Synopsis and book cover from GoodReads:
The history books say I died.
They don’t know the half of it.
Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them . . . and he’s hunted Romanov before.
Nastya’s only chances of survival are to either release the spell, and deal with the consequences, or enlist help from Zash, the handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya’s never dabbled in magic before, but it doesn’t frighten her as much as her growing attraction for Zash. She likes him. She thinks he might even like her . . .
That is, until she’s on one side of a firing squad . . . and he’s on the other.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I loved Nadine’s 2018 release, Fawkes, and so when I had the chance to read Romanov early, I was absolutely thrilled! Nadine doesn’t disappoint with another historical fantasy that explores the well-known story of the last tsars of Russia, the Romanovs, and Anastasia, the lost princess who was thought to have escaped their execution.
First of all, I absolutely loved the characters. I think one of Nadine’s strengths is creating characters that are somehow relatable even though they live in a completely different time period. Nastya, the main character who tells the story in first person, is so conflicted about her situation and doesn’t always make the right choice, but we can always empathize with her. We can see her love for the rest of her family and how she’s willing to sacrifice everything for them, but it’s also clear that she tries to be kind to the guards who are keeping her family in exile, even though it seems like she has no reason to do so.
Nadine has these great little moments of prose that just knock your socks off. I mean, the whole things is well-written, but sometimes she drops a sentence or description in and you’re just like WOW. When people look down on YA, I want to shove Nadine’s books in their hands and tell them to just read some of her writing, and then maybe they’ll understand that just because it’s written for teens doesn’t mean that the writing can’t be amazing.
The magic system in Romanov was also unique, and cleverly woven with the historical facts of twentieth-century Russia. It’s not the main focus of the story, but the idea of having special spell ink that must be used to create and use spells is so cool, and I wish we’d been able to explore it more.
That being said, that is one of my critiques of the story. Not even a critique as much as wishing we had spent more time learning about spell ink. At the very beginning of the story, Nastya talks about how Rasputin only taught her the basics of spellmastery and not even how to make her own spell ink. I thought a bigger part of the story was going to be about her learning how to do spells. That didn’t end up being the case, and even though I liked the direction that the story took, I wish we could have spent more time on the magical system.
My biggest issue with the story is the character of Zash. I loved him in the first half of the book. He tries to put on a brave face and act tough, but Nastya can tell he’s just a sweet kid that she might like to be friends with. Watching their relationship grow was so cute, and such a great representation of how, in real life, the Romanovs did make friends with their captors. In the middle of the book, however, Zash does something that, to me, seemed unforgivable, and I didn’t understand Nastya’s reaction to him after that. The paragraph below is in white text, so if you’ve already read Romanov you can highlight it to read a spoiler-y discussion.
On the night of the Romanovs’ execution, they’re lead into the basement to be shot, and Zash is one of the guards who shoots them. Specifically, he shoots Nastya, who we thought he loved?? And then he ends up helping them, and they do fall in love, and…I just didn’t get it. I know Nastya’s character arc was about her coming to forgive Zash and the Bolsheviks, who were her enemies. But it still seemed like such a big jump from Zash literally trying to kill her to them being in love. I’m okay with her forgiving him, but I just can’t imagine falling in love with someone who tried to kill me. I don’t know.
Overall, the book is a little sad, but still hopeful. There is some violence, but it’s not described in more detail than is necessary, so it’s not overly graphic or visual. Nadine creates a powerful story about forgiveness that manages not to be preachy, but instead resonates long after you’ve put the book down.
Romanov releases on May 7 this year. To pre-order it, click here!
(FYI–This post includes affiliate links. I promise to never recommend anything that I haven’t loved and think you should try!)
To download your free Romanov wallpaper, click on the image below.
