A review by dkurtz80
The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander

4.0

This was an interesting, fictionalized take on the imprisonment and assassination of the Romanov family. It was believable, up until the very last pages when a character discovers she is the granddaughter of one one of the Romanov children. Preposterous. This would have been a fine story if it focused on the life of the kitchen boy as a servant to the Romanovs during their imprisonment, and as a witness to their execution. But, it took a crazy turn and became pure fantasy. Reading this book after knowing that the bodies of the Romanov family and their servants had been discovered, identified through DNA testing, and properly buried, makes the ending unnecessary. It was entertaining enough for the reader to listen to Misha's confession about his true identity as the kitchen boy. Why then make him one of the Red guards and how ridiculous to think Maria not only survived the wounds she sustained during the murder attempt, and with whatever the nuns could find to treat her infections and fever, but she also fully recovered and ran off with Misha to America. How could she forgive someone who had a hand in murdering her entire family? So what if he repented and so what if he saved her? He was partly responsible for the destruction of the Russian monarchy and the stupid Communist aftermath that plagued Russia for decades. He's no dreamboat...