The Last Romanov

The Last Romanov

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3.19 of 5 stars 3.19  ·  rating details  ·  877 ratings  ·  206 reviews
IN A TIME OF RASPUTIN'S MAGIC AND ROMANOV MYSTERY, A YOUNG GIRL FINDS HERSELF AT THE HEART OF THE ROYAL FAMILY

She was an orphan, ushered into the royal palace on the prayers of her majestry. Yet, decades later, her time spent in the embrace of the Romanovs haunts her still. Is she responsible for those murderous events that changed everything?

If only she can find the heir,...more
ebook, 368 pages
Published April 3rd 2012 by Sourcebooks Landmark (first published April 1st 2012)
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Kimberly
Set against the backdrop of Russia's most chaotic political era filled with years of unrest, a series of revolutions, the Japanese War, World War I, and the Bolshevik uprising, The Last Romanov is an astounding, yet mystical, look into the final days of the Romanov monarchy. Through her own mystical powers and abilities to heal, young Darya Borodina Spiridova finds herself at the center of the Romanov family as Tsarevich Alexis' primary caregiver and lady in waiting. And it is through Darya that...more
Shelley Fearn
No matter your thoughts on the Romanov dynasty's own contribution to their demise, you have to admit the tragedy and barbarity of murdering an entire family. Many novels have been written about the Tsar and his family's last days and this one goes over the same ground. It does stand out by having a protagonist whose character seems to illustrate the superstition, extreme religiousity, and isolation that prevented Nicholas from dealing with the practicalities of ruling before it was too late.
Da...more
Jen
This book can be summarize in these three words: Of Crap Piece. Though you may have to rearrange them.

So I'm going to completely summarize the crapfest that was this book. Because then you won't read them. I read this book and finished it to protect you. LOVE ME.

Meet Darya. Her name means "the sea" oooh. She was conceived when her dad/mom met and then went all naughty during an auroch hunt. Oh did I mention that her mom was an noble named Sabrina Josephine and her family had all the pink diamond...more
Ashley Arthur
This is another book I found out about through the Nook “Free Book Friday” program. I downloaded it a few weeks ago, but I hesitated to start it for a while – maybe because my knowledge of the Romanovs was limited to the animated movie “Anastasia” from 1997. Once I got started, though, I found the story fascinating.

The story is about an elderly woman, Darya, who is nearly a hundred years old and determined to find out if Alexi Romanov survived the night that the Bolsheviks slaughtered his parent...more
Adrienne
I really enjoyed this book. I was reading it when Los Angeles was very hot and humid. It was so humid that I had to go lie down, and I was fitfully dreaming about the Romanovs and snow. It actually made me feel better.

The historical information was interesting and I found myself perusing through Wikipedia for more information. The last recorded live aurochs, a female, died in 1627 in the Jaktorów Forest, Poland from natural causes, so could not have been killed the heroine's parents. I did have...more
drey
Darya Borodina Spiridova is 104 years old, and this may be the last Romanov claimant she gets to meet and check out. Believing herself responsible for the massacre of the royal family, she’s been safeguarding relics and treasures belonging to the Romanovs so she can return them – and hopefully earn her redemption.

The story flows between the current-day events and those in the past – including her parents’ fateful meeting, and her rise to the role of healer to the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, an...more
My Book Addiction and More MBA
THE LAST ROMANOV by Dora Levy Mossanen is an impressive historical fiction set in Russia. This is the story of the Romanov's,a Royal family and the orphan left behind. It is written with vivid descriptions and details that brings Imperial Russia,the Royal family and the Romanov's to life. A story of mystery,redemption,prophecy,myths,a royal family,murder,second changes,magic and tragedy. So sit back and enjoy your journey with "The Last Romanov" you will not regret it and will learn volumes. Ms....more
CJ
I have a fascination with the Russian royal family. The tragedy surrounding their deaths has always fascinated me and I've read a lot of what's been published, novels as well as histories/biographies. I was excited to see this one - a story I'm familiar with told from a different perspective sucks me in every time. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this book.

The piece Mossanen adds to the story is a woman from the fringe. Her parents were friends of the Romanovs, but of course not of their socia...more
Judy & Marianne from Long and Short Reviews
Originally postsed at: http://www.longandshortreviews.blogsp...

