What do you think?
Rate this book
Anastasia
Anastasia is the princess no one needs: the fourth daughter born to an emperor without a son, and the only royal lacking a magical gift.
Until she collides with a young Cossack rebel, changing both their lives forever.
Damien is taken from everything he knows and raised as a ward of the Romanovs.
Anastasia develops a strange kind of magic shared only by the Black Monk Rasputin.
While her power grows in secret, boosted by forbidden contact with Damien, Anastasia makes a mistake with terrible consequences.
Fate grants her a single chance to set it right… but saving what she lost may cost everything she loves.
The Lark Notes:
I think what captivates us about Anastasia is our dream of what could have been. Anastasia’s death was so tragic, I wanted to give her another life.
This book is not a retelling of any other Anastasia story. It’s set in 1919 in a world similar to ours, but with magic. My next series will be a vampire family saga set in the modern version of that same world.
This is my fantasy of the happy ending Anastasia deserved. Not because she was a Romanov, but because she was a human. I want all of you to have the happy ending you deserve – it’s why I love writing romance. --Sophie
“Anastasia” is an epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance. It is intended for mature readers and contains spicy scenes not suitable for all.
Until she collides with a young Cossack rebel, changing both their lives forever.
Damien is taken from everything he knows and raised as a ward of the Romanovs.
Anastasia develops a strange kind of magic shared only by the Black Monk Rasputin.
While her power grows in secret, boosted by forbidden contact with Damien, Anastasia makes a mistake with terrible consequences.
Fate grants her a single chance to set it right… but saving what she lost may cost everything she loves.
The Lark Notes:
I think what captivates us about Anastasia is our dream of what could have been. Anastasia’s death was so tragic, I wanted to give her another life.
This book is not a retelling of any other Anastasia story. It’s set in 1919 in a world similar to ours, but with magic. My next series will be a vampire family saga set in the modern version of that same world.
This is my fantasy of the happy ending Anastasia deserved. Not because she was a Romanov, but because she was a human. I want all of you to have the happy ending you deserve – it’s why I love writing romance. --Sophie
“Anastasia” is an epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance. It is intended for mature readers and contains spicy scenes not suitable for all.
686 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 6, 2022
3,563 people are currently reading
74.3k people want to read
About the author
Sophie Lark
40 books22.7k followersPowerful Romance
Special Editions & Exclusive Stories:
https://sophielark.com/
Sophie lives in Southern California with her husband and three children. Her favorite authors are Emily Henry and Freida McFadden. She’s an Aquarius who loves fitness and looks forward to Halloween every year.
Special Editions & Exclusive Stories:
https://sophielark.com/
Sophie lives in Southern California with her husband and three children. Her favorite authors are Emily Henry and Freida McFadden. She’s an Aquarius who loves fitness and looks forward to Halloween every year.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,138 reviews
Want to read
January 16, 2022Anya and Dimitri are the hottest animated couple.
don't @ me.
don't @ me.
December 8, 2022
3 stars
Sophie Lark must've infused the steroid strength of every Russian classic author's fingers to write this 849 page monstrosity. It was 2500 pages on my phone btw🥴 took me 48 hours with two breaks to read. 🡸 What I am trying to get at is....it's not my fault this review is so long🥹
I will be splitting this into separate parts: Culture/history and Plot
Fair warning though....I am not a historian so do your own research. And feel free to correct me with plausible resources if I am wrong.
THE COSSACKS
Well first and foremost, there is no Dimitri. I know many people wanted him from the animation. BUT, there is Damien the Cossack. Whom I actually liked. Not his name though...cause....a cossack named Damien💀 be serious.
yea yea his name is actually Damon. Tomatoes tomatos.
Second of all, certain descriptions of the Cossack society did make me roll my eyes sometimes (for refence I live in Kuban, southern Russia, where Cossacks are still prominent to this day). I'm glad they were included, since most western books based on Russia rarely remember the vast and many cultures in it. But I'm not gonna sit here and say it was entirely accurate either. Everything was very clearly described through the lens of a western author with their own idealogies in mind, which is to be expected, since this is aimed at the same audience.
I might as well call this a Pocahontas retelling.
I don't think I want to get into the entire history and influence of Cossacks in the Russian army. All I'll say is....this book got a lot of it right and a lot of it wrong. I'm gonna assume the author was inspired by the 17th century, when Cossack uprisings were frequent.
Although I'm not gonna touch on the political side of Cossack history, I want to talk about this:
What the what??
Let's take it apart.
smocks thin as a moth's wing.
Anastasia undoing her hair like the Cossack women.
Hair loose my ass. Here are some examples of Cossack outfits worn by women in the XX century:
She looks rich. Let's go down the social ladder.
How about a nice pic with the hubbies?
What do all these have in common? That's right. Head - completely covered. It was considered disgraceful to publicly flaunt your hair and wear men's clothing.
They were fierce and independent
I'm sure they were fierce. They had to be, really. Independent? As much as any woman could be in the early 1900s. With the way this paragraph was going though, I bet you'd never guess that Cossack women barely had a say in any important matters, sometimes even their own marriage. Those things were left at the hands of their fathers, brothers, or Atamans (something like a cossack military commander). Women were ought to be feminine and motherly, and in return, expected to be respected and protected. I'll go a step futher and say many of them were old believers of the orthodox church, and the rest you can assume yourself.
took lovers before and after marriage.
Do the men I've just described LOOK LIKE they'd appreciate their woman sleeping around or cheating on them💀 I'm sure it happened, it happens everywhere, but for it to be accepted among the community and talked about so brazenly, almost proudly? Nah my guy.
"strong as men from lifting, chopping, and hauling all day. They weren't modest like Rusyan women, either. When they worked, they tied up their skirts, or used them as baskets for carrying, baring their scratched and tanned legs."
If you literally stepped a centimetre into any eastern European derevnya, you'd know that hard labour applies to everyone even today. I would understand if she compared the ways of a simple Cossack village to say....the imperial family, nobility or even "the intelligent society" as they were called, then yeah, sure as fuck like night and day. But I guess we could consider the Romanovs as all "Rusyans", makes it very simple innit.
Overall: There are many honourable attributes to a Cossack, but feminism (or whatever this was trying to portray) is not one of them. Strong gender roles were instilled in every house hold. Honestly, if you want to read a 1000 page history book about the Cossacks, then go buy And Quiet Flows the Don.
THE HISTORY
Whereas culturally, I don't think it's befitting to change facts. In major historical events, I am more lenient. So it should be mentioned (for stupid people in the front, like me hahahahahahha) this is not a historically accurate retelling, but based on general events and twisted for the sake of the fictional plot. So please do not (like me hahahahaahah) go fact checking every single thing that happens. For your sanity. BECAUSE I DID IT FOR YOU hahahhahahahahahaha.
I haven't slept for two days, don't question me right now.
A) The timeline was confusing. I thought I'd try navigating things through the historical events and their real dates, using my big mathematical brain to calculate how old Anastasia is. But I think Sophie shifted the dates around for the plot, cause nothing was happening when it was supposed to. Anyways, I still have no clue how old anyone is💀
B) Some changes were useless, seemed almost like mistakes. Like a Romanov ancestor - Anna Petrovna. Described as a cruel, sadistic, murdering empress, was actually just Peter the Geat's daughter, who never even succeeded the throne and died at 20. Who she was really talking about was Petrovna's cousin, Anna Ioannovna.
B) Despite all my criticisms thus far, I am genuinely impressed (but not grateful because 900 pages) with the amount of history put into this. I don't know how much Sophie's average audience will care about a bunch of tragic events in Russian history like the bloody Sunday, 1905 uprising, world war I, and so on. It might be intriguing to an unsuspecting eye or equally boring. it may also be infuriating to a well-versed historian or just as impressive if you think about the author, whom prior to this, never published a book so enveloped in a foreign culture.
THE STORY
🛑SPOILERS🛑
This was initially marketed as a "smutty Anastasia retelling" of the cartoon, but it's clear it has evolved into a historically-inspired fantasy book with barely any romance for the first 70%, let alone smut. I'm glad I read Monica's review before starting, because I managed my expectations a ton. I don't think this should be marketed as simply romance, since that will lead to a lot of disappointment.
Anastasia is a secondary character. Well to who you may ask? To Russia. You can tell Sophie put her blood, sweat, and tears into something and it was not characterisation. Because Russia is the main character. She was explored unlike anyone else in this book. Anastasia and Damon are one dimensional, but weirdly enough, it did not bother me. With the tone of the book, their lack of any strong personality traits made sense. She was a product of her time and that's what stood out about her the most (apart from being power hungry), which I think was a good choice.
The one character I felt more than indifference to was Rasputin. Very religious-fanatic esque, very mysterious and hard to read. I don't think he held much resemblance to the real Rasputin😂, but I don't care either.
I for sure think Sophie has the potential to write an absolute banger of a high fantasy novel. Personally, I would like it to be completely fictional, then I could immerse myself into the world building without thinking and guessing what is meant to be real or if a culture is being respected or not. I know this because the moment we reached the 60% mark, and all the history talk ceased and turned into an action packed story full of suffering, romance, and adventure - it became exactly what I love in fantasy. The tragedy around which this whole retelling is based has happened and I was completely engrossed in the story.
No one can deny that Sophie outdid herself with the writing. Everything flowed and nothing seemed forced. But it did drag.
I was actually going a little feral at this point, because my favourite trope has come to pass......third act conflict happening right before a big tragedy for the heroine😌 so the hero feels extra horrible. I must say it was delicious. Maybe even borderline sadistic with just how long Anastasia's suffering was described for, but that made her and Damien's reconcilation that much sweeter.
Me watching the heroine suffer unimaginable pain, knowing Damien will probably die when he finds out:
My only problem is I didn't like the ending. I wished the travelling back in time thing didn't happen. Literally the twilight saga back in theaters😂 It was exciting to read but I wished everyone stayed dead sorry (It'S jUsT fanTasY).
The ending was lowkey giving this:
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Imperial Russia was sunshine and daisies, and everything that came after (Lenin, communism, the bolsheviks, De-Cossackization) was a dark time in our history that ultimately shaped the post soviet countries on so many levels apart from just political. The whole narrative of changing history into a perfect fairy tale didn't sit right with me. Given that this is already a rather dark retelling, I would have preferred for the villain to be defeated, while also preserving all the horrible consequences birthed from poor choices of the monarchy. Maybe an open ending would've worked, with an insinuation of better times to come in the distant future.
THE ULTIMATE QUESTION:
Did Sophie Lark do Anastasia justice?
In my opinion, the animated version, yes. Sorry but I'd take this book over the cartoon any day. My dp was a purely practical choice😌
The real Anastasia? No. But there is no justice to be done by anyone.
For those who've read the comments: I did not beta read this and this is not an ARC review. After thinking, I've decided to get the kindle book and read this after release.
PS: Artemis for Tsar.
Sophie Lark must've infused the steroid strength of every Russian classic author's fingers to write this 849 page monstrosity. It was 2500 pages on my phone btw🥴 took me 48 hours with two breaks to read. 🡸 What I am trying to get at is....it's not my fault this review is so long🥹
I will be splitting this into separate parts: Culture/history and Plot
Fair warning though....I am not a historian so do your own research. And feel free to correct me with plausible resources if I am wrong.
THE COSSACKS
Well first and foremost, there is no Dimitri. I know many people wanted him from the animation. BUT, there is Damien the Cossack. Whom I actually liked. Not his name though...cause....a cossack named Damien💀 be serious.
yea yea his name is actually Damon. Tomatoes tomatos.
Second of all, certain descriptions of the Cossack society did make me roll my eyes sometimes (for refence I live in Kuban, southern Russia, where Cossacks are still prominent to this day). I'm glad they were included, since most western books based on Russia rarely remember the vast and many cultures in it. But I'm not gonna sit here and say it was entirely accurate either. Everything was very clearly described through the lens of a western author with their own idealogies in mind, which is to be expected, since this is aimed at the same audience.
"I keep the Old Beliefs."
"And that's why you live like a savage."
Damien snorted.
"You think your stinking cities are progress? You've probably never tasted air so clear."
I might as well call this a Pocahontas retelling.
I don't think I want to get into the entire history and influence of Cossacks in the Russian army. All I'll say is....this book got a lot of it right and a lot of it wrong. I'm gonna assume the author was inspired by the 17th century, when Cossack uprisings were frequent.
Although I'm not gonna touch on the political side of Cossack history, I want to talk about this:
the smocks the Cossack women wore were thin as a moth's wing, and they often dressed in men's clothes when they went out riding. Anastasia had taken to wearing her hair loose like they did
What the what??
Cossack women weren't like Rusyan women. They were fierce and independent, strong as men from lifting, chopping, and hauling all day. They weren't modest like Rusyan women, either. When they worked, they tied up their skirts, or used them as baskets for carrying, baring their scratched and tanned legs. They often took lovers, especially the unwed girls, but sometimes the married ones, too, if their husbands annoyed them or stayed away too long.
Let's take it apart.
smocks thin as a moth's wing.
Anastasia undoing her hair like the Cossack women.
Hair loose my ass. Here are some examples of Cossack outfits worn by women in the XX century:
She looks rich. Let's go down the social ladder.
How about a nice pic with the hubbies?
What do all these have in common? That's right. Head - completely covered. It was considered disgraceful to publicly flaunt your hair and wear men's clothing.
They were fierce and independent
I'm sure they were fierce. They had to be, really. Independent? As much as any woman could be in the early 1900s. With the way this paragraph was going though, I bet you'd never guess that Cossack women barely had a say in any important matters, sometimes even their own marriage. Those things were left at the hands of their fathers, brothers, or Atamans (something like a cossack military commander). Women were ought to be feminine and motherly, and in return, expected to be respected and protected. I'll go a step futher and say many of them were old believers of the orthodox church, and the rest you can assume yourself.
took lovers before and after marriage.
