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Mini Reviews (6)


This is the third book in the Katerina trilogy and I was a little disappointed by it.  I really liked the first two books but I just struggled to get into this one.  There was a lot going on and it was hard to keep track of things.   I did like the way the author wrapped things up between Katerina and Georgi but the whole thing just seemed kind of anticlimactic.  3 stars.


I really enjoy alternative histories as well as anything about Russia so I was really drawn to this book.  I love the idea of a surviving Romanov no matter how fictional the story may be.  This book is based on the idea that Nicholas and Alexandra had a fifth daughter who was spirited away from the palace and raised in Europe.  It bounces between past and present and I especially loved the parts of the story set in Imperial Russia.  The way the author set up the story of the fifth daughter was really interesting and I was pretty surprised by how it all managed to come full circle.  I did think that the story set in the present moved a little too fast so at times, it was confusing.  Otherwise, this was a fun read.  3 stars.



I have read several of Brandy Purdy's books and have enjoyed them and this one is no different. It is told from the point of view of Mary Grey and is about the trials and tribulations her and her sisters faced.  This is the second book I've read that features Mary as a main character and I really like reading about her.  There isn't a lot of information out there about Mary but I feel so bad for her because despite being born into privilege, her life must have been very sad and difficult.  This book is not the most historically accurate but it was still entertaining.  3 stars.


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  1. ShoshanahMarch 29, 2014 at 7:21 PM

    The Secret Daughter of the Tsar does sound like a lot of fun. I tend not to be the biggest fan of Anastasia stories, since it seems like all the facts are there that she died with the rest of her family. But the idea that there was a fifth daughter, while there really doesn't seem to be a possibility of, still seems to have enough intrigue about it that it could be real.

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