Anastasia

This is a story which will keep you on the edge of your seat with lots of twists and turns. This is also a love story and Sophie Lark has done a wonderful job here with her own version of Anastasia. I love her mafia books but I have to say I think this is the best thing she has ever written.

patience is absolutely key with this book, it’s massive! the first half really sets the whole world of anastasia—going into great detail to give you a vivid image of the setting. the illustrations are gorgeous! they really help to visualise the world sophie has created. i would say this is more fantasy than romance, a lot of world building. i love the whole idea of this world—felt very nostalgic. this is not an anastasia retellingthis one is definitely for you fantasy lovers, you will absolutely love it! took me a little while to get into it, my brain does take a little longer to kick in for fantasy books, but once i was in (around halfway through) i fell for anastasia and damien! plot twists you didn’t see coming, and a rollercoaster of emotions. my favourite parts were always the chapters with both anastasia and damien in them, they’re just the cutest! also, the illustrations of damien—SO HOT.

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Characters: 5/5Plot: 5/5Originality: 5/5Overall: 5/5Anastasia is the princess no one needs: the fourth daughter born to an emperor with a son, and the only royal lacking a magical gift. Until she collided with a young Cossack rebel, changing both their lives forever.I cannot even begin to explain how much I loved this book. I didn’t realise to begin with that it’s loosely based on historical events but with a HEA ending and of course a touch of magic. This is a chunky 600+ page book and I flew through it like it was nothing, it held me captive for hours.Reading this story as fiction was magical enough but then absolutely heartbreaking knowing the real story of Anastasia and linking it in with this retelling was amazing. Sophie Lark did a brilliant job with this book, creating an absolutely spellbinding read. I honestly could not put this book down and will be recommending it to everyone until I’m blue in the face! AMAZING!

As a long term fan of Sophie's work I can honestly say this is like nothing she has ever written before.An absolutely stunning epic. Spanning decades, melding history and fantasy to tell an incredible story full of hope and love.Sophie Lark is the queen of mafia romance, steam and danger are something she has mastered. But this, this blew me away. This will forever be my favourite version of Anastasia's story.Following a fictionalised version of the Romanov family through a turbulent alternative history. Anastasia features the violent politcal upheaval of our history books mixed with the fantasy of a magic infused dynasty.At the center of Anastasia's tale is a family of very different personalities. Each member bringing something special to the story. I'm not sure which I loved more, Anastasia's complex relationship with her parents and siblings or her slow burn enemies-friends-lovers romance with Damian. The growth these characters go through, not just Anastasia and Damian, but her whole family is fascinating to see.I honestly don't know what to say. I thought Kingmakers would be Sophie's greatest work but Anastasia is on another level.

It was a nice story but at times I felt like the pacing dragged on a little bit and the time skips were a little disorientating at times. But if you like the story of Anastasia it's definitely worth a read.

I have read all of Sophie's books and have loved and enjoyed all of them, but this one well ......... This book well this book has captured my attention from the first chapter. It is written around the story the famous 'Anastasia' who so much mystery surrounds her. This book tells a story from girl to adulthood, Ms Lark has told the story in such a good way that you can almost imagine this being the story. How she tells about her life mixing it with actual history , but with a twist, I love the fact that Rasputin could have been a vampire, that was very clever . It was also nice that Anastasia had a happy ending with Damien and the rest of her family, compared to history. Well done good story well written look forward to your next book.

I’m a massive fan of Sophie Lark and this book must have been so difficult to write. It takes you in such a journey and the research and hard work that must have gone into it is staggering! AMAZING work Sophie!

I know, I'm pretty late joining the praising party for this story, but in my defence, it was a pretty long story to get through and was worth it.This story is the story that I never knew I wanted to read, I was familiar with the Romanov's history and how they met their brutal end and what followed afterwards, but I loved the world that Sophie Lark has created, filled with love, magic and tragedy. I mean, the depth of her characters is so heart-warming, it makes you want to rally for them, cry with them and support them in every way. It is just pure brilliance and gives new life to a spirited teenage girl, who deserved more than what happened to her and her family.