Do the men I've just described LOOK LIKE they'd appreciate their woman sleeping around or cheating on them💀 I'm sure it happened, it happens everywhere, but for it to be accepted among the community and talked about so brazenly, almost proudly? Nah my guy.
"strong as men from lifting, chopping, and hauling all day. They weren't modest like Rusyan women, either. When they worked, they tied up their skirts, or used them as baskets for carrying, baring their scratched and tanned legs."
If you literally stepped a centimetre into any eastern European derevnya, you'd know that hard labour applies to everyone even today. I would understand if she compared the ways of a simple Cossack village to say....the imperial family, nobility or even "the intelligent society" as they were called, then yeah, sure as fuck like night and day. But I guess we could consider the Romanovs as all "Rusyans", makes it very simple innit.
Overall: There are many honourable attributes to a Cossack, but feminism (or whatever this was trying to portray) is not one of them. Strong gender roles were instilled in every house hold. Honestly, if you want to read a 1000 page history book about the Cossacks, then go buy And Quiet Flows the Don.
THE HISTORY
Whereas culturally, I don't think it's befitting to change facts. In major historical events, I am more lenient. So it should be mentioned (for stupid people in the front, like me hahahahahahha) this is not a historically accurate retelling, but based on general events and twisted for the sake of the fictional plot. So please do not (like me hahahahaahah) go fact checking every single thing that happens. For your sanity. BECAUSE I DID IT FOR YOU hahahhahahahahahaha.
I haven't slept for two days, don't question me right now.
A) The timeline was confusing. I thought I'd try navigating things through the historical events and their real dates, using my big mathematical brain to calculate how old Anastasia is. But I think Sophie shifted the dates around for the plot, cause nothing was happening when it was supposed to. Anyways, I still have no clue how old anyone is💀
B) Some changes were useless, seemed almost like mistakes. Like a Romanov ancestor - Anna Petrovna. Described as a cruel, sadistic, murdering empress, was actually just Peter the Geat's daughter, who never even succeeded the throne and died at 20. Who she was really talking about was Petrovna's cousin, Anna Ioannovna.
B) Despite all my criticisms thus far, I am genuinely impressed (but not grateful because 900 pages) with the amount of history put into this. I don't know how much Sophie's average audience will care about a bunch of tragic events in Russian history like the bloody Sunday, 1905 uprising, world war I, and so on. It might be intriguing to an unsuspecting eye or equally boring. it may also be infuriating to a well-versed historian or just as impressive if you think about the author, whom prior to this, never published a book so enveloped in a foreign culture.
THE STORY
🛑SPOILERS🛑
This was initially marketed as a "smutty Anastasia retelling" of the cartoon, but it's clear it has evolved into a historically-inspired fantasy book with barely any romance for the first 70%, let alone smut. I'm glad I read Monica's review before starting, because I managed my expectations a ton. I don't think this should be marketed as simply romance, since that will lead to a lot of disappointment.
Anastasia is a secondary character. Well to who you may ask? To Russia. You can tell Sophie put her blood, sweat, and tears into something and it was not characterisation. Because Russia is the main character. She was explored unlike anyone else in this book. Anastasia and Damon are one dimensional, but weirdly enough, it did not bother me. With the tone of the book, their lack of any strong personality traits made sense. She was a product of her time and that's what stood out about her the most (apart from being power hungry), which I think was a good choice.
The one character I felt more than indifference to was Rasputin. Very religious-fanatic esque, very mysterious and hard to read. I don't think he held much resemblance to the real Rasputin😂, but I don't care either.
I for sure think Sophie has the potential to write an absolute banger of a high fantasy novel. Personally, I would like it to be completely fictional, then I could immerse myself into the world building without thinking and guessing what is meant to be real or if a culture is being respected or not. I know this because the moment we reached the 60% mark, and all the history talk ceased and turned into an action packed story full of suffering, romance, and adventure - it became exactly what I love in fantasy. The tragedy around which this whole retelling is based has happened and I was completely engrossed in the story.
No one can deny that Sophie outdid herself with the writing. Everything flowed and nothing seemed forced. But it did drag.
I was actually going a little feral at this point, because my favourite trope has come to pass......third act conflict happening right before a big tragedy for the heroine😌 so the hero feels extra horrible. I must say it was delicious. Maybe even borderline sadistic with just how long Anastasia's suffering was described for, but that made her and Damien's reconcilation that much sweeter.
Me watching the heroine suffer unimaginable pain, knowing Damien will probably die when he finds out:
My only problem is I didn't like the ending. I wished the travelling back in time thing didn't happen. Literally the twilight saga back in theaters😂 It was exciting to read but I wished everyone stayed dead sorry (It'S jUsT fanTasY).
The ending was lowkey giving this:
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Imperial Russia was sunshine and daisies, and everything that came after (Lenin, communism, the bolsheviks, De-Cossackization) was a dark time in our history that ultimately shaped the post soviet countries on so many levels apart from just political. The whole narrative of changing history into a perfect fairy tale didn't sit right with me. Given that this is already a rather dark retelling, I would have preferred for the villain to be defeated, while also preserving all the horrible consequences birthed from poor choices of the monarchy. Maybe an open ending would've worked, with an insinuation of better times to come in the distant future.
THE ULTIMATE QUESTION:
Did Sophie Lark do Anastasia justice?
In my opinion, the animated version, yes. Sorry but I'd take this book over the cartoon any day. My dp was a purely practical choice😌
The real Anastasia? No. But there is no justice to be done by anyone.
For those who've read the comments: I did not beta read this and this is not an ARC review. After thinking, I've decided to get the kindle book and read this after release.
PS: Artemis for Tsar.
December 21, 2022
I swear it wasn't my intention to review this book but it's been days, and Sophie's afterword still haunts my days and nights. 🤣
It just pisses me off. 🤣🤣🤣
An American woman came through with all the receipts, all the answers. 🫂🙏🏻 Wow. Universal love. 🙏🏻 Peace. 🙏🏻🙏🏻 Someone give her a Noble Prize she deserves.
Just think about it: the real Anastasia was only seventeen when she and her family were murdered. She was just an innocent CHILD. A royal one but still just a teenage girl. If you read her biography, you'll see that her contemporaries described her as very boisterous, vivacious and childlike. She loved trading jokes (for which she often got punished), playing pranks and had an acting talent. When she got older, she spent a lot of time working at the hospital alongside her sisters. Apart from knitting items and buying medicines for wounded WW1 soldiers, they played cards with them, read books and wrote letters home under the soldiers' dictation.
And that is partly how Anastasia is portrayed in this book at the beginning. But the whole "power hungry dictator princess" narrative that starts to gain more and more momentum as a story progresses? Very presumptuous. I felt weird every time I remembered who I was reading about.
The word "dictator" paired with Anastasia's name sounds like a really, really bad joke.
I mean.. what's next? A romance book about Anne Frank? 💀
And don't even try telling me that this is a fantasy romance book so the author can write free-form. I wish this book was indeed a pure fantasy romance novel with some historical references so that I could put aside any notion of Russian history.
How am I supposed to treat this story as a fantasy romance book with historical elements in it when half of it reads like an illustrated textbook on Russian history? One small correction: inaccurate history textbook.
Anna's review
(y'all should go read it, btw: it's ×1000 times more Russian that this 800+ pages monstrosity aspires to be, and it has authentic (not just pretty *cough* to look at) illustrations, too)
elaborates in more detail on cultural inaccuracies, but believe it or not, Anastasia isn't the only historical figure to whom some weird-ass characteristics are attributed here. 💀 And most of them simply can't be written off as the "author's imagination/interpretation" thingie as is the case with Anastasia arc.
As a small example: the author confuses the poor woman Anna Petrovna — the daughter of Peter the Great who died at the tender age of 20 💀 and was never even a Russian empress in the first place, with Anna Ioannovna (who was indeed an Emperess: a weird mix of something unhingedly merry and cruel in her personality), and SLANDERED the innocent woman who didn't even do anything wrong during her short lifetime, poor thing.
Poor Anna Petrovna. 💀🤣
Events described are historically accurate... but all of those things were performed by the Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna. 💀
A year of research. 💀 Rewriting Wikipedia articles must have been a hard endeavour. Facts get mixed together all the time. 😔
On the bright side: some facts about history and culture are correct, but whenever a reader (versed even a lil bit in the subject) stumbles upon general lack of understanding of Russian culture (read: the author looks at it from an American standpoint), it gets annoying since retelling and misinterpreting random historical facts is a big part of the book.
Anyone can do the same, actually. I could google Māori traditions and customs, for example, retell them in great detail, embellishing those with my own outlandish fantasies, and be proud of myself for being an accomplished researcher. Will reading Wikipedia articles about the Māori bring me close enough to understanding their culture, without ever coming face to face with their ways of life, so that I could write a book about them? Or more so, about one of their historical figures?
The author was supposed to place the product of her own imagination (fantasy elements and her take on historical figures) in the context of Russian history instead of giving long and tedious lectures on the previous Russian emperors and emperesses as well as historical events that bear no relation to the actual narrative. It feels like fantasy and romance elements (it is marketed as fantasy romance) take a backseat and sneak in like little thieves in the middle of the night in the book.
History and culture need to be tangible yet invisible: a background, a setup, an invisible thread...
not the center of the book's universe. It makes the book sound boring and amateur as fuck. The author is like a student that just learned some exciting, brand new and very limited info on the subject right before the exam but once they're asked a very specific question that they have no idea how to answer to they go into great detail and mention each and every irrelevant bit of info they managed to get their hands on just to show that they aren't entirely hopeless and so that the prof doesn't have time for additional questions.
People who know Russian history don't need that much of a recap, especially from an uncomprehending amateur, and people who don't - kinda don't expect it to be that fake deep. We came here for fantasy romance with historical setting, not lectures on history.
Quality>>>>quantity
Honestly, this same book could be written about any other girl. Just a fictional girl that never existed. But then it wouldn't garner that much attention, right? So much for giving people, who never asked for it, the ending they deserve. 🤪
P.S. also, I just accidentally found out that Sophie blocked my ass on goodreads. 🤣 It's not like I ever planned to DM you either way, bestie, so sulk away in peace xx
now I feel better about giving your little book 1 star it deserves 🌟
I was essentially writing about a dictator princess.
It just pisses me off. 🤣🤣🤣
I asked myself, why are we so obsessed with Anastasia?
It’s because of our dream of what we wish she could have been. What we wish Russia could have been.
An American woman came through with all the receipts, all the answers. 🫂🙏🏻 Wow. Universal love. 🙏🏻 Peace. 🙏🏻🙏🏻 Someone give her a Noble Prize she deserves.
Just think about it: the real Anastasia was only seventeen when she and her family were murdered. She was just an innocent CHILD. A royal one but still just a teenage girl. If you read her biography, you'll see that her contemporaries described her as very boisterous, vivacious and childlike. She loved trading jokes (for which she often got punished), playing pranks and had an acting talent. When she got older, she spent a lot of time working at the hospital alongside her sisters. Apart from knitting items and buying medicines for wounded WW1 soldiers, they played cards with them, read books and wrote letters home under the soldiers' dictation.
And that is partly how Anastasia is portrayed in this book at the beginning. But the whole "power hungry dictator princess" narrative that starts to gain more and more momentum as a story progresses? Very presumptuous. I felt weird every time I remembered who I was reading about.
The word "dictator" paired with Anastasia's name sounds like a really, really bad joke.
I mean.. what's next? A romance book about Anne Frank? 💀
And don't even try telling me that this is a fantasy romance book so the author can write free-form. I wish this book was indeed a pure fantasy romance novel with some historical references so that I could put aside any notion of Russian history.
How am I supposed to treat this story as a fantasy romance book with historical elements in it when half of it reads like an illustrated textbook on Russian history? One small correction: inaccurate history textbook.
Anna's review
(y'all should go read it, btw: it's ×1000 times more Russian that this 800+ pages monstrosity aspires to be, and it has authentic (not just pretty *cough* to look at) illustrations, too)
elaborates in more detail on cultural inaccuracies, but believe it or not, Anastasia isn't the only historical figure to whom some weird-ass characteristics are attributed here. 💀 And most of them simply can't be written off as the "author's imagination/interpretation" thingie as is the case with Anastasia arc.
As a small example: the author confuses the poor woman Anna Petrovna — the daughter of Peter the Great who died at the tender age of 20 💀 and was never even a Russian empress in the first place, with Anna Ioannovna (who was indeed an Emperess: a weird mix of something unhingedly merry and cruel in her personality), and SLANDERED the innocent woman who didn't even do anything wrong during her short lifetime, poor thing.
I’d never been able to pass the portrait of Anna Petrovna without shivering. Her dark eyes seemed to follow wherever I moved, the edges of her mouth curved up in a cruel smile.
Poor Anna Petrovna. 💀🤣
Anna Petrovna loved to humiliate her enemies. She forced Prince Mikhail Alekseevich to serve as her jester, then married him to her ugliest maid. She built them a bridal suite carved from solid ice, with frozen beds, tables, chairs, and even a fireplace filled with logs of ice.
Events described are historically accurate... but all of those things were performed by the Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna. 💀
A year of research. 💀 Rewriting Wikipedia articles must have been a hard endeavour. Facts get mixed together all the time. 😔
On the bright side: some facts about history and culture are correct, but whenever a reader (versed even a lil bit in the subject) stumbles upon general lack of understanding of Russian culture (read: the author looks at it from an American standpoint), it gets annoying since retelling and misinterpreting random historical facts is a big part of the book.
Anyone can do the same, actually. I could google Māori traditions and customs, for example, retell them in great detail, embellishing those with my own outlandish fantasies, and be proud of myself for being an accomplished researcher. Will reading Wikipedia articles about the Māori bring me close enough to understanding their culture, without ever coming face to face with their ways of life, so that I could write a book about them? Or more so, about one of their historical figures?
The author was supposed to place the product of her own imagination (fantasy elements and her take on historical figures) in the context of Russian history instead of giving long and tedious lectures on the previous Russian emperors and emperesses as well as historical events that bear no relation to the actual narrative. It feels like fantasy and romance elements (it is marketed as fantasy romance) take a backseat and sneak in like little thieves in the middle of the night in the book.
