Helpful Score: 2
This story is told from the perspective of the Romanov family's young kitchen boy. Actually that's not quite right. It's told as a audio-recording of a man in his 90s who knows he will soon die and wants his granddaughter to know what really happened to the Romanov family. He reflects on his time with the Romanov family and how he feels that he was ultimately the one to blame for their deaths. The author paints a detailed picture about what those final days may have been like using historical sources as reference points (letters, diary entries, etc). You get a sense of the Romanov family as real people experiencing fear in their situation and love of their family, not as aloof royals. I just wish the daughters were fleshed out a bit more; they seemed more or less interchangeable throughout the story.
One thing that I really liked about this book is that it wasn't totally predicable. The author would lead you to believe one thing, and just when you think you have it figured out, BOOM...you are led in a totally different direction. All you are really certain of is that nothing is probably as it seems and that there is a lie or two somewhere in there. In fact, I thought I had it all figured out and in the last few pages, I was in for a surprise! As this was written before the 2008 discovery of the remaining two Romanov bodies (which by the way, how did I miss that in the news!), it does give an interesting account as to what may have happened to the missing two Romanovs that weren't found in the family grave. All in all, this was a quick and compelling read! I highly recommend it! :-)
One thing that I really liked about this book is that it wasn't totally predicable. The author would lead you to believe one thing, and just when you think you have it figured out, BOOM...you are led in a totally different direction. All you are really certain of is that nothing is probably as it seems and that there is a lie or two somewhere in there. In fact, I thought I had it all figured out and in the last few pages, I was in for a surprise! As this was written before the 2008 discovery of the remaining two Romanov bodies (which by the way, how did I miss that in the news!), it does give an interesting account as to what may have happened to the missing two Romanovs that weren't found in the family grave. All in all, this was a quick and compelling read! I highly recommend it! :-)
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