What could happen in today’s Russia if there had been a surviving member of the Romanov family? This is the question that Dora Levy Mossanen asks in The Last Romanov. She takes you through the last years of the Imperial Couple’s rule, up to the moment of their execution… and possible survival of the teenaged Tsarevich, Alexis Romanov. Prepare yourself for one wild ride through history as Darya tells her tale and makes her search for...more
Amy Lignor
Perhaps this book was given to the wrong reviewer, because I opened the pages already thrilled with what I was about to read. To me, there is nothing more interesting than the end of the Romanov dynasty - Nicholas II and Alexandra meeting up with the mad monk, Rasputin. This particular true historical story is still one of the most fascinating to be found in fiction.

In 1991, Darya Spiridova receives a knock on her door. There, standing in front of her, is a man in uniform who has an official let...more
Jessica
Sep 19, 2012 Jessica rated it 1 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: No One
I only got into this book about 150 pages before I quit. I normally enjoy historical fiction and don't mind the idea of magic thrown in, as long as it's believable. This wasn't. For one thing, aurochs play an important part in the story. Only problem is, the last known auroch died in 1627, almost 300 years before this story takes place! And there were lots of little details like that in the book that drove me crazy. You can write stories integrating known facts and bringing in a bit of believabl...more
Ron
I usually give a book 100 pages before I give up. I nearly quit at page 71 on this story, but pressed ahead as it (momentarily) got interesting. I can't believe I read the whole thing.

A confused jumble. There's certainly a story in there somewhere, perhaps a good one, of the end of the Romanov royal family of Russia and potential (in a fantasy way) modern fallout. But the telling was not up to the concept. The primary stumbling block seems to be the author's inability to tell a story of a hundr...more
Hattie Norman
This is a powerful and well researched historical novel about a frightening time in Russian History. Dora Levy Mossanen writes about Nicholas and Alexandra and their family and close acquaintances during the time before and after the Bolshevik Revolution. I never realized the beauty of the Russian culture which goes far beyond the well known Faberge eggs.


"She cursed and screamed and grieved as she buried sapphires, rubies, diamonds, pearls and emeralds, certain they would...."

The author describ...more
Kathleen
Hmm... I had a hard time rating this book.

It's quite the story and I imagine was a quite a feat for the author. While I'm not certain, I imagine there was an immense amount of research that went into this story and while the author took several authorial liberties, this book has a lot of historical fact when it comes to the Romanov's. That, in my opinion, is very well done.

Darya is a very likeable heroine and Avram is her counterpart in every way. Their story is heart breaking while at the sam...more
Michelle Frost
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Debra Martin
The story follows Darya Borodino, a young woman of noble birth, born with an opal eye. Some say she is gifted, others say she’s a witch. It is Darya’s unique gift for healing and the happenstance visit by the Empress Alexandra Romanov that will change Darya’s life forever. Through a tragic accident, Darya finds herself an orphan and is soon taken in the royal family. When Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich is born, Darya is assigned as his caregiver. It is because of her love for this sickly child tha...more
Wendy Hines
Rarely has a book captivated me the way this one has. The Romanov story has been told several times, but I can assure you never in this fashion. This book offers a fresh perspective as well as a healthy dose of Russian history. Intrigue, romance, violence...you couldn't ask for more. A strong beginning sucks you right in and each chapter leaves you craving more. I wasn't able to put it down until I'd devoured every page.

Instead of turning the era and mystery into a myth, Mossanen takes the Roma...more
Heather
Very few events in history intrigue me as much as the downfall of the Romanov family. So, when I found this book at my local library, I was anxious to get started with it. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

I was hopeful that I would be reading something that grabbed my attention the way The Kitchen Boy did. Instead, this book has a mystical character, Darya, who is extremely unlikeable and possess an opal eye that has some kind of magic. It was obviously unbelievable, and made...more
Leah (The Pretty Good Gatsby)
http://theprettygoodgatsby.wordpress....

The Romanovs are a huge interest of mine and regardless of how many books come out with the same plot (one or more of the children survived and must be found) I will never tire of reading about it. I love it, I love it, I love it. So when I first heard about this book, I was ecstatic and couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy. Much to my surprise (and utter delight!) I received an ARC and immediately began reading.