History and culture need to be tangible yet invisible: a background, a setup, an invisible thread...
not the center of the book's universe. It makes the book sound boring and amateur as fuck. The author is like a student that just learned some exciting, brand new and very limited info on the subject right before the exam but once they're asked a very specific question that they have no idea how to answer to they go into great detail and mention each and every irrelevant bit of info they managed to get their hands on just to show that they aren't entirely hopeless and so that the prof doesn't have time for additional questions.
People who know Russian history don't need that much of a recap, especially from an uncomprehending amateur, and people who don't - kinda don't expect it to be that fake deep. We came here for fantasy romance with historical setting, not lectures on history.
Quality>>>>quantity
Honestly, this same book could be written about any other girl. Just a fictional girl that never existed. But then it wouldn't garner that much attention, right? So much for giving people, who never asked for it, the ending they deserve. 🤪
P.S. also, I just accidentally found out that Sophie blocked my ass on goodreads. 🤣 It's not like I ever planned to DM you either way, bestie, so sulk away in peace xx
now I feel better about giving your little book 1 star it deserves 🌟
Read
December 24, 2022on pause for now but i guess i'll add my initial thoughts/reasons for soft DNFing
i struggled to get invested in this story. i don't have any personal ties or investment to the original cartoon movie really... i remember watching as a kid but i wasn't thinking "yeah but what if her and the floppy hair dude BONED" ya know? but that wasn't that big of an issue, i think my problem was the writing.
firstly, if i pick this book up again i stand by my opinion that it is entirely too long. i think this story could have an entirely satisfying story arc at 350 pages. (i stopped reading at 20% in and Anastasia is still only 13??)
secondly... there were too many damn characters and too many scenes that felt superfluous or overly descriptive. it's clear that sophie lark really enjoyed being in this setting and probably did some research and formed her own attachment to the real life story she wanted to fictionalize. but as a reader, i felt like i was swimming upstream a lot of the time. drowning in name after name of characters that i assume won't be important later on down the road because this is a romance... right?
lastly, i feel like it did too much and too little. sooo much description. added magic. and yet a passing sprinkle of imo, important politics. this is one of the most interesting/sad times in Russian history so i kind of wanted a little more of that.
idk, i will consult with my friends/subscribers on this one. if people really really ate this shit up i might pick it back up. but i'm not feeling really compelled to finish it out. definitely not a bad book. just not what i'm craving right now.
i struggled to get invested in this story. i don't have any personal ties or investment to the original cartoon movie really... i remember watching as a kid but i wasn't thinking "yeah but what if her and the floppy hair dude BONED" ya know? but that wasn't that big of an issue, i think my problem was the writing.
firstly, if i pick this book up again i stand by my opinion that it is entirely too long. i think this story could have an entirely satisfying story arc at 350 pages. (i stopped reading at 20% in and Anastasia is still only 13??)
secondly... there were too many damn characters and too many scenes that felt superfluous or overly descriptive. it's clear that sophie lark really enjoyed being in this setting and probably did some research and formed her own attachment to the real life story she wanted to fictionalize. but as a reader, i felt like i was swimming upstream a lot of the time. drowning in name after name of characters that i assume won't be important later on down the road because this is a romance... right?
lastly, i feel like it did too much and too little. sooo much description. added magic. and yet a passing sprinkle of imo, important politics. this is one of the most interesting/sad times in Russian history so i kind of wanted a little more of that.
idk, i will consult with my friends/subscribers on this one. if people really really ate this shit up i might pick it back up. but i'm not feeling really compelled to finish it out. definitely not a bad book. just not what i'm craving right now.
June 21, 2023
— 4 stars ☆
first of all, y'all, a very important note. this is not a romantic fantasy. i repeat, this is not a fantasy novel with a huge subplot of romance. it's just a historical fantasy which happens to have tinges of romance. but oh, how i longed for every bit of the romance and how i loved it. 🥺 it was beautiful to see the characters and EVERYTHING in this. 💘
that being said, i had no idea this was gonna take me back to imperial Russia. the lush way everything was described, the beautiful images, the lovely prose - i loved it so much!!
it started all the way from when Anastasia was just a young girl, rebelling against the demands of her parents and being all sulky and fucking adorable. ah, the mutiny of young children. but just the recklessness, the wide-eyed innocence of Anastasia in the beginning was enough to melt my heart and immediately become sucked into this tale.
i loved all the family moments here. no, really, LOVED. 🥰 they were all so cute, between all the sisters and Alexei, between her Papa and Mama and them. they were totally stuck-up and all, no denying that. but they also were oblivious to the things going on around them, for some time. and they all deserved so much happiness 🥺🦋
a lot of it was character growth, not just of Anastasia, but so many people. i mean, we're talking about a span of roughly ten years here. so many people came and went, and lives were changed. altered.
Rasputin, though. he made me really think about things. i loved how multi-dimensional even he was, and how he made me think about things fr. 👀
there was so much court drama and politics and things i'd usually find boring, but here? i really loved reading all that.
this gave me The Bear and the Nightingale and Anne of Green Gables vibes, except not completely. it had the same hushed atmosphere, the excitement, the stay-up-late-and-gonna-read aura.
that is so completely true. 😭 and in this context it was so beautiful because it gave Anastasia hope, hope for the future, hope for the kingdom, hope for Damien.
☆*･ﾟ*☆ ☆*･ﾟ*☆ ☆*･ﾟ*☆ ☆*･ﾟ*☆ ☆*･ﾟ*☆ ☆*･ﾟ*☆
even though i said there wasn't all that much romance though, there was more than enough to satisfy me. 🥰
when Damien and Anastasia first met (if one could call it that, even, it was more of a give-up-or-I'll-kill-you sort of surrender), oh, you should really see how well the sparks fly. so much they become angry at each other and start bickering at first breath like little children. oh, wait. they are little children.
and lol, she did. Damien and her just grew so so close, but also fought like wildcats. they were like the best of friends and the worst of enemies.
aww. 💘🥺
there's only one way to describe Damien and Anastasia's relationship in the beginning - passionate. they almost gave me whiplash after reading about them for a hot minute or two.
the “you drew stars around my stars” moment? yeah, that delivered perfectly. 😌
and Damien and Anastasia - they shared a love that burnt everlasting, the real soulmate type of love. they just had that connection from the very beginning which made me so so eager to know more.
Damien was so gone for his girl from the start, it wasn't even funny.
overall
this was such a loaded tale of a girl who didn't know her path, who was bright as the sun and bold as ever, who learnt the meaning of life and love and pure fucking happiness. and i loved every bit of learning that.
first of all, y'all, a very important note. this is not a romantic fantasy. i repeat, this is not a fantasy novel with a huge subplot of romance. it's just a historical fantasy which happens to have tinges of romance. but oh, how i longed for every bit of the romance and how i loved it. 🥺 it was beautiful to see the characters and EVERYTHING in this. 💘
The truth is a blade that only cuts a liar.
And the most dangerous lies are the ones you tell yourself.
that being said, i had no idea this was gonna take me back to imperial Russia. the lush way everything was described, the beautiful images, the lovely prose - i loved it so much!!
it started all the way from when Anastasia was just a young girl, rebelling against the demands of her parents and being all sulky and fucking adorable. ah, the mutiny of young children. but just the recklessness, the wide-eyed innocence of Anastasia in the beginning was enough to melt my heart and immediately become sucked into this tale.
“You're my little firework, Stassie. You go out with a bang, but you light up the sky.”
i loved all the family moments here. no, really, LOVED. 🥰 they were all so cute, between all the sisters and Alexei, between her Papa and Mama and them. they were totally stuck-up and all, no denying that. but they also were oblivious to the things going on around them, for some time. and they all deserved so much happiness 🥺🦋
“It hurts because we love him. That's the balance of life, hard as it is to accept. A heart open to joy is a heart vulnerable to sorrow. There's no family without loss, no love without pain.”
a lot of it was character growth, not just of Anastasia, but so many people. i mean, we're talking about a span of roughly ten years here. so many people came and went, and lives were changed. altered.
Rasputin, though. he made me really think about things. i loved how multi-dimensional even he was, and how he made me think about things fr. 👀
there was so much court drama and politics and things i'd usually find boring, but here? i really loved reading all that.
Time was a river, ever-changing eroding even its own banks.
this gave me The Bear and the Nightingale and Anne of Green Gables vibes, except not completely. it had the same hushed atmosphere, the excitement, the stay-up-late-and-gonna-read aura.
“How come the swan had to die in the end?” she asked Anna.
“Because,” Anna said, bending herself in half like a paperclip with no apparent discomfort, “the most beautiful things are fragile and can't last. That's what makes them precious when we have them.”
that is so completely true. 😭 and in this context it was so beautiful because it gave Anastasia hope, hope for the future, hope for the kingdom, hope for Damien.
☆*･ﾟ*☆ ☆*･ﾟ*☆ ☆*･ﾟ*☆ ☆*･ﾟ*☆ ☆*･ﾟ*☆ ☆*･ﾟ*☆
even though i said there wasn't all that much romance though, there was more than enough to satisfy me. 🥰
when Damien and Anastasia first met (if one could call it that, even, it was more of a give-up-or-I'll-kill-you sort of surrender), oh, you should really see how well the sparks fly. so much they become angry at each other and start bickering at first breath like little children. oh, wait. they are little children.
“I've never been partial to wild animals.” He frowned. “Anastasia should add him to her collection.”
and lol, she did. Damien and her just grew so so close, but also fought like wildcats. they were like the best of friends and the worst of enemies.
“Do you hate us still?”
Those blue eyes were water on fire. They put me out in an instant.
I sighed. “I don't hate you. Sometimes I want to... but I just can't seem to do it.”
The rest of them, perhaps. Anastasia was something different. She'd woven her way deep into my fibers. To cut her out would hurt me, too.
aww. 💘🥺
Sometimes I missed Damien desperately, and sometimes I wished we'd never met. It was too painful and too impossible. We could never be more than we were, and I couldn't bear to be less.
there's only one way to describe Damien and Anastasia's relationship in the beginning - passionate. they almost gave me whiplash after reading about them for a hot minute or two.
the “you drew stars around my stars” moment? yeah, that delivered perfectly. 😌
“The ones we love aren't lost to us forever. Love endures past anything else. It's the strongest energy in the universe. It changes and flows, but can never be destroyed.”
and Damien and Anastasia - they shared a love that burnt everlasting, the real soulmate type of love. they just had that connection from the very beginning which made me so so eager to know more.
“You could never drain me. You make me burn like a star.”
Damien was so gone for his girl from the start, it wasn't even funny.
All the brightest memories in my mind were Anastasia.
overall
this was such a loaded tale of a girl who didn't know her path, who was bright as the sun and bold as ever, who learnt the meaning of life and love and pure fucking happiness. and i loved every bit of learning that.
December 7, 2022
“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆, 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓.”
Sophie Lark outdid herself. This book is so well written and researched. She took the tale of Anastasia and spun it into something fantastical. I loved the magic system and political intrigue in this book.
The story begins and mostly stays in her childhood. We watch her grow from a young and reckless child without magic to a powerful young woman with magic that can shake time. This book is her story and about her growth.
I do feel like I have to temper expectations because I feel like I was expecting something totally different. This book reads more like an alternative historical fiction with fantasy as opposed to a “fantasy romance.” The romance is entirely subplot, and the couple barely has page time until about 70/80%. If I knew this going in, I probably would be rating it higher. It definitely focuses more on the historical aspect rather than the romance.
I loved reading Anastasia’s journey, but there was not a lot of plot. For a nearly 900 page book, it’s really very character driven and more about her development than anything else.
If you do read this, just keep those things in mind. I wish I knew going in.
Thank you Sophie Lark and Literally Yours PR for this arc!! It comes out on 12/6.
Sophie Lark outdid herself. This book is so well written and researched. She took the tale of Anastasia and spun it into something fantastical. I loved the magic system and political intrigue in this book.
The story begins and mostly stays in her childhood. We watch her grow from a young and reckless child without magic to a powerful young woman with magic that can shake time. This book is her story and about her growth.
I do feel like I have to temper expectations because I feel like I was expecting something totally different. This book reads more like an alternative historical fiction with fantasy as opposed to a “fantasy romance.” The romance is entirely subplot, and the couple barely has page time until about 70/80%. If I knew this going in, I probably would be rating it higher. It definitely focuses more on the historical aspect rather than the romance.
I loved reading Anastasia’s journey, but there was not a lot of plot. For a nearly 900 page book, it’s really very character driven and more about her development than anything else.
If you do read this, just keep those things in mind. I wish I knew going in.
Thank you Sophie Lark and Literally Yours PR for this arc!! It comes out on 12/6.
September 17, 2024
this book was pure magic. there’s no other way to describe it.
the writing was so special and the characters + story were amazing. it was very much a SLOWWWBURN, which i’m a huge fan of but i know some people aren’t, so beware.
there is a lot of story here so don’t expect a quick & fast paced book. it’s definitely more of a journey which is beautiful to me.
i got exactly what i wanted from this book, a true masterpiece. 🖤 sophie.. you’ve done it again.
“my magic appeared when I was about to meet you. i loved you because I was always going to love you. that’s what we were made to do.” <3
the writing was so special and the characters + story were amazing. it was very much a SLOWWWBURN, which i’m a huge fan of but i know some people aren’t, so beware.
there is a lot of story here so don’t expect a quick & fast paced book. it’s definitely more of a journey which is beautiful to me.
i got exactly what i wanted from this book, a true masterpiece. 🖤 sophie.. you’ve done it again.
“my magic appeared when I was about to meet you. i loved you because I was always going to love you. that’s what we were made to do.” <3
December 1, 2022
Sophie Lark's Anastasia took me on a journey that I will not soon forget.
