phoebe_osgood 's review for:

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

3.0

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✩✩✩/5

°。°。°。°。°。Summary°。°。°。°。°。
The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander follows the narration of a young kitchen boy, Leonka, as he tells his granddaughter a story he lived. This story is that of the imprisonment and eventual slaughter of the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, and his family.
“Although we suffer horribly still there is peace in our souls”
°。°。°。°。°。Characters°。°。°。°。°。
Knowing a little bit about the Russian Tsar, Nicholas II Romanov from my studies in my Russian History class was a totally different experience than reading about him fictionalized in this book. Something that Alexander did incredibly well in this book was humanize these real life people. For example, Nicholas' wife, Alexandra Feodorovna, became an entirely different entity in my eyes after reading this book. She softened my heart and become a kind and loving mother instead of the wife of the Tsar.
The way that Alexander wrote about the royal family and made me feel so positively towards them through the course of the book only made the ending for them that much more difficult for me to read. Obviously it isn't really a spoiler, if you don't know what happened to them at this point, but the brutal murder of the royal family, (even their beloved dog!) was awful for me to read. That being said, it was brilliantly written and handled.
“You see, my love. As you've always said, after the rain-"
Sun."
After the darkness-"
Light."
And after the illness-"
Health."
Exactly," said the Tsar. "We mustn't give up faith.” (Nicholas II to his wife, Alexandra)
°。°。°。°。°。Plot°。°。°。°。°。
The point of this book is to educate as well as entertain. I actually learned a lot about the Romanov's final weeks leading up to their death. Where Alexander took the most of his creative freedom was really with mysteries that will probably never be solved regarding the Romanov's death. Where did all of the crown's jewel's go? Where are the bodies of the two of the Romanov children, Alexei and his sister, Maria, who were never recovered? This book ventures to answer these questions and gives pretty interesting answers at that!
There are moments where the story feels a little stagnant but how many interesting things can happen when you're locked in house arrest 24/7.
Other than that, I felt as though the plot progressed well, the mystery of getting answers to those unanswerable questions mentioned before kept me wanting to read more and when I did finish it, I felt like I was letting go of old friends.

°。°。°。°。°。Overall °。°。°。°。°。
3/5 Stars to start our vacation around Europe.
This book is absolutely tragic and what makes it even worse is that most of it is true! Robert Alexander does an incredible job of making us feel for the Tsar and his family. Not only was it an interesting work of fiction, but it also has a lot of historical value to it as well.