"You are special, my darling. Different t
...more
Stef
This is a very ethereal book. I found it hard to get into the story because Darya, herself, is a difficult character to initially relate to. There were also moments when I thought to myself, I don't think I can read anymore of this. But I stuck it out to the end and was pleased with the work as a whole, but still found myself not really relating to the story. I love history and I loved the detail and embellishments that were in the text, but the magical elements were strange to me. Especially th...more
Laura
I love to read novels about the Romanovs, but unfortunately The Last Romanov fell flat for me. I don’t like to stop reading books, but I gave The Last Romanov one-hundred pages to capture my attention and it failed. The novel was very jumpy with almost fragments of story. It made it hard to pay attention to the plot. Darya is a distant relative of the last Czar of Russia, Nicholas II and his family. She has a romantic childhood marred by tragedy and becomes a nanny to the Tsarevich, Alexei. The...more
Krystal



Author Dora Levy Mossanen will have a wide audience for this book, the mystery behind the royal Romanov deaths is fascinating to so many. The author weaves a captivating tale starring Darya, a woman close to the Imperial Family. Early on, Rasputin imparts a disturbing prophecy to Darya...one that keeps Darya on her toes for decades. Constantly in search for Tsarevich Alexis, Darya's entire life is devoted to that one goal.




Darya's character is interesting. She isn't the normal character one finds...more
Tatyana
If you know anything about Russian history, don't read this book, it will infuriate you with its stupidity and inability to collect simple facts which are available online. For a while, I tired to pretend that this was a fantasy novel, but it does not work on this level either.
Here is a quote from page 8:"The Entertainment palace in Ekaterinbourg was the only residence the communists and anti monarchists did not confiscate for fear of multiplying butterflies they regarded as the lingering spirit...more
Literary
Should you read this book, I would like to make a recommendation: read the Author's Note in the back of the book first. Normally I wouldn't recommend this, but reading it gave me some insight to the story ... which I realized after I had already finished the novel.

I know historical fiction novels are often loosely based on actual events, but this one really drew from the Russian history during this time period. Apparently, there really was a royal family by the name of Romanov ... and their deat...more
Rachel
I liked this book. I'm a history buff, so as soon as I saw "Romanov" in the title, I knew I had to read this novel. So why only three stars, you ask? It wasn't that I disliked it. I enjoyed the twists that the author took with the demise of the Romanov dynasty. What I didn't like was her...style. At times it felt like she was using words and syntax to make it read more intelligently, and I didn't think that it was necessary. Plus, I really wanted to ache for Darya and I couldn't, because as soon...more
Joy
Mar 25, 2012 Joy rated it 2 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of historical fiction and the Romanov dynasty
I’ve always been fascinated with the Romanov’s and their tragic end. I went into this read with a lot of background information. The novel is richly detailed and heavy with period facts and the author’s thorough research.

Unfortunately, the book felt clunky and I never connected to Darya. I didn’t get a feel for any of the characters and the plot was a bit thin and forced. I also didn’t expect the emphasis on the paranormal and mystical in an historical fiction.

I do think that most readers who l...more
Michelle
Don't give up!!! I wanted to give up about 100 or so pages in. DON'T! Hang in there it actually gets really interesting. The reason for the 3 stars is its hard to follow at times. It jumps to different points of view and sometimes you aren't certain whose thoughts you are reading but it is very very interesting and worth the confusion. I've been fascinated for some time with the Romanov legends. And This is a really good story that is an outsiders point of view so to say. It's not told by a secr...more
Christine
I received this book for free on Goodreads' First Reads giveaway.

I enjoyed this book all the way through. I've always been fascinated by personal tales and/or fictional literature that cover historical tragedies. This covered both quite nicely. I thought I might enjoy this because of my like for the movie "Anastasia", and it struck me as similar, however much more historically accurate. It is written in a very airy, romantic manner - including many asides that are very fantastical in nature.

It s...more
Rebecca
I got this book for free or for very cheap for my Kindle. Since I enjoy historical fiction which centers on royalty, I figured this would be right up my alley. However, sometimes the things I get for free or very cheap are a big disappointment. This book was surprisingly good. I was especially impressed by descriptions of clothing and buildings. Sometimes descriptions can be ponderous, depending on the write. This author makes you feel as if you were right there looking at the settings and chara...more
Hanako
i guess the story was okay...though honestly the main character kind of annoyed me. i was also annoyed when at the very beginning they were hunting aurochs...which apparently went extinct a good 300 years before the start of the story...and the aurochs play kind of a large role in the story, so it seemed like an important detail...since that was on pretty much the first page, it kind of set the tone of the whole book for me. there's weird mystical things that didn't make sense or add to the stor...more
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The Last Romanov (ebook)

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Born in Israel and raised in Iran, Dora Levy Mossanen fled to the United States at the onset of the Islamic Revolution. She is the recipient of the San Diego Editor's Choice award and the author of Harem and the international bestseller Courtesan, which have both been translated into numerous languages. She is a graduate of the USC masters of professional writing program and lives in Beverly Hills...more
More about Dora Levy Mossanen...
Harem Courtesan Scent of Butterflies

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