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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Just finished this. What a great read. It's one of those books where you can't stop thinking about days after ending it. Loads of fun, well...as much as it can be when dealing with the mass execution of the royal russian family and beginning of a very dark and bloody period for Russia.
I loved Robert Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra. I love history. I thought I would love this book. I did not. I picked it up after the big Thanksgiving dinner and figured I'd have it completed by noon on Friday. Oh boy did it drag...the language is stilted, the story so repetitive and stop and go. I kept putting the book down. I very much wanted to put it onto the dnf shelf and walk away - but because it's a small book - I persisted and finished. It's the longest short book I've read in a long time.
I loved this book. It was recommended to me by someone after I confessed my fascination with the downfall of the Tsar and the Russian Revolution, and I was spellbound. Never saw the twist ending coming, either. Quick and fascinating read.
knew nothing about Russian history, and although this was fiction, there was a historical basis that taught me something new. really quick read.
I'm really starting to find a love for books based on the Russian aristocracy. This ending...wow. Really well written.
It surprised me how much I liked this book considering what a tough time I had getting into it. I'm admittedly thin on my Russian History but I just had no idea...
Oh my goodness this book was amazing. I've always had a fondness for the Romanov's and their history and this added another intriguing idea of what could have happened to the missing bodies of the children. This story is told by the kitchen who we find out isn't really the kitchen boy and then commits suicide and leaves all of Russia's precious jewels and faberge's to his granddaughter to give back to his mother Russia. I had no idea that the book was going to end like it did and it blew my mind. Fabulous.
I was really torn between 3 and 4 stars for this book. The story of the Romanovs is fascinating to me. It always has been. I also thought Alexander's idea behind this story was really interesting. The story itself was engaging and I definitely wanted to keep reading to find out what happens next. That said, I did not think the writing was very good or that the telling of the story was very well executed. To some extent, this book seemed like a rough draft of a book that will eventually be amazing. The writing was not fluid, even if you assume that the language was stilted to make it sound like a non-native English speaker was writing. The insertion of random Russian phrases was unnecessary and jarring, constantly pulling me from what was going on in the story. However, like I said I really enjoyed the story Alexander created. I just wish it had been written better.
sad
tense
slow-paced