family being murdered in the same room, with their servants and their dog, too; I couldn't imagine that graphic, that horrific kind of thing.
This book is from the fiction perspective of the 'kitchen boy'- he lives with the Romanov family while they're 'under lock down' (basically, that's what happened). Honestly, I can't give much of this story away because it's just... so stunning and astonishingly told.
The story leads you on. Not slowly, nor so fast you lose track of what's happening. I loved how it was told, the style of writing. It wasn't some far-fetched, extravagant tale- no. It was told in a serious, startling tone. That time of history was crucial- and it was told as such. It wasn't on a whim; the story and the perspective it was told from was all very keen.
I was never bored. I was dragged in so fast, by the writing, by the story: I was gaping. At how significant it all was. How it all happened in history. Whether I was grounded by the actual history, or the fictional bits that slid so perfectly in alignment with the truth (the history)....
It seriously all fell into place. Into perspective. Into line. Whether I was staring in utter surprise, or covering my mouth because 'Dang. Dang.': it was all real. Real, cruel, hard, smooth and then jagged, hope and no hope....
The only thing that bummed me with this book, was the fact there seemed to be no hope. If there was, it was crushed and found as a lie. I didn't particularity like that- with the kitchen boy's end... I feel that he didn't have to end like that. With no hope. Perhaps the author (and the world) found what ended and how the boy's thoughts were in his final time more 'realistic' or something... But I don't. As the story is told, yes, the narrator did some very, very bad things. But I was forced to think as I read: would God forgive him? If the man asked for forgiveness for what he had done, would Yeshua have forgiven him? I do not know if the author was a Christian or such; but that ending, that part, I found wrong. Hope, faith, it IS there. We are not lost cases. Not with God.
God was in no part of this book, so I didn't quite expect for hope to be found in the story: but I wish it had. I think that if faith in God had been a part of the narrators heart: it would have been different for him. Because he did not, I felt deeply sorry for him. It was that gripping and moving of a book, in a way; though I wrestled in distaste because no hope was present, I still saw the character's utter lost self. It showed me what we really are without God, when we face our sins and past alone. Without mercy, without His Love.
This book is still one of the best I think I've read. It was a fascinating, heart wrenching story. The history itself has lessons to teach, and to see it written out in such a story really made it all the more vivid.
This book is not a 'clean' novel: it is about a very dark, horrific time in history. It portrays the history as such. Because of this, this book is graphic, and bad cussing is used once in the book (at least, super bad cussing.).... While some of the facts of this book may be unsettling for others, it was not that bad to me, and the book seemed very honest to me... I got the insights of just how bad it was.