Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Release Date: 9/1/09
Pages: 310
Grade: C
Synopsis (from Goodreads): Anastasia Romanov thought she would never feel more alone than when the gunfire started and her family began to fall around her. Surely the bullets would come for her next. But they didn't. Instead, two gnarled old hands reached for her. When she wakes up she discovers that she is in the ancient hut of the witch Baba Yaga, and that some things are worse than being dead.
In modern-day Chicago, Anne doesn't know much about Russian history. She is more concerned about getting into a good college—until the dreams start. She is somewhere else. She is someone else. And she is sharing a small room with a very old woman. The vivid dreams startle her, but not until a handsome stranger offers to explain them does she realize her life is going to change forever. She is the only one who can save Anastasia. But, Anastasia is having her own dreams…
Review: I love anything having to do with the Romanovs and Rasputin. Truth be told and I love anything Russian! So I was really excited to pick up this novel. While it didn't gloss over the horror of the Romanov's execution, it was kind of nice to pretend that maybe Anastasia might have lived. I loved how Joy Preble was able to intertwine the the Russian elements (folklore, matroshka dolls), history, and present day.
I was not a fan of the shifting perspectives...I often had to flip back a few pages to see whose name was at the top of the chapter and figure out who was "speaking". I would have preferred to have more info about Ethan and his life prior to finding Anne...actually I didn't have strong feelings for any of the characters, other than Anastasia.
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