Through her beautiful prose, I felt the chill bite of cold on my cheeks, the warm joy of family in my chest, the first spark of new love that lights a fire in a young heart and the crushing pain of loss. I experienced the danger and confusion of a princess who thinks her world is perfect, only to have a rude awakening when the people she loves aren't quite as wise and selfless as she thought.
I felt the burning rage in a young rebel's soul at the injustice of a world stacked against him. His fear and confusion at being brought to a whole new world. The softening of his heart towards a troublesome but bright girl who he just can't help but be drawn to. Even when it makes him feel just a bit like a traitor...
And I was caught up in a Mystical man's spell who seems to have all the answers. Who has miracles flowing from his hands but blood on his lips. He drew me in even when the shiver down my spine never fully went away. He's charming and charismatic and too good to be true for a desperate family. A family who seems to have all the power in the world but can't save one precious son...
If you know the tragedy of the Romanov's, or even if you just loved a certain film as a little girl like me, there is SO much that will strike a chord with you here. It's not about trying to re-tell something or make it better. But if you know your history or have favorite parts of the film, you are in for some wonderful treats. There were SO many nods without it feeling cheesy or overdone. Things would just pop up and I'd smile, like I was in on the secret.
One thing I expect from Fantasy Romance, no matter what the scenario, is that the two parts are equally represented. That the Fantasy would enhance the romance, and the romance be vital to the fantasy. I am SO happy to say that this book fulfilled that assignment for me.
This is a Slow Burn between Anastasia and Damien and they know each other for many years and they don't fall head over heels right away, but rather first they have a friendship that grows despite their initial animosity. Then they learn more about each other and come to respect one another. There is a deep rooted love by the end and it's the kind that is so ingrained in your cells that you wouldn't exist without it. These two are perfectly made for each other, almost at a Fated level.
And on the topic of Romance, how was the spice? I can hear people asking.
Well, as I said, this is a slow burn. There is also a LOT going on and a lot that separates out two forbidden lovers, however, there is steam on page and it relies much more on emotional weight and the combining of souls than carnal language and erotic scenarios. I still teared up every time these two were intimate because it means SO much to both of them and is so hard won. I was not disappointed.
Yes, this story was so many things and Sophie Lark made me feel them all. Filled throughout with luscious drawings from the talented Line Eriksen and paired with the playlist that is also provided, this made for one of the most immersive reading experiences I've had all year.
I cannot WAIT to see what Sophie Lark writes next... if this is her first Fantasy Romance.. she has a very bright future indeed and we are all very lucky for it.
6 stars
2 on the spice scale
CW: Death, loss, grief, violence, gore
I voluntarily read an advanced copy of this book and all my opinions are my own.
Through her beautiful prose, I felt the chill bite of cold on my cheeks, the warm joy of family in my chest, the first spark of new love that lights a fire in a young heart and the crushing pain of loss. I experienced the danger and confusion of a princess who thinks her world is perfect, only to have a rude awakening when the people she loves aren't quite as wise and selfless as she thought.
I felt the burning rage in a young rebel's soul at the injustice of a world stacked against him. His fear and confusion at being brought to a whole new world. The softening of his heart towards a troublesome but bright girl who he just can't help but be drawn to. Even when it makes him feel just a bit like a traitor...
And I was caught up in a Mystical man's spell who seems to have all the answers. Who has miracles flowing from his hands but blood on his lips. He drew me in even when the shiver down my spine never fully went away. He's charming and charismatic and too good to be true for a desperate family. A family who seems to have all the power in the world but can't save one precious son...
If you know the tragedy of the Romanov's, or even if you just loved a certain film as a little girl like me, there is SO much that will strike a chord with you here. It's not about trying to re-tell something or make it better. But if you know your history or have favorite parts of the film, you are in for some wonderful treats. There were SO many nods without it feeling cheesy or overdone. Things would just pop up and I'd smile, like I was in on the secret.
One thing I expect from Fantasy Romance, no matter what the scenario, is that the two parts are equally represented. That the Fantasy would enhance the romance, and the romance be vital to the fantasy. I am SO happy to say that this book fulfilled that assignment for me.
This is a Slow Burn between Anastasia and Damien and they know each other for many years and they don't fall head over heels right away, but rather first they have a friendship that grows despite their initial animosity. Then they learn more about each other and come to respect one another. There is a deep rooted love by the end and it's the kind that is so ingrained in your cells that you wouldn't exist without it. These two are perfectly made for each other, almost at a Fated level.
And on the topic of Romance, how was the spice? I can hear people asking.
Well, as I said, this is a slow burn. There is also a LOT going on and a lot that separates out two forbidden lovers, however, there is steam on page and it relies much more on emotional weight and the combining of souls than carnal language and erotic scenarios. I still teared up every time these two were intimate because it means SO much to both of them and is so hard won. I was not disappointed.
Yes, this story was so many things and Sophie Lark made me feel them all. Filled throughout with luscious drawings from the talented Line Eriksen and paired with the playlist that is also provided, this made for one of the most immersive reading experiences I've had all year.
I cannot WAIT to see what Sophie Lark writes next... if this is her first Fantasy Romance.. she has a very bright future indeed and we are all very lucky for it.
6 stars
2 on the spice scale
CW: Death, loss, grief, violence, gore
I voluntarily read an advanced copy of this book and all my opinions are my own.
December 8, 2022
6/5 ⭐️
When I read my first Sophie Lark book I had this gut feeling that I was reading the words of someone who had immense talent with both craft and storytelling ability and I could not WAIT to follow her career.
Every release she's written since I first read Stolen Heir has surpassed my expectations in some way...but Anastasia has truly, 100% exceeded them.
I'm very picky about fantasy world building. And I'm very picky about the romance in a fantasy romance. They both need to be equal for me to REALLY love that book.
And that is definitely what you'll find here. Rich historical fantasy with clever and unique magic. Characters that grow and evolve naturally with the life circumstances thrown at them. And a romance that will make you ache.
Rich in world building that is steeped in history. Characters who are strong, and flawed. And a slowly building romance to devastate you.
I adored this book with my entire soul and it is on my favorites shelf always and forever.
“It hurts because we love him. That’s the balance of life, hard as it is to accept. A heart open to joy is a heart vulnerable to sorrow. There’s no family without loss, no love without pain.”
When I read my first Sophie Lark book I had this gut feeling that I was reading the words of someone who had immense talent with both craft and storytelling ability and I could not WAIT to follow her career.
Every release she's written since I first read Stolen Heir has surpassed my expectations in some way...but Anastasia has truly, 100% exceeded them.
I'm very picky about fantasy world building. And I'm very picky about the romance in a fantasy romance. They both need to be equal for me to REALLY love that book.
And that is definitely what you'll find here. Rich historical fantasy with clever and unique magic. Characters that grow and evolve naturally with the life circumstances thrown at them. And a romance that will make you ache.
Rich in world building that is steeped in history. Characters who are strong, and flawed. And a slowly building romance to devastate you.
I adored this book with my entire soul and it is on my favorites shelf always and forever.
“It hurts because we love him. That’s the balance of life, hard as it is to accept. A heart open to joy is a heart vulnerable to sorrow. There’s no family without loss, no love without pain.”
December 7, 2022
Haven’t even read it but I already 100% do not support this book. The author stitched a video on TikTok of another user asking for a “spicy” retelling of Anastasia. While I understand many people think of the Fox movie that retells the story of Anastasia as if she survived, I don’t think it’s appropriate to write this kind of book for this particular story.
Given the other books this author has written, I find it inappropriate to try to capitalize on this tragedy into anything of a “spicy” nature. Anastasia was a real girl. A real 17 year old. A real 17 year old girl who was assassinated along with her family.
Romanticized tragedies are not considered a new trope. For example, the Titanic has been told and retold many times in all sorts of nature. However, there are very few stories regarding real deceased child victims that are spun into “spicy” entertainment. I don’t think many, if any, child victims of devastation would want their story to be retold in this manner. I also believe releasing the book on the date of the assassination is not only in poor taste, but speaks to the volume of disregard given for this tragedy.
*******EDIT: if you’re going to get riled up about my review, at least read the comments. Half the people in the comments are acting like the issue is that she’s writing about Anastasia at all and I literally never said that was the problem. The problem is sexualizing a minor who cannot consent for a profit. It doesn’t matter if it’s a little. I’ve also said several times I’d be willing to read it but I will not spend money supporting a book that sexualizes a minor victim unless it doesn’t do that. If it doesn’t, I’ve stated several times I’d eat my words, issue an apology, another review, and id even pay for the book. But I know it does. If you want me to read it so bad, then that’s on y’all to figure out. I’ve had this review up for almost a year and neither your guys nor the author ever cared. If the author doesn’t care about little ‘old me for a year idk why you guys do so much. I’m standing up for what I believe in, as it’s morally wrong to write sexually based content on a minor who cannot consent because she was assassinated unless I’m shown another reality, but pretty much everyone has said there is sexual content.
Given the other books this author has written, I find it inappropriate to try to capitalize on this tragedy into anything of a “spicy” nature. Anastasia was a real girl. A real 17 year old. A real 17 year old girl who was assassinated along with her family.
Romanticized tragedies are not considered a new trope. For example, the Titanic has been told and retold many times in all sorts of nature. However, there are very few stories regarding real deceased child victims that are spun into “spicy” entertainment. I don’t think many, if any, child victims of devastation would want their story to be retold in this manner. I also believe releasing the book on the date of the assassination is not only in poor taste, but speaks to the volume of disregard given for this tragedy.
*******EDIT: if you’re going to get riled up about my review, at least read the comments. Half the people in the comments are acting like the issue is that she’s writing about Anastasia at all and I literally never said that was the problem. The problem is sexualizing a minor who cannot consent for a profit. It doesn’t matter if it’s a little. I’ve also said several times I’d be willing to read it but I will not spend money supporting a book that sexualizes a minor victim unless it doesn’t do that. If it doesn’t, I’ve stated several times I’d eat my words, issue an apology, another review, and id even pay for the book. But I know it does. If you want me to read it so bad, then that’s on y’all to figure out. I’ve had this review up for almost a year and neither your guys nor the author ever cared. If the author doesn’t care about little ‘old me for a year idk why you guys do so much. I’m standing up for what I believe in, as it’s morally wrong to write sexually based content on a minor who cannot consent because she was assassinated unless I’m shown another reality, but pretty much everyone has said there is sexual content.
January 25, 2023
cried tears of happiness when I finally finished.
ngl I dissociated for the entirety of this book because I didn't ask for "keeping up with the Romanovs" and a whole ass history lecture with tiny romance crumbs till the 70% mark cause that was when it got interesting and it wasn’t even that interestingtill everyone died loved that
also look at me not being a hater and giving this 3 stars 😍
rtc when finals aren’t killing me (probably never)
ngl I dissociated for the entirety of this book because I didn't ask for "keeping up with the Romanovs" and a whole ass history lecture with tiny romance crumbs till the 70% mark cause that was when it got interesting and it wasn’t even that interesting
also look at me not being a hater and giving this 3 stars 😍
rtc when finals aren’t killing me (probably never)
January 1, 2023
I've been putting off writing this review because I just didn't love this as much as I wanted to. In my fantasy romances, I need both a good plot and solid characters and a really good romance. While I was reading this one, the beginning dragged a lot with the world building and it became too much for me. I wanted the heroine to grow up already and get to the adult fantasy I thought this was going to be. Instead, the heroine didn't even turn 18 until over 60% into the book. That means the romacne didn't really come into play until then. The last 30%-20% was definitely my favorite, especially when it came to the romance. I loved the hero's background and getting to see where he was from and the longing behind their romance. The big twist, though, kind of took this away and I didn't love how it ended up affecting their relationship and the rest of the story. This just didn't live up to the epic fantasy and romance I thought it was going to be.
December 20, 2022
Anastasia is unlike any book Sophie Lark has ever written. Don't go into it expecting the same things you get from the spicy mafia or dark romance you're used to from her, because you may disappointed if you have that expectation. That being said, this story doesn't need a faster pace or the higher heat level. It's a captivating, well written, enchanting, intriguing, romantic, and beautiful masterpiece exactly as it is.
Being a fantasy reader and Sophie Lark fan, I never had a second of worry that I wouldn't enjoy this book. This author's writing is something I've grown to have a lot of faith in, and that faith has never been misplaced. This time included! Anastasia is a long book, but I would have been down to read hundreds more pages of it. I enjoyed my time lost in this world, and I was sad when it came to an end.
Anastasia is still a child when the story begins, but I didn't mind that at all. Watching her grow and change over the years only made me more invested in her as a character. She and the hero, Damien, grow up together, and that makes their bond feel even stronger in the end. While all of that is to be expected with a romance spanning years of time, I was most surprised the moment I discovered just how much I felt for Anastasia's family and friends as well. It kind of snuck up on me, because there are so many characters and we don't get tons of one on one time with each one. The author allows you specific pieces of information and glimpses of each one of their lives in such a way that eventually she has you emotionally tied to all of these characters before you even realize it's happening.
Damien is someone that Anastasia is drawn to from the start, and though he is around her over a long period of her life, they aren't together the majority of that time. They get to see each other only here and there until probably the last 30 percent of the book, but each one of those times really counted. I felt so much every single time they interacted. I didn't even mind their time apart because of it. Generally, I hate when the hero and heroine aren't together for that much of the story, but in this case, Anastasia's personal journey was so interesting and entertaining on it's own it didn't matter to me at all.
Being a fan of the cartoon movie and knowing a little about the actual Anastasia made me appreciate this story even more than I may have otherwise. I enjoyed seeing facts I was familiar with included in the story along with the spin the author put on certain aspects to incorporate the fantastical and supply explanations for some things we will never truly know. The way magic was expertly woven into this reimagining of Anastasia's life and the world she lived in was easily one of my favorite things about it.
Not only is Anastasia one of the best books I've read in 2022, it's also one of my favorite books Sophie Lark has written. I can't wait for the hardback to come out, because I NEED a copy of it for my bookshelf. If you decide to read the ebook, be sure to read it on a Kindle Fire or tablet of some kind to see the over 120 full color illustrations in all their glory.
