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emilybookin 's review for:
The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar
by Robert Alexander
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.