This book was absolutely the most stunning book I've ever read. The world that Sophie was able to build within these pages I could have lived in for years. As a massive fan of the 90s movie as a child, I can say this book fulfilled every check ✔️ on my list.

In this fantasy,kind of retelling of Anatasia, I say kind of because it’s not an exact retelling of her story more of inspired by, we follow two POVs one mostly of Anatasia. The youngest daughter of the Romanov court. The other pov we follow is Damien a Cossack rebel, who ends up as a ward to the Romanovs. In this world it’s filled with magic and there is tons of different types from fire welding to scrying. I had a really hard time putting this one down, you get swept up in the court of the Romanovs before Rasputin enters the picture. You get to see his rise through the court, which is alarmingly fast. I love the twist this book makes with the fantasy elements. In fact it had my jaw hitting the floor during one scene.There is a Romantasy element to this book with Anya and Damien, they are so entertaining with a forbidden romance aspect. I would say this has a mild spicy rating, it’s a couple of chapters. I was crying by the end of this one and I honestly really just loved how the story unfolded. Would recommend this one if you love Anastasia story with a bit of twist 🖤✨Make sure to look up warnings or triggers before reading ✨

Anastasia was one of the best books I've read this year, for sure. Sophie Lark's writing was incredible, fluid and cohesive, as like charming. I loved how she constructed her magical world and how much competent was the narrative, that was amazingly developed.Anastasia was an amazing and interesting character, who grow up a lot in the narrative. She had an amazing development and her individual journey was amazing to read. Everything about her was shown to the reader.Damien was incredible was well. He is my favourite character from that book. He is intelligent, strong, a truly hero. He truly deserves the world. Damien had an amazing development, everything about him was shown and worked really well.The relationship between Anastasia and Damien was amazing to accompany. They had a lot of chemistry and all of their scenes was really amazing, with a lot of sparkles moments. I finished the book totally in love with them.

Concordo con diversi commenti letti: l'autrice si dilunga troppo sulla vita della protagonista e sulla corte dello zar , oltre metà libro scorre senza che nulla in particolare accada. Arrivata quasi alla fine ero esausta e non avevo più interesse ad andare avanti. L'ho finito ma con fatica, peccato.

I’m pleasantly surprised by Sophie Lark’s fantasy writing because it is so unique to her, usually her books tend to be more plot driven but in this case the book is more character driven. Also despite the liberties she has taken, it is palpable that the research of the History, folklore and customs of Russia and of Europe during the first half of the 20th century has been exhaustive and probably exhausting too. The writing style is very lyrical in a way, it helped that the two narrators speak of their hopes, dreams, memories and ambitions. Of the five books I’ve read this is her only fantasy-retelling and her most recent work, the others were dark mafia romances that I liked a lot, even though the subgenre isn’t exactly my favorite. Fantasy however is my first love in literature. I’m impressed to say the least, that she wrote a book like this, and I’m sure she’s capable of writing whatever she wants and succeed.What I loved the most is the complexity of her characters, They’re not just black or white, but multicolored, an aspect that makes them more real and believable, and that is quite an achievement especially in a fantasy novel. The plot and subplots are subtle but as complex as the characters, political struggles, intrigue at court, treason, uprising, war, revolution and the change of the times, which is the hardest of subplots humans have to face in order to grow. But the most important aspect to differentiate the genres is that Romance, especially mafia/contemporary doesn’t need a lot of world building since it’s based in reality while fantasy whenever involves magic, folklore and magical creature, needs to have a well crafted scenery to wrap and surround the characters and it needs a credible magic system. And boy does Sophie Lark’s writing achieve that and more. Her imagination and fearlessness is what sustains this book.