Fantasy romance fans, this is one's for you!
Being a fantasy reader and Sophie Lark fan, I never had a second of worry that I wouldn't enjoy this book. This author's writing is something I've grown to have a lot of faith in, and that faith has never been misplaced. This time included! Anastasia is a long book, but I would have been down to read hundreds more pages of it. I enjoyed my time lost in this world, and I was sad when it came to an end.
Anastasia is still a child when the story begins, but I didn't mind that at all. Watching her grow and change over the years only made me more invested in her as a character. She and the hero, Damien, grow up together, and that makes their bond feel even stronger in the end. While all of that is to be expected with a romance spanning years of time, I was most surprised the moment I discovered just how much I felt for Anastasia's family and friends as well. It kind of snuck up on me, because there are so many characters and we don't get tons of one on one time with each one. The author allows you specific pieces of information and glimpses of each one of their lives in such a way that eventually she has you emotionally tied to all of these characters before you even realize it's happening.
Damien is someone that Anastasia is drawn to from the start, and though he is around her over a long period of her life, they aren't together the majority of that time. They get to see each other only here and there until probably the last 30 percent of the book, but each one of those times really counted. I felt so much every single time they interacted. I didn't even mind their time apart because of it. Generally, I hate when the hero and heroine aren't together for that much of the story, but in this case, Anastasia's personal journey was so interesting and entertaining on it's own it didn't matter to me at all.
Being a fan of the cartoon movie and knowing a little about the actual Anastasia made me appreciate this story even more than I may have otherwise. I enjoyed seeing facts I was familiar with included in the story along with the spin the author put on certain aspects to incorporate the fantastical and supply explanations for some things we will never truly know. The way magic was expertly woven into this reimagining of Anastasia's life and the world she lived in was easily one of my favorite things about it.
Not only is Anastasia one of the best books I've read in 2022, it's also one of my favorite books Sophie Lark has written. I can't wait for the hardback to come out, because I NEED a copy of it for my bookshelf. If you decide to read the ebook, be sure to read it on a Kindle Fire or tablet of some kind to see the over 120 full color illustrations in all their glory.
Fantasy romance fans, this is one's for you!
December 11, 2024
To be really honest here, I'm not sure why I was pushing myself to love this so much. I've read 3 books by SL so far- I thought Brutal Prince was OKAY and I LOVED The Sinners Duet. I guess I formed a loyalty with my love for that duet; which is great-but this book was not it.
I just found this too slow for my taste and wasn't really engaged.
I just found this too slow for my taste and wasn't really engaged.
December 14, 2022
RATING: 10000000000 stars
SPICE: 1.5 <3
I was fortunate enough to get an ARC of this amazing book<3
This is inspired and a loosely based retelling - there are lots of changes that Sophie added ( and may I say I love the liberties she took with this). She definitely paid homage to the animated version by sprinkling Easter eggs through out the book. You can also tell that she did her research overall🖤
As a person who grew up rewatching the cartoon Anastasia over and over and over again.. I am NOT disappointed.
This book is my FAVORITE of the year. I could not put it down, I mean I stayed up until 5:30am one day reading it. For a book that people are intimidated to read because of the length? It didn't feel long or drawn out at all. In fact I wanted it to be longer, I was so immensely sad when it ended because I ADORE the two MC's. *cough**cough* I'd be down for a duet or a trilogy... or a saga Sophie :)<3 haha
Typically I gravitate towards smutty, dark romances. I am not always in the head space for a lot background or incredibly detailed stories. However, this was not the case with Anastasia.
First off, it's SUPER slow burn in terms of romance. Nothing like that happens until almost the end of the book. I also wouldn't describe it as incredibly smutty or spicy once stuff even happens. You know how I did feel though? Which I haven't in a while. It felt beautiful, intimate, fucking romantic in the sweetest swoon worthy way. My heart felt light and full at the same time for these two characters. It was a definitely a refreshing read because of this aspect. I mean guys… I even got emotional during SEX scenes. That NEVER happens lol, I just wanted Damien and Anastasia to have everything because they deserve the absolute world.
I didn't feel like I was missing out on smut or romance either because of how she wrote the book. I loved being in Anastasia's head, and felt completely intrigued by every page.
Another thing, I wouldn't consider this is a romance fantasy book first. I feel like it was more of historical fantasy romance, which I love and was fine with either way. Just keep that in mind while going in.
I really appreciate all the back story we got when it came to Anastasia growing up. We got to see her in different phases from an 11 year old(?) to about 17. From how she viewed her family, politics in some cases, learning her magic , Rasputin, Damien<3
Artemis was absolutely precious<333
I had a few theories throughout the book, I was correct on some and wrong on many lol. It wasn't a very predictable book which I loved because some of those twist and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. Lots of anticipation, especially when the book really picks up pace and the plot around 50% or so.
I loved the fuck out of Damien from the BEGINNING. His development and Anastasia's was probably my favorite thing in the book. Even though there is a lot of back story and info in it, it's also very character driven. I prefer this type of read, but just another thing for you to keep in mind while reading.
This book is a HEA!!! I definitely got scared while reading this not knowing if it was....because lots of shit goes down lol. Thankfully my heart was spared.
If you love Sophie Lark's books read this, if you love historical romances read this, if you love GREAT books that suck you in ? READ THIS lol. I can't recommend it enough. I am so excited for everyone else to give this book a try and see what you all think:)
Sophie you killed it with this book, you took your writing to an other level. I can't wait for your other fantasy books<3
Here are some quotes - I don’t have many because that’s how sucked in I was😂
“Every mark on you is something you survived to get back to me. You have never looked more beautiful.” She sobbed and I held her. I never wanted to stop holding her.
____________
Pain can poison people. It can twist and deform them. She suffered pain, but she never closed her heart.
____________
I wanted her in that house more than I wanted myself in it. I’d rather be her ghost than have her be mine again.
____________
SPICE: 1.5 <3
I was fortunate enough to get an ARC of this amazing book<3
This is inspired and a loosely based retelling - there are lots of changes that Sophie added ( and may I say I love the liberties she took with this). She definitely paid homage to the animated version by sprinkling Easter eggs through out the book. You can also tell that she did her research overall🖤
As a person who grew up rewatching the cartoon Anastasia over and over and over again.. I am NOT disappointed.
This book is my FAVORITE of the year. I could not put it down, I mean I stayed up until 5:30am one day reading it. For a book that people are intimidated to read because of the length? It didn't feel long or drawn out at all. In fact I wanted it to be longer, I was so immensely sad when it ended because I ADORE the two MC's. *cough**cough* I'd be down for a duet or a trilogy... or a saga Sophie :)<3 haha
Typically I gravitate towards smutty, dark romances. I am not always in the head space for a lot background or incredibly detailed stories. However, this was not the case with Anastasia.
First off, it's SUPER slow burn in terms of romance. Nothing like that happens until almost the end of the book. I also wouldn't describe it as incredibly smutty or spicy once stuff even happens. You know how I did feel though? Which I haven't in a while. It felt beautiful, intimate, fucking romantic in the sweetest swoon worthy way. My heart felt light and full at the same time for these two characters. It was a definitely a refreshing read because of this aspect. I mean guys… I even got emotional during SEX scenes. That NEVER happens lol, I just wanted Damien and Anastasia to have everything because they deserve the absolute world.
I didn't feel like I was missing out on smut or romance either because of how she wrote the book. I loved being in Anastasia's head, and felt completely intrigued by every page.
Another thing, I wouldn't consider this is a romance fantasy book first. I feel like it was more of historical fantasy romance, which I love and was fine with either way. Just keep that in mind while going in.
I really appreciate all the back story we got when it came to Anastasia growing up. We got to see her in different phases from an 11 year old(?) to about 17. From how she viewed her family, politics in some cases, learning her magic , Rasputin, Damien<3
Artemis was absolutely precious<333
I had a few theories throughout the book, I was correct on some and wrong on many lol. It wasn't a very predictable book which I loved because some of those twist and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. Lots of anticipation, especially when the book really picks up pace and the plot around 50% or so.
I loved the fuck out of Damien from the BEGINNING. His development and Anastasia's was probably my favorite thing in the book. Even though there is a lot of back story and info in it, it's also very character driven. I prefer this type of read, but just another thing for you to keep in mind while reading.
This book is a HEA!!! I definitely got scared while reading this not knowing if it was....because lots of shit goes down lol. Thankfully my heart was spared.
If you love Sophie Lark's books read this, if you love historical romances read this, if you love GREAT books that suck you in ? READ THIS lol. I can't recommend it enough. I am so excited for everyone else to give this book a try and see what you all think:)
Sophie you killed it with this book, you took your writing to an other level. I can't wait for your other fantasy books<3
Here are some quotes - I don’t have many because that’s how sucked in I was😂
“Every mark on you is something you survived to get back to me. You have never looked more beautiful.” She sobbed and I held her. I never wanted to stop holding her.
____________
Pain can poison people. It can twist and deform them. She suffered pain, but she never closed her heart.
____________
I wanted her in that house more than I wanted myself in it. I’d rather be her ghost than have her be mine again.
____________
Want to read
January 8, 2022the russian in this better be good or—
December 6, 2022
Sophie Lark has never once disappointed me, but this book was completely beyond my expectations of what I fathomed it would be. This is not an easy retelling following the same building blocks of an animated movie, this is a story that our hearts all want. We learn what Anastasia grew up being taught, how she rebelled yet still had her prejudices and naivety, but then we see her survive and learn how to be the peoples princes. Her journey was beautiful and real and magical. This fantasy world was easy to grasp as a reader yet breathtaking to read about. And her love interest Damien was more than just a typical male lead, they were soul mates destined to match one another and save their people. They were forbidden but inevitable. I highlighted most of the thoughts Damien had about Anastasia, because they’re love for one another was so undying.
Sophie Larks writing taught me what true love should feel like. A year and a half after discovering her beautiful writing I am a different person who’s found my twin flame because I finally had the courage to look for what I deserved. The prose in this book far surpasses what she’s ever written, my heart ached while I read it and i cried simply from how strongly i felt the love and devotion of these characters coming off the page. Read this book, if you read only adult romance like me and the beginning of Anastasia as a child is a big change for you, know that it makes the whole of this storytelling priceless once you see who she becomes. Even the Afterword of this book had me tearing up.
Sophie Larks writing taught me what true love should feel like. A year and a half after discovering her beautiful writing I am a different person who’s found my twin flame because I finally had the courage to look for what I deserved. The prose in this book far surpasses what she’s ever written, my heart ached while I read it and i cried simply from how strongly i felt the love and devotion of these characters coming off the page. Read this book, if you read only adult romance like me and the beginning of Anastasia as a child is a big change for you, know that it makes the whole of this storytelling priceless once you see who she becomes. Even the Afterword of this book had me tearing up.
December 16, 2022
I'm sad to be writing this review becuase this book is so highly anticipated - but I genuinely think it's MUCH too long for what it's supposed to be.
Over 600+ pages of coming-of-age fantasy should NOT be mired down with that much detail over warring groups, troop movements, and the daily minutia of living in a palace. I understand what the author SL was trying to do in the beginning in framing out the story and helping us see the similarities to the Disney version of Anastasia we all saw and loved so long ago - but this was just over done.
It needed at least 200 pages cut. DNFed and I'm honestly not sorry... because I started reading The Wolf and The Wildflower by an auto buy author of mine? It's *chefs kiss* amazing.
Over 600+ pages of coming-of-age fantasy should NOT be mired down with that much detail over warring groups, troop movements, and the daily minutia of living in a palace. I understand what the author SL was trying to do in the beginning in framing out the story and helping us see the similarities to the Disney version of Anastasia we all saw and loved so long ago - but this was just over done.
It needed at least 200 pages cut. DNFed and I'm honestly not sorry... because I started reading The Wolf and The Wildflower by an auto buy author of mine? It's *chefs kiss* amazing.
June 19, 2023
reread june 2023: ok I still love it obviously but I will say I wish the author kept anya’s scars from the mine. it shaped who she was and stuff and I wish she still had it
This book…omg I actually can’t believe I read that?? But holy shit that was an 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚!!
I LOVE the cover sm, I read this on kindle, but I want a hardcover of it to display on my shelf!
𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 ✍️
First of all, the writing!! This entire book was so well written, every time I put this down to do quite literally 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, I’d actually be trying to do that as fast as possible and then running back to this. I stayed up past ungodly hours to read this. The writing was THAT good. It was slow at times, but it all added to the intrigue of this book.
Owlcrate did a theme a while back, ‘Courtly Intrigue’, a lot of this book was very much giving that.
Also I don’t know how to say it, but everything had a very 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 vibe to it. It was giving very much Taylor Swift’s evermore with bits of folklore and also safe and sound from the hunger games soundtrack. Yes I know that makes 𝘯𝘰 sense whatsoever but it’s okay.
Like, look at this quote for example:
"𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵. 𝘈 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴, 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯.”
I mean, holy shit this was good and I am still recovering!
𝙋𝙡𝙤𝙩 ⚔️
This entire plot was kind of hard for dumb me to wrap my head around at times, and yes I mentioned it was slow before but at the same time it was also fast??
The plot was there, but most of the book was actually Anastasia’s character developing, and her sort of ‘finding herself’? If that makes sense.
There was so much history and whimsical world building. I’m very picky with world building in general and the way the information of the plot/world is dropped on you.
This book did it all in the 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 perfect way possible!!
𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 💕
since this was mostly story, the romance aspects were VERY spread out and kind of rare, but at the same time it made it all the more 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭
“𝘐’𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.”
Every single crumb of romance was so well written and so so swoon worthy!!
“𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥.”
“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥.”
Anastasia and Damien were fucking SOULMATES. okay? SOULMATES.
𝘐 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱, 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦.
Damien loved EVERY. SINGLE. PART. of Anastasia and I loved that SO MUCH. It kind of makes me think of that quote, “you can’t pick and choose what parts of her you love” I think it’s from tog but of the top of my head I can’t remember. Anyway.
