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A review by haerin
Anastasia by Sophie Lark
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
i want to preface this by saying i don't really read fantasy anymore. the last one i read was f***th w*ng, and i did not care for it all too much. that being said, sophie lark made me appreciate fantasy again! if i had the time, i honestly would have devoured this book in a day.
the book starts off quite slow after a solid hook of a prologue. anastasia is long and drags on in parts (particularly during anastasia's earlier years and rusya's later geopolitical troubles), but i personally don't think much needed to be edited out despite this - though i do think it was kinda out of character of anastasia to be the one explaining the onslaught of war and history between affected countries, when she didn't exactly show any sort of interest towards it prior. i get that it's really more for the reader as world building, but the first-person pov briefly brought me out of it.
speaking of being brought out of the story... spoiler time.what the hell was that sudden time jump back? that was quite honestly so jarring for me that i first believed it was anastasia either being in limbo à la harry potter book 7 or in a deep comatose-ridden dream after being blasted by damien's bombs. i got back on board (a little unwillingly) because i know sophie lark prefaced this book saying she wanted anastasia to have a happy ending (and y'know, it's literal fiction), but goddamn, that curveball came out of fucking nowhere! i'm happy for anastasia that she has most of her family back, but was there no other way for her to get a happy ending without the time jump?
sophie lark does not pull back on killing off beloved characters, i will say. but... is it sick of me to wish the deaths were fleshed out a little more? a little more gruesome? for the weight of the story?
the illustrations spread sporadically through the chapters were beautiful and helpful in imagining the vibe, but they weren't necessarily my style, and (i'm sorry but) i imagined the characters to look quite differently than what they were portrayed as.
i'd rate the spice of this book to be the mellow, super softcore, romantic written version of a movie scene where they sensually block out the actual action with sheer sheets so they can keep a certain rating. i think i had this book listed in my tbr because i saw a tiktok or a reel describing it as a spicy enemies-to-lovers love story... but that is not what this is! it's a mild spice, and anastasia and damien are simply just not enemies past their cultural backgrounds. please don't let that stop you from giving this book a chance though. it's beautiful to see the slow burn grow!!!
and as a final note: no, this isn't historically accurate. for one, anastasia gets a happy ending. two, there's magic lol. three, it's set in like 1910. sophie lark mentions in the afterword she took creative liberty with it!
the book starts off quite slow after a solid hook of a prologue. anastasia is long and drags on in parts (particularly during anastasia's earlier years and rusya's later geopolitical troubles), but i personally don't think much needed to be edited out despite this - though i do think it was kinda out of character of anastasia to be the one explaining the onslaught of war and history between affected countries, when she didn't exactly show any sort of interest towards it prior. i get that it's really more for the reader as world building, but the first-person pov briefly brought me out of it.
speaking of being brought out of the story... spoiler time.
sophie lark does not pull back on killing off beloved characters, i will say. but... is it sick of me to wish the deaths were fleshed out a little more? a little more gruesome? for the weight of the story?
the illustrations spread sporadically through the chapters were beautiful and helpful in imagining the vibe, but they weren't necessarily my style, and (i'm sorry but) i imagined the characters to look quite differently than what they were portrayed as.
i'd rate the spice of this book to be the mellow, super softcore, romantic written version of a movie scene where they sensually block out the actual action with sheer sheets so they can keep a certain rating. i think i had this book listed in my tbr because i saw a tiktok or a reel describing it as a spicy enemies-to-lovers love story... but that is not what this is! it's a mild spice, and anastasia and damien are simply just not enemies past their cultural backgrounds. please don't let that stop you from giving this book a chance though. it's beautiful to see the slow burn grow!!!
and as a final note: no, this isn't historically accurate. for one, anastasia gets a happy ending. two, there's magic lol. three, it's set in like 1910. sophie lark mentions in the afterword she took creative liberty with it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Violence, War, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape
Rape mention is very brief during the mine scenes: Anastasia describes female screaming after a couple of guards drag a woman off somewhere and how she's afraid of suffering the same fate/pain of what happened to the woman