"The way stories change us can't be explained... It can only be felt."
This was a beautifully written and moving story that pays a strong tribute to th"The way stories change us can't be explained... It can only be felt."
This was a beautifully written and moving story that pays a strong tribute to the power of stories. I loved learning more about C.S. Lewis's life and what may or may not have inspired him to create Narnia. The relationship between Megs and George was so sweet and made you feel like you were also a part of this family. I think the way Henry wove the "lion" throughout this story had to be my favorite part. As a Christian, it holds a very powerful message how God is right there with us as we're walking through the journeys of our life, both the good and the bad, and how even death cannot separate us from Him. (But that last chapter just about made me cry!)
"And he heard, as loud as a new world thundering out of the cosmos, the mighty roar of a lion."...more
I've got a lot of thoughts and none of them are very good.
When I first picked up The Last Grand Duchess, I was so excited. I love studying anything RI've got a lot of thoughts and none of them are very good.
When I first picked up The Last Grand Duchess, I was so excited. I love studying anything Russian-related, but I have a special place in my heart for the last Romanovs' story. I have dedicated so much of my time to giving their story back to them, to telling it like it really happened. Too often the story of the last Imperial family is often clouded by the legend of Anastasia's survival or the Bolshevik propaganda of the day or even in altering the story to fit modern political agendas, and I have a problem with this. Because does anyone really know the real story?
So when I saw a new novel was being released about the Romanovs and about Olga (the eldest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II) specifically, I was hooked. I should've known better to have such high hopes, but I was sucked in nonetheless.
I have so many complaints that I could not possibly cover them all in this review, so I'm just gonna focus on my biggest problems. Beginning with the one fallout every single recent historical fiction release I've read has done: modernize E V E R Y T H I N G. Excuse me, but why on God's green earth does Olga Romanova sound like a twenty-first-century American??? This is early twentieth-century Russia for crying out loud! Honey, you need to chill. There are two very important things to remember when writing about any of the Romanov children that most writers, scholars, and historians alike tend to forget. They were (1) deeply devoted Christians and (2) grew up in a very sheltered lifestyle. This means they are not going to think, respond, and act like any modern American teenager I know which is exactly how Olga acted for most of the chapters about her younger years.
And in truth, I find this offensive. Because those two facts about the children are always the first things I relate to them with. Because my faith is the most important thing about my life. I love Jesus more than anything, more than even my own life, and I also grew up in a very sheltered home. Olga complains all the time about never getting to "see the world" and "do things" and "live life." And the entire time I'm over here like, you know what, neither did I! But spending your life complaining about it, is annoying. Toughen up, face your problems, and make the best out of maybe not-so-ideal situations.
But anyways, these two important facts affected everything about my life, and it's not too crazy to say it affected everything about the Romanov children's lives as well. This is why when the guards of the Ipatiev House met the Grand Duchesses, they described them as being innocent and childlike. What happens to be the case from an outsider looking in, people tend to perceive this as meaning the Grand Duchesses (and really anyone who has grown up in a similar lifestyle) are ignorant of the world and missing out on "life." People tend to pity them because oh, poor girls, they didn't get to do a bunch of crazy and stupid things that most teenagers do. I'm tired of this perception of the daughters, I'm tired of people criticizing their parents for sheltering them. It wasn't that the grand duchesses missed out on life. In truth, the Romanov children knew more about what it meant to live than anyone! They saw the true meaning of life. Which is not to live in the moment but to love, protect, and serve. They embodied it more than anyone I know.
Now onto the Christian part. All I have to say is, if you're going to write about my faith, do it right. Don't just go with what the modern, worldly perception of it is. It seemed to me that the author either didn't take the time to understand Christianity or didn't care. I find this offensive. There were just so many subtle remarks that clearly showed the author didn't have a clue what she was talking about when it comes to how Christians live and what they believe. If you were writing about any other religion, you would take the time to research what people in this religion actually believe so you can give them an authentic portrayal of how they view and interact with the world at large. (Or at least, you used to do this. It's hard to tell now what people do in 2023.) You don't just gloss it over. So why is it that with my faith it's different? It's because people think they can get by with it, and in truth, they can. And people like me have no choice but to roll our eyes, grit our teeth, and move on.