"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺."
Damien loved and comforted Anastasia in a way that made my heart MELT. And then the scene where he kissed her scars?? HOLY SHIT.
“𝘔𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘪 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰."
When I say this was slow burn, I mean this was a fucking SLOWW burn omg the tension and the way they hated each other but then loved each other so so much!! It was literal 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯
The way that this book had crumbs of romance sprinkled over an intriguing plot made me feel all the things I felt when I read the cruel prince, so if you liked that, this might be for you!!
𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 🫶
The family in this book was so amazing and so sad at times near the 78% mark.
The way her family had such a HUGE impact on Anastasia was so sweet!
“𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.”
EVERY SINGLE SCENE with the sisters and their mama and papa and ofc Alexei was so wholesome!
𝙈𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨 📝
“𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”
𝘐’𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 …
“𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐’𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”
𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘢.
𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦, 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.
“𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘰𝘰.”
𝘏𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮.
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳."
𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵, 𝘢𝘯��� 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘐. 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 ����𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥.
𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦.
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥."
…AND there’s so so so many more, but I can’t possibly fit 200+ quotes in this review haha!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
𝙄𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩’𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 🤍
𝙄’𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧’𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬, 𝙨𝙤 𝙞𝙛 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 🫶
This book…omg I actually can’t believe I read that?? But holy shit that was an 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚!!
I LOVE the cover sm, I read this on kindle, but I want a hardcover of it to display on my shelf!
𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 ✍️
First of all, the writing!! This entire book was so well written, every time I put this down to do quite literally 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, I’d actually be trying to do that as fast as possible and then running back to this. I stayed up past ungodly hours to read this. The writing was THAT good. It was slow at times, but it all added to the intrigue of this book.
Owlcrate did a theme a while back, ‘Courtly Intrigue’, a lot of this book was very much giving that.
Also I don’t know how to say it, but everything had a very 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 vibe to it. It was giving very much Taylor Swift’s evermore with bits of folklore and also safe and sound from the hunger games soundtrack. Yes I know that makes 𝘯𝘰 sense whatsoever but it’s okay.
Like, look at this quote for example:
"𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵. 𝘈 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴, 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯.”
I mean, holy shit this was good and I am still recovering!
𝙋𝙡𝙤𝙩 ⚔️
This entire plot was kind of hard for dumb me to wrap my head around at times, and yes I mentioned it was slow before but at the same time it was also fast??
The plot was there, but most of the book was actually Anastasia’s character developing, and her sort of ‘finding herself’? If that makes sense.
There was so much history and whimsical world building. I’m very picky with world building in general and the way the information of the plot/world is dropped on you.
This book did it all in the 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 perfect way possible!!
𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 💕
since this was mostly story, the romance aspects were VERY spread out and kind of rare, but at the same time it made it all the more 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭
“𝘐’𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.”
Every single crumb of romance was so well written and so so swoon worthy!!
“𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥.”
“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥.”
Anastasia and Damien were fucking SOULMATES. okay? SOULMATES.
𝘐 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱, 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦.
Damien loved EVERY. SINGLE. PART. of Anastasia and I loved that SO MUCH. It kind of makes me think of that quote, “you can’t pick and choose what parts of her you love” I think it’s from tog but of the top of my head I can’t remember. Anyway.
"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺."
Damien loved and comforted Anastasia in a way that made my heart MELT. And then the scene where he kissed her scars?? HOLY SHIT.
“𝘔𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘪 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰."
When I say this was slow burn, I mean this was a fucking SLOWW burn omg the tension and the way they hated each other but then loved each other so so much!! It was literal 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯
The way that this book had crumbs of romance sprinkled over an intriguing plot made me feel all the things I felt when I read the cruel prince, so if you liked that, this might be for you!!
𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 🫶
The family in this book was so amazing and so sad at times near the 78% mark.
The way her family had such a HUGE impact on Anastasia was so sweet!
“𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.”
EVERY SINGLE SCENE with the sisters and their mama and papa and ofc Alexei was so wholesome!
𝙈𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨 📝
“𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”
𝘐’𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 …
“𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐’𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”
𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘢.
𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦, 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.
“𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘰𝘰.”
𝘏𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮.
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳."
𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵, 𝘢𝘯��� 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘐. 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 ����𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥.
𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦.
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥."
…AND there’s so so so many more, but I can’t possibly fit 200+ quotes in this review haha!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
𝙄𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩’𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 🤍
𝙄’𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧’𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬, 𝙨𝙤 𝙞𝙛 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 🫶
January 10, 2023
First off, a shout-out to the artist of the stunning illustrations on the book, it made it bearable and a little bit better.
Anastasia was one of my most anticipated releases and it pains me to say that it wasn't what I expected. I love Sophie Lark but this one was a miss for me.
Characters - Starting off with the characters, we follow Anastasia throughout her life, from 11yo to her early twenties I think, it wasn't mentioned how old exactly was she when the book ended and with that plot twist at end I'm not sure.
Point is, I liked Anastasia but I wanted to slap the girl more than once. As a kid she was the cliché princess who doesn't want to be one, acting like a boy but still as spoiled and selfish as any other princess.
I grew to like her at the end specially on the last 300 pages( we're coming to how long this is later). Her personal growth admirable, I liked a lot how the author developed her character from the spoiled brat to a capable woman.
Next up, we have Damien. The Cossack boy who was forced away from his family by the Tsar, Anastasia's father, only to find a ( supposedly) great friend on Anastasia. With how long this book is you'd think I'd know everything there's to know about him but even having his POVes I still feel like I don't know him. He's still an enigma to me, I would've loved to see some flashbacks from his life in the wilds with his family, his struggles with his power because yes, they were mentioned more than once but never showed how he came to accept them or when he first realized he had that kind of power. I would've also loved to see glimpses from his relationship with his father, that man who seemed love Damien to no end and would sacrifice anything for him but sadly, was barely on scene three times and on passing. So, it's understandable that I didn't care much for our hero.
Then we've got Rasputin, a man that I refuse to put on the side characters category. He had more presence than Damien himself and was the most intriguing character in the whole book. A mysterious man who calles himself a sorcerer and who charmed all Rusya with his magnetism. I spent the better part of the book trying to figure him out, is he as selfless as he claims to be or a wolf in sheep's clothing? Needless to be said, he was my favorite character in the book regardless of the ending.
We've got a lot of side characters, Anastasia's siblings, parents, aunts and uncles, friends and so on. In my opinion the best executed part of the book were the characters because Damien apart, Miss Lark managed to breath life to all of them and give each and everyone a unique personality that makes them in some way or another unforgettable.
Writing and atmosphere - I've read Miss Lark's Birthright series and although they were not the best that I've read and some were better than others, it's one of the few series that I still remember so I wasn't surprised when she came up with an amazing atmosphere for Anastasia, the writing was on point, the descriptions so realistic and vivid that I felt the cold of St. Petersburg in my bones and the action scenes breath taking.
Intrigue, plot and logic - And now comes the reason why I didn't give the book a higher rate.
The book is around 700 pages( kindle edition) and if we take the illustrations we're left with about 600 pages of story( call me crazy but I did count them) so how, someone explain to me how, the plot was nearly non-existent. Half the time I felt stuck reading it because nothing was happening and the progress was so slow that I wanted to bang my head with the closest wall.
Is it supposed to be focused on the romance? Because I didn't see any. There's a couple of interactions throughout the years and then off scene letters between the MCs that we were showed a couple of them that were as bland as they can get and then there's the big reunion that left me unimpressed. I don't know if it's a me problem but the chemistry between the MCs was below zero. Thank God for the illustrations, at least there I could see something.
Or was it supposed to be focused on the political side? Those were a mess of glimpses of events here and there until the big revolution and war. I wish it were focused on them because the little bit that I got was really interesting.
Then we've got the magic side. Original? No but for someone writing fantasy for the first time, the magic system was solid even if I wish it had a bigger part of the story. True, there was more towards the end but still, the first half was painfully slow and dull.
One last aspect of the plot was the plot twist at the end. It was going so good, I was so invested by then and loving where it was headed and how it could've ended but then boom! change of plans. It's hard to explain without giving any spoilers but I wanted to scream my frustration to the sky then. I would've liked it better if it continued on that path because after that nothing was the same. That's why the logic side of the book is so low rated because seriously? Was that the only solution to give Anastasia a happy ending?
Enjoyment - Surprisingly( or not), I did enjoy it for the most part, ups and downs, frustration, boredom and excitement all were packed in here.
Characters - 8; Atmosphere - 7; Writing - 7; Plot - 4.5; Intrigue - 6; Logic - 4; Enjoyment - 6
Anastasia was one of my most anticipated releases and it pains me to say that it wasn't what I expected. I love Sophie Lark but this one was a miss for me.
Characters - Starting off with the characters, we follow Anastasia throughout her life, from 11yo to her early twenties I think, it wasn't mentioned how old exactly was she when the book ended and with that plot twist at end I'm not sure.
Point is, I liked Anastasia but I wanted to slap the girl more than once. As a kid she was the cliché princess who doesn't want to be one, acting like a boy but still as spoiled and selfish as any other princess.
I grew to like her at the end specially on the last 300 pages( we're coming to how long this is later). Her personal growth admirable, I liked a lot how the author developed her character from the spoiled brat to a capable woman.
Next up, we have Damien. The Cossack boy who was forced away from his family by the Tsar, Anastasia's father, only to find a ( supposedly) great friend on Anastasia. With how long this book is you'd think I'd know everything there's to know about him but even having his POVes I still feel like I don't know him. He's still an enigma to me, I would've loved to see some flashbacks from his life in the wilds with his family, his struggles with his power because yes, they were mentioned more than once but never showed how he came to accept them or when he first realized he had that kind of power. I would've also loved to see glimpses from his relationship with his father, that man who seemed love Damien to no end and would sacrifice anything for him but sadly, was barely on scene three times and on passing. So, it's understandable that I didn't care much for our hero.
Then we've got Rasputin, a man that I refuse to put on the side characters category. He had more presence than Damien himself and was the most intriguing character in the whole book. A mysterious man who calles himself a sorcerer and who charmed all Rusya with his magnetism. I spent the better part of the book trying to figure him out, is he as selfless as he claims to be or a wolf in sheep's clothing? Needless to be said, he was my favorite character in the book regardless of the ending.
We've got a lot of side characters, Anastasia's siblings, parents, aunts and uncles, friends and so on. In my opinion the best executed part of the book were the characters because Damien apart, Miss Lark managed to breath life to all of them and give each and everyone a unique personality that makes them in some way or another unforgettable.
Writing and atmosphere - I've read Miss Lark's Birthright series and although they were not the best that I've read and some were better than others, it's one of the few series that I still remember so I wasn't surprised when she came up with an amazing atmosphere for Anastasia, the writing was on point, the descriptions so realistic and vivid that I felt the cold of St. Petersburg in my bones and the action scenes breath taking.
Intrigue, plot and logic - And now comes the reason why I didn't give the book a higher rate.
The book is around 700 pages( kindle edition) and if we take the illustrations we're left with about 600 pages of story( call me crazy but I did count them) so how, someone explain to me how, the plot was nearly non-existent. Half the time I felt stuck reading it because nothing was happening and the progress was so slow that I wanted to bang my head with the closest wall.
Is it supposed to be focused on the romance? Because I didn't see any. There's a couple of interactions throughout the years and then off scene letters between the MCs that we were showed a couple of them that were as bland as they can get and then there's the big reunion that left me unimpressed. I don't know if it's a me problem but the chemistry between the MCs was below zero. Thank God for the illustrations, at least there I could see something.
Or was it supposed to be focused on the political side? Those were a mess of glimpses of events here and there until the big revolution and war. I wish it were focused on them because the little bit that I got was really interesting.
Then we've got the magic side. Original? No but for someone writing fantasy for the first time, the magic system was solid even if I wish it had a bigger part of the story. True, there was more towards the end but still, the first half was painfully slow and dull.
One last aspect of the plot was the plot twist at the end. It was going so good, I was so invested by then and loving where it was headed and how it could've ended but then boom! change of plans. It's hard to explain without giving any spoilers but I wanted to scream my frustration to the sky then. I would've liked it better if it continued on that path because after that nothing was the same. That's why the logic side of the book is so low rated because seriously? Was that the only solution to give Anastasia a happy ending?
Enjoyment - Surprisingly( or not), I did enjoy it for the most part, ups and downs, frustration, boredom and excitement all were packed in here.
Characters - 8; Atmosphere - 7; Writing - 7; Plot - 4.5; Intrigue - 6; Logic - 4; Enjoyment - 6
December 2, 2022
"Those who never face something that could break them will never know the satisfaction of finding yourself whole and triumphant on the other side."
This quote describes Anastasia's journey so perfectly.
Anastasia starts as a young duchess, blinded to the realities of Rusya while hidden in the palace with her parents as a royal. Out of all of her siblings, Anastasia is the one who longs for the mystery and roughness of the outdoors. She is naive, her magic powerful but undisciplined. SHE is undisciplined. And no one quite understands her until she meets Damian. While they start as enemies with families on opposite sides of the struggle, there's no denying from the very beginning that Anastasia and Damian are meant to be. They always feel their strongest when they are with each other, their magic intensified in the presence of the other. However, it is a journey for them to truly understand just why the gods intended for them to walk the paths of life together.
Anastasia, above all I think, is a lesson in choices. What happens when you are faced with the version of yourself that is consumed and corrupted with power? What happens when you are faced with the version of yourself that is good and understands the meaning of love and sacrifice? The choice seems so easy, but as you'll see in Anastasia, it is so easy to get caught up in what you could be, instead of focusing on what you SHOULD be. It is easy to be fooled by bad intentions disguised in a charmful, persuasive package. We grow alongside Anastasia and Damian as they grow not only apart, but together. We see them make silly choices and we see the consequences. We FEEL the consequences. And being alongside them for this journey makes the ending SO satisfying because an HEA is what Anastasia and her family should have gotten.