So long ramble aside, my biggest problem with the book is that Olga Romanova felt and sounded nothing like the real Olga Romanova. Her character in the book was so one-deminsional. It was nothing more than her fixation on her "duty" and her "title" and all the ways it messed up her love life. Listen, honey, you have a great privilege to be able to impact the lives around you, to serve your country in a huge way. I'm sorry if it's such an inconvenience for you, but quit whining and actually make a difference in the world!
Tatiana acted totally out of character in the book, and this was the most upsetting because she's always been my favorite GD. In real life, she was very reserved and shy. You could never guess what she was actually thinking or feeling, but in the book, she appears a lot more calm... and well, extroverted. She also would not have been likely to start conversing about her crushes as what happened in one scene because she often would hold back her feelings from even her diary entries! Much less, would she share them with Olga.
Honestly, the whole fixation on Rasputin was annoying. I get he played a huge role in the Romanovs' story, but if I wanted to read a book about all of Rasputin's problems, I would have. I came here for a book about Olga and her family. And continuous side conversations with other people about Rasputin's lack of popularity so to speak in Russia became exhausting and boring.
(view spoiler)[Alexei sliding down the stairs in the governor's mansion of Tobolsk (that led to his hemorrhage in his groin) is something I hear mentioned quite a lot, but I'm uncertain where people get this information from. The only thing I know about this is that Nicholas wrote in his diary that Alexei's hemorrhage was the result of a really hard cough. (Alexei had been sick with a cold prior to this.) But this I would have overlooked since I see it come up all the time if it wasn't for Olga's response to the situation. I hated how indifferent she was. (Though I loved Anastasia's response. <333) THIS IS YOUR OWN BROTHER, girl!!!!! All my respect for Olga's character in the book rapidly plummeted at this point. How can you be so uncaring? Just how? He's your family! I love my sisters with all my heart. I would take a bullet for any of them without question. I just cannot understand how a sister who's supposed to love her family could be so indifferent! But that's the problem with this Olga. She doesn't love her family. I mean, she claims she does, but when has she ever shown it in the book? She is too focused on herself, on being the perfect, respectable grand duchess. She doesn't really care about her family or friends or country. She's too busy having a pity party on all the things wrong with being a Romanov grand duchess. Do you think anybody actually likes the life they're born into? The reason we tend to romanticize other people's lives is because we don't have to live them! Life is hard and it comes with problems. But whining about it doesn't solve anything! (hide spoiler)]
In conclusion, I really, really wanted to love this book so badly. But there were just too many frustrations I couldn't overlook. Most of the characters were frustrating, aggravating, and downright annoying. Even with all the historical alterations, it didn't fix the dull plotline. If it wasn't a book about the Romanovs, I would've DNF-ed it. If you want to read a book about the last Imperial family, read Romanov by Nadine Brandes. It may not be historically accurate, but at least you won't walk away hating all the characters.
Content warning: one use of pi***d, d**n, and f***. One of the soldiers makes a subtle mention that he knew "what he wanted to do with Olga." There is a mention of two female characters liking each other. Some of the descriptions of injuries the Russian WW1 soldiers had received were mildly graphic and could be sensitive to readers. ...more
Y'ALL!!! This book!! Just, I am speechless. Simply speechless. It was so beautiful and touching and gripping and I nearly cried, and lauY'all.
Y'all...
Y'ALL!!! This book!! Just, I am speechless. Simply speechless. It was so beautiful and touching and gripping and I nearly cried, and laughed, and nearly cried some more. I don't even know how to put into words just how much I ADORE this book.
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