The magic system was very intriguing and the world-building was easy to follow. As a person who doesn't read fantasy romance, or fantasies in general, I think this could be a great one for beginners because I never felt lost reading this book. I will say that it felt a bit long-winded at times, and I found myself wishing for a little less words. Other than that, this was one of those reads that I became emotionally invested in because Anastasia and Damian go THROUGH it!
I can't wait to see how this author expands on the magic system and fantasy/paranormal aspects in her next book. We knew she could write mafia, but I'm loving this break into something different! I'm definitely intrigued now!
TROPES: fantasy romance/dark fantasy; enemies to lovers; SLOWEST of slow burns; low spice; forbidden romance; Anastasia reimagining; lost princess; epic journey; rebel hero
This quote describes Anastasia's journey so perfectly.
Anastasia starts as a young duchess, blinded to the realities of Rusya while hidden in the palace with her parents as a royal. Out of all of her siblings, Anastasia is the one who longs for the mystery and roughness of the outdoors. She is naive, her magic powerful but undisciplined. SHE is undisciplined. And no one quite understands her until she meets Damian. While they start as enemies with families on opposite sides of the struggle, there's no denying from the very beginning that Anastasia and Damian are meant to be. They always feel their strongest when they are with each other, their magic intensified in the presence of the other. However, it is a journey for them to truly understand just why the gods intended for them to walk the paths of life together.
Anastasia, above all I think, is a lesson in choices. What happens when you are faced with the version of yourself that is consumed and corrupted with power? What happens when you are faced with the version of yourself that is good and understands the meaning of love and sacrifice? The choice seems so easy, but as you'll see in Anastasia, it is so easy to get caught up in what you could be, instead of focusing on what you SHOULD be. It is easy to be fooled by bad intentions disguised in a charmful, persuasive package. We grow alongside Anastasia and Damian as they grow not only apart, but together. We see them make silly choices and we see the consequences. We FEEL the consequences. And being alongside them for this journey makes the ending SO satisfying because an HEA is what Anastasia and her family should have gotten.
The magic system was very intriguing and the world-building was easy to follow. As a person who doesn't read fantasy romance, or fantasies in general, I think this could be a great one for beginners because I never felt lost reading this book. I will say that it felt a bit long-winded at times, and I found myself wishing for a little less words. Other than that, this was one of those reads that I became emotionally invested in because Anastasia and Damian go THROUGH it!
I can't wait to see how this author expands on the magic system and fantasy/paranormal aspects in her next book. We knew she could write mafia, but I'm loving this break into something different! I'm definitely intrigued now!
TROPES: fantasy romance/dark fantasy; enemies to lovers; SLOWEST of slow burns; low spice; forbidden romance; Anastasia reimagining; lost princess; epic journey; rebel hero
December 8, 2022
too long but damien can step on me
Shelved as 'fantasy-wishlist'
December 9, 2022When people ask me to review things, I never know if it's because my followers think I'm going to love it or hate it, but this actually sounds kind of fun and I LOVE fantasy romance, so I assume you're being nice and think I'm going to like this. I'm going to ASSUME that.
December 20, 2022
One of my new favorite books, ever. I am honestly speechless It was so beautiful. So captivating. And so magical. It felt like I was right alongside them through every page. Right there through every battle. Through all the pain and heartbreak. The betrayal and disloyalty. I was there, rooting for Anastasia every step of the way. As was Damien.
This story is everything you could imagine. A story of a second chances. A story of fighting for your family. A story of the bonds of family and how you go to every length you can to protect them. A story of finding yourself and becoming the best and strongest version of yourself. It is a story of Anastasia. But, there is no Anastasia without Damien.
Damien and Anastasia together is literally a force to be reckoned with. Together, they are unstoppable. Their power stems from their love for one another. They were bound to be together and their connection is more powerful than anything. Anastasia was built for Damien. She was made to be his one and only touch and he is her source of power. He is her strength and her courage. And together, they can take on anything. Or anyone. When I tell you Damien and Anastasia have the entirety of my heart, I mean it. I love them so much that it hurts. Their love is unlike any other, I have never read a love that is as powerful as their love for one another. It’s the type of love that proves the concept of soul mates. The type of love that you wonder how it is possible for two souls to be so connected in every single way. The type of love that makes you believe that souls are made for one another and it is like finding the other half to your puzzle. And when you find your other half, you are complete. Damien and Anastasia have that type of love.
I fell so deeply in love with this universe, it was such a bittersweet feeling finishing this book. I absolutely adore Anastasia with my entire being, and she is most definitely one of my all time favorite characters EVRER. As is Damien. He is perfect and makes my heart melt over and over again. In this book you will meet a lot of characters, some that you will love, and some that you will absolutely hate. But, that’s all part of the journey. So go ahead and see for yourself ;).
This story is everything you could imagine. A story of a second chances. A story of fighting for your family. A story of the bonds of family and how you go to every length you can to protect them. A story of finding yourself and becoming the best and strongest version of yourself. It is a story of Anastasia. But, there is no Anastasia without Damien.
Damien and Anastasia together is literally a force to be reckoned with. Together, they are unstoppable. Their power stems from their love for one another. They were bound to be together and their connection is more powerful than anything. Anastasia was built for Damien. She was made to be his one and only touch and he is her source of power. He is her strength and her courage. And together, they can take on anything. Or anyone. When I tell you Damien and Anastasia have the entirety of my heart, I mean it. I love them so much that it hurts. Their love is unlike any other, I have never read a love that is as powerful as their love for one another. It’s the type of love that proves the concept of soul mates. The type of love that you wonder how it is possible for two souls to be so connected in every single way. The type of love that makes you believe that souls are made for one another and it is like finding the other half to your puzzle. And when you find your other half, you are complete. Damien and Anastasia have that type of love.
I fell so deeply in love with this universe, it was such a bittersweet feeling finishing this book. I absolutely adore Anastasia with my entire being, and she is most definitely one of my all time favorite characters EVRER. As is Damien. He is perfect and makes my heart melt over and over again. In this book you will meet a lot of characters, some that you will love, and some that you will absolutely hate. But, that’s all part of the journey. So go ahead and see for yourself ;).
December 6, 2022
I wish I could back in time and save myself from wasting it. This was such a let down. I didn’t have much expectations, just that it was one of my most anticipated read and I was excited.
First off, I’m not a Russian, I don’t know much about the culture, empire and the country per se; however, I have a mere noob level of understanding/knowledge about it.
And, this is a really thick book, so I thought that it would definitely be able to touch upon the several areas of the story. But alas that doesn’t seemed to be the case.
This started very slow, had lots of fillers and I didn’t really vibed with the word building and writing in itself. It was more like historical metafiction rather what it was advertised as, that’s romantic/ spicy retelling.
There’s not much to see for the character development here. The main characters were extremely boring, bland, had 0 personality traits; making me yawn every now and then.
The romance felt very surface level and tbh, there wasn’t much to it except fulfilling the trope in the very end. It seemed more like a later thought of sorts.
Plus, the climax was very anti-climactic.
Overall, if it weren’t for the art illustrations I would have dnfed it after 500 pages.
First off, I’m not a Russian, I don’t know much about the culture, empire and the country per se; however, I have a mere noob level of understanding/knowledge about it.
And, this is a really thick book, so I thought that it would definitely be able to touch upon the several areas of the story. But alas that doesn’t seemed to be the case.
This started very slow, had lots of fillers and I didn’t really vibed with the word building and writing in itself. It was more like historical metafiction rather what it was advertised as, that’s romantic/ spicy retelling.
There’s not much to see for the character development here. The main characters were extremely boring, bland, had 0 personality traits; making me yawn every now and then.
The romance felt very surface level and tbh, there wasn’t much to it except fulfilling the trope in the very end. It seemed more like a later thought of sorts.
Plus, the climax was very anti-climactic.
Overall, if it weren’t for the art illustrations I would have dnfed it after 500 pages.
August 12, 2024
Do you want to read a book with interesting worldbuilding, a sizzling romance and a story to die for?
If the answer is yes, this is not the book for you.
The book was sold by Lark herself as a “Spicy fantasy retelling of Anatasia” the animated movie. I thought, “Yeah, cool, sounds really cool, the spicy retellings I’ve read were kinda meh but people love Lark on TikTok so this is going to be fun!”
I was so fucking wrong.
Listen. If you’re going to write a book based on historical events you need to dive in more than a wikipedia page. Because that’s what the whole book felt like: shallow, meandering and boring. I have not read a more boring retelling – or a fantasy book – in my life. Granted, I did DNF it at 50%, but the 50% showed me enough to say this:
Anastasia by Sophie Lark has the most unimaginative characters, half-baked worldbuilding and the least amount of chemistry I have seen in a romance or a fantasy romance novel.
But let’s start from the beginning.
This book is a retelling! Oh, wait, in Lark’s words: it’s not. Anastasia is older (because god forbid she’s not the “legal age”) and has magical powers. She can speak with an animal (one) and can stop time. But it is a retelling, because the first illustration is Anastasia (the animation) fan art. Like, I kid you not. But then, in Lark’s words, it’s not a retelling? What is the truth, Sophie Lark!?
But, let’s get back to the story. From the 50% percent of the book I had no idea how Anastasia’s powers work. Nobody seems to be teaching her anything about them (more about the teaching later) and nobody in the whole country of Russia... sorry, Russyia, knows anything about powers. Who has them? Aristocrats, it seems. Are they hereditary? Yes, it seems. But then Anastasia has powers he father and mother don’t have and between those 50% of the book Larks writes that also the commoners have them? And you want to tell me that in a world where people can light fire with their thoughts and stop time nothing seems to be changed? The world’s history goes the same way (with minor details changed) as is in ours? Are you kidding me? You think that changing two country’s names will solve the glaring worldbuilding issue?
If you’re writing a fantasy story that’s based on real life history – that’s actually using historical figures that lived and breathed as your characters – you have to have changes. You can say it’s Lark’s first fantasy book and I shouldn’t be so harsh on her but truly, when did we allow mediocrity to rule our opinion? When did we allow authors who clearly don’t know how to hold the readers attentions – I see you, 5 stars GoodReads review who admit THEY SKIMMED THE BOOK BECAUSE ITS TOO LONG AND BORING – who don’t know how to write well to rule our judgment? I’ve seen fanfiction AU’s written with more care about fictional characters than Lark does with real historical figures.
We should expect more. We should expect better. This book made me feel like an idiot who thought that can have a good time. If I wanted to I would have to shut off my mind and why would I do that? So somebody would try to tell me that the tsar was a good ruler, actually? I want to have a good time: I want the spice, I want the twists and turns, but I also, as a rader, don’t want to be treated like an idiot who can’t understand higher concepts.
If we don’t criticize books for being long, boring and mediocre we get books like Anastasia by Sophie Lark that feels like a fast cash grab, done without much research and nuance.
Nay, I say: this book is beyond mediocre. Nearly half was needles exposition, more talk and no show that I’ve seen IN MY LIFE and people are giving it 5 stars? For what? I know more about Anastasia’s dress maker that I know about the magic system that Anastasia seems to be obsessed with.
Anastasia is not even likable. She’s Not Like Other Girls: she is a tomboy, she puts frogs in her pockets, yada yada yada. She’s on a crusade against corsets. Hey, what’s up with the obsession with the corsets? They were comfortable! I feel like just by watching Karolina Żebrowska’s videos on YouTube I did more research than Lark did on what people were wearing.
Anastasia meets her love interest, Damien – because it’s not a retelling so Lark couldn’t use Dimitri but she had to come with A Good Russian Name (that’s irony) starting with the letter D, obviously – when he tries to kill her father. At the age of fourteen. Which, good, for him, honestly. The first part of the book is from Anastasia’s perspective, but then in later parents the POV shifts… but not every chapter? You know, maybe describing the war front was too much for Lark, because well, she would have to describe things well in the first place.
But what gets me, what really gets me, is the stupidity of Rasputin. He was a menace, four rats in a trench coat, a drunkard, he slept with half of Russia. He would be thrown out with the trash and be happy about it.
In Lark’s Anastasia he gets yaaasified, has a tragic backstory. He is handsome. He is a monk (apparently Russyia has a religion, but we never know which religion even though Anastasia’s mother is Really Devout. And we have to believe it because that’s what Anastasia tells us) and he is a sorcerer. He’s also helping the young tsarevich with his illness.
How does he do that? Well, welcome to the stupidest idea I have ever heard!
This is the least exciting reveal I have ever read in my entire life. I actually had to put my Kindle down and screamed "NO!!!!!". I scared my cat.
And what about Damien? He is a Cossack. But truly, Lark’s world is so bland the book could take place in any European court. She throws, like, 5 russian words and that’s it.
If you’re still with me, thank you for reading about my pain. If you want to read a better written fantasy romance that has similar elements as Lark’s: magical powers passed through a bloodline, do yourself a favor and just read Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy series. So much better and action packed. And they don’t have illustrations (what are they FOR?!)
Just… eh. This is my first – and last – Sophie Lark book.
If the answer is yes, this is not the book for you.
The book was sold by Lark herself as a “Spicy fantasy retelling of Anatasia” the animated movie. I thought, “Yeah, cool, sounds really cool, the spicy retellings I’ve read were kinda meh but people love Lark on TikTok so this is going to be fun!”
I was so fucking wrong.
Listen. If you’re going to write a book based on historical events you need to dive in more than a wikipedia page. Because that’s what the whole book felt like: shallow, meandering and boring. I have not read a more boring retelling – or a fantasy book – in my life. Granted, I did DNF it at 50%, but the 50% showed me enough to say this:
Anastasia by Sophie Lark has the most unimaginative characters, half-baked worldbuilding and the least amount of chemistry I have seen in a romance or a fantasy romance novel.
But let’s start from the beginning.
This book is a retelling! Oh, wait, in Lark’s words: it’s not. Anastasia is older (because god forbid she’s not the “legal age”) and has magical powers. She can speak with an animal (one) and can stop time. But it is a retelling, because the first illustration is Anastasia (the animation) fan art. Like, I kid you not. But then, in Lark’s words, it’s not a retelling? What is the truth, Sophie Lark!?
But, let’s get back to the story. From the 50% percent of the book I had no idea how Anastasia’s powers work. Nobody seems to be teaching her anything about them (more about the teaching later) and nobody in the whole country of Russia... sorry, Russyia, knows anything about powers. Who has them? Aristocrats, it seems. Are they hereditary? Yes, it seems. But then Anastasia has powers he father and mother don’t have and between those 50% of the book Larks writes that also the commoners have them? And you want to tell me that in a world where people can light fire with their thoughts and stop time nothing seems to be changed? The world’s history goes the same way (with minor details changed) as is in ours? Are you kidding me? You think that changing two country’s names will solve the glaring worldbuilding issue?
If you’re writing a fantasy story that’s based on real life history – that’s actually using historical figures that lived and breathed as your characters – you have to have changes. You can say it’s Lark’s first fantasy book and I shouldn’t be so harsh on her but truly, when did we allow mediocrity to rule our opinion? When did we allow authors who clearly don’t know how to hold the readers attentions – I see you, 5 stars GoodReads review who admit THEY SKIMMED THE BOOK BECAUSE ITS TOO LONG AND BORING – who don’t know how to write well to rule our judgment? I’ve seen fanfiction AU’s written with more care about fictional characters than Lark does with real historical figures.
We should expect more. We should expect better. This book made me feel like an idiot who thought that can have a good time. If I wanted to I would have to shut off my mind and why would I do that? So somebody would try to tell me that the tsar was a good ruler, actually? I want to have a good time: I want the spice, I want the twists and turns, but I also, as a rader, don’t want to be treated like an idiot who can’t understand higher concepts.
If we don’t criticize books for being long, boring and mediocre we get books like Anastasia by Sophie Lark that feels like a fast cash grab, done without much research and nuance.
Nay, I say: this book is beyond mediocre. Nearly half was needles exposition, more talk and no show that I’ve seen IN MY LIFE and people are giving it 5 stars? For what? I know more about Anastasia’s dress maker that I know about the magic system that Anastasia seems to be obsessed with.
Anastasia is not even likable. She’s Not Like Other Girls: she is a tomboy, she puts frogs in her pockets, yada yada yada. She’s on a crusade against corsets. Hey, what’s up with the obsession with the corsets? They were comfortable! I feel like just by watching Karolina Żebrowska’s videos on YouTube I did more research than Lark did on what people were wearing.
Anastasia meets her love interest, Damien – because it’s not a retelling so Lark couldn’t use Dimitri but she had to come with A Good Russian Name (that’s irony) starting with the letter D, obviously – when he tries to kill her father. At the age of fourteen. Which, good, for him, honestly. The first part of the book is from Anastasia’s perspective, but then in later parents the POV shifts… but not every chapter? You know, maybe describing the war front was too much for Lark, because well, she would have to describe things well in the first place.
But what gets me, what really gets me, is the stupidity of Rasputin. He was a menace, four rats in a trench coat, a drunkard, he slept with half of Russia. He would be thrown out with the trash and be happy about it.
In Lark’s Anastasia he gets yaaasified, has a tragic backstory. He is handsome. He is a monk (apparently Russyia has a religion, but we never know which religion even though Anastasia’s mother is Really Devout. And we have to believe it because that’s what Anastasia tells us) and he is a sorcerer. He’s also helping the young tsarevich with his illness.
How does he do that? Well, welcome to the stupidest idea I have ever heard!
This is the least exciting reveal I have ever read in my entire life. I actually had to put my Kindle down and screamed "NO!!!!!". I scared my cat.
And what about Damien? He is a Cossack. But truly, Lark’s world is so bland the book could take place in any European court. She throws, like, 5 russian words and that’s it.
If you’re still with me, thank you for reading about my pain. If you want to read a better written fantasy romance that has similar elements as Lark’s: magical powers passed through a bloodline, do yourself a favor and just read Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy series. So much better and action packed. And they don’t have illustrations (what are they FOR?!)
Just… eh. This is my first – and last – Sophie Lark book.
December 29, 2022
Anastasia
—enemies to lovers, slow burn
—lost princess
—standalone
—Anastasia & Damien 🫶🏼
You know those books that stick with you.
Those ones you’ll never forget about.
And remember every moment of reading it’s pages.
Anastasia is that. And more.
Sophie Lark created this story that was brought to life within the pages. With complex relationships, war brewing, loyalties questioned, magic, and so much more. Anastasia was riveting as it was emotional. I cried. I laughed. I was in awe. I felt every emotion while reading this book and to me, that deserves ♾ amount of stars and praise.
A dark epic fantasy romance, enemies to lovers with heartache, a gripping plot, and characters you become utterly attached too, Anastasia is a must add to your TBR. Anastasia & Damien with dual POV, provide everything for this story to thrive. Along with Rasputin. Our girl Artemis, and our boy Hercules. The elements the side characters bring to the table are not to be overlooked.
I really loved how Sophie took elements from the movie adaption and created her own story. She built a world, characters, magic, that truly transfixed me as a reader. And I got lost (in the best way) in the pages. The plot twists kept me on the edge of my seat the entire book and I absolutely loved the build up for both the plot/big moments and the slow burn build up between Anastasia and Damien. It was so beautifully done. I really felt connected to this book and Anastasia and it’s partly because I’m named after Anastasia and so is my daughter but I also think it’s because I’ve always loved the movie adaption. And seeing Sophie Lark take that and let it inspire her to create this incredibly unique novel, was breath taking to read about.
There’s so much I could say to express my deep love for this book. But in case you didn’t know, I’m in love with Anastasia. And forever will be. I could go on forever.
One of my greatest loves in fiction and I have Sophie Lark to thank for that. ♡
—enemies to lovers, slow burn
—lost princess
—standalone
—Anastasia & Damien 🫶🏼
You know those books that stick with you.
Those ones you’ll never forget about.
And remember every moment of reading it’s pages.
Anastasia is that. And more.
Sophie Lark created this story that was brought to life within the pages. With complex relationships, war brewing, loyalties questioned, magic, and so much more. Anastasia was riveting as it was emotional. I cried. I laughed. I was in awe. I felt every emotion while reading this book and to me, that deserves ♾ amount of stars and praise.
A dark epic fantasy romance, enemies to lovers with heartache, a gripping plot, and characters you become utterly attached too, Anastasia is a must add to your TBR. Anastasia & Damien with dual POV, provide everything for this story to thrive. Along with Rasputin. Our girl Artemis, and our boy Hercules. The elements the side characters bring to the table are not to be overlooked.
I really loved how Sophie took elements from the movie adaption and created her own story. She built a world, characters, magic, that truly transfixed me as a reader. And I got lost (in the best way) in the pages. The plot twists kept me on the edge of my seat the entire book and I absolutely loved the build up for both the plot/big moments and the slow burn build up between Anastasia and Damien. It was so beautifully done. I really felt connected to this book and Anastasia and it’s partly because I’m named after Anastasia and so is my daughter but I also think it’s because I’ve always loved the movie adaption. And seeing Sophie Lark take that and let it inspire her to create this incredibly unique novel, was breath taking to read about.
There’s so much I could say to express my deep love for this book. But in case you didn’t know, I’m in love with Anastasia. And forever will be. I could go on forever.
One of my greatest loves in fiction and I have Sophie Lark to thank for that. ♡
December 31, 2023
finishing the year with a 5 stars read!
The art is just astonishing 🤌🛐😍✨️💕
The art is just astonishing 🤌🛐😍✨️💕
December 13, 2022
~4.5 stars~
This book is such an ambitous retelling of The Real life of Anastasia. A perfect read for a December like now. Recalling my favorite soundtrack of disney movies, Once upon a December. I don't like to go into much detail for this book, it already is amazing and no review can do justice of it. I even like to go as far as this is my favorite Anastasia retelling, not that I have read too many of them, Anyways.
Sophi Lark wanted to create her own HEA for the Real story of Anastatasia we know, and I do think she did an amazing job of it. Though, The disney Anastasia already has a happy end and I'm perfectly satisified with that movie. So this book and no other content can quite reach that perfection in my opinion.
The ending can come of A little unsure, but as Sophi herself mentioned, this is her fantasy story, and she can do however she pleases. I am pleased too. Plus, I'd like to add the smart Resputin twist that was very well done and added to his charecterization for me. Very liked it.
Minding you, this book is shelved as fatasy romance, plus 18 readers and mature smut scenes, while I have to say the smut is not heavy and the romance only just a subplot, that can be tricking to some people. I am however, very glad to have just enough logical romance scene (and did not take the whole plot 😬), and I am happy with it a lot. I do agree it's better not be advertises as that category though!
This book is such an ambitous retelling of The Real life of Anastasia. A perfect read for a December like now. Recalling my favorite soundtrack of disney movies, Once upon a December. I don't like to go into much detail for this book, it already is amazing and no review can do justice of it. I even like to go as far as this is my favorite Anastasia retelling, not that I have read too many of them, Anyways.
Sophi Lark wanted to create her own HEA for the Real story of Anastatasia we know, and I do think she did an amazing job of it. Though, The disney Anastasia already has a happy end and I'm perfectly satisified with that movie. So this book and no other content can quite reach that perfection in my opinion.
The ending can come of A little unsure, but as Sophi herself mentioned, this is her fantasy story, and she can do however she pleases. I am pleased too. Plus, I'd like to add the smart Resputin twist that was very well done and added to his charecterization for me. Very liked it.
Minding you, this book is shelved as fatasy romance, plus 18 readers and mature smut scenes, while I have to say the smut is not heavy and the romance only just a subplot, that can be tricking to some people. I am however, very glad to have just enough logical romance scene (and did not take the whole plot 😬), and I am happy with it a lot. I do agree it's better not be advertises as that category though!
December 10, 2022
Ok to start off: I love Sophie Lark’s mafia books, I love fantasy romances, Romanov history has always intrigued me, I even enjoy historical fiction, so basically I was very excited for this book. But sadly it didn’t do it for me. The blurb for this one: “This book is not a retelling of any other Anastasia story, it is set in 1919 in a world similar to ours, but with magic.”
Sooo as soon as I started this read I started having some mixed feelings about it. I could tell the author did a lot of research on Russia and the Romanov family as this did read very much like a dry historical fiction. The character/family interactions were very similar to things I’ve read about them in the past so that was feeling realistic/well done. Now I’m used to fantasy books being long and setting up things but mostly that is happening for high fantasy worlds or like the fantasy elements in a story, and in this case we are not given a new world and the focus/time spent was more on the historical and political info for the time and the family.
We do stick with Anastasia throughout the story, when the story starts she is 11 and we are given her 1st person POV for the book and then eventually do have some chapters from the hero’s POV (we first see the hero when he’s 14). We do get time jumps with them aging as the story goes on but for most of the story Anastasia is like 16 (like the 20-65%-ish range that is her age). And I get with her staying that young for so long of the story there was obviously not going to be romantic times happening, I didn’t need that. But I did need to feel a connection between her and Damien and I just never felt it. They are barely together on-page but somehow are described as being best friends and I was like “when did this happen?!” We even get glossed over some moments in his POV of times they spent together and I found myself thinking it would have been nice to see the development of that friendship/connection on-page. So once she is of-age and the romance did come about in the story, I just wasn’t feeling it or believing in them as a couple.
Basically, I was never invested in these characters or the story. I wanted more from the fantasy/magic elements, I wanted more of a connection between the couple. I really dislike the fact that I didn’t like this book more. I always set out to enjoy a book and of course when it’s an author I genuinely enjoy and love other books from, like I was expecting to love this. All of that said, I am excited for the paranormal/vampire trilogy that will be coming in the future. I think it not being set around an actual historical family could be exciting. So let’s leave with something positive: I did really enjoy the art throughout the book, there is like 100+ original art pieces in the book that are just fantastic (if you do the ebook make sure to read/check it out on your phone or tablet to see the images in full color). The art added so much to the chapters and story. And Artemis was absolutely a highlight!
Sooo as soon as I started this read I started having some mixed feelings about it. I could tell the author did a lot of research on Russia and the Romanov family as this did read very much like a dry historical fiction. The character/family interactions were very similar to things I’ve read about them in the past so that was feeling realistic/well done. Now I’m used to fantasy books being long and setting up things but mostly that is happening for high fantasy worlds or like the fantasy elements in a story, and in this case we are not given a new world and the focus/time spent was more on the historical and political info for the time and the family.
We do stick with Anastasia throughout the story, when the story starts she is 11 and we are given her 1st person POV for the book and then eventually do have some chapters from the hero’s POV (we first see the hero when he’s 14). We do get time jumps with them aging as the story goes on but for most of the story Anastasia is like 16 (like the 20-65%-ish range that is her age). And I get with her staying that young for so long of the story there was obviously not going to be romantic times happening, I didn’t need that. But I did need to feel a connection between her and Damien and I just never felt it. They are barely together on-page but somehow are described as being best friends and I was like “when did this happen?!” We even get glossed over some moments in his POV of times they spent together and I found myself thinking it would have been nice to see the development of that friendship/connection on-page. So once she is of-age and the romance did come about in the story, I just wasn’t feeling it or believing in them as a couple.
Basically, I was never invested in these characters or the story. I wanted more from the fantasy/magic elements, I wanted more of a connection between the couple. I really dislike the fact that I didn’t like this book more. I always set out to enjoy a book and of course when it’s an author I genuinely enjoy and love other books from, like I was expecting to love this. All of that said, I am excited for the paranormal/vampire trilogy that will be coming in the future. I think it not being set around an actual historical family could be exciting. So let’s leave with something positive: I did really enjoy the art throughout the book, there is like 100+ original art pieces in the book that are just fantastic (if you do the ebook make sure to read/check it out on your phone or tablet to see the images in full color). The art added so much to the chapters and story. And Artemis was absolutely a highlight!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,138 reviews