Anastasia

Wowww .... I have no words to explain how I feel after finishing this book ... I enjoyed and felt every emotions in this book. I loved how u mentioned and highlighted both good and flaws if them and how they rectify their flaws by understanding each other .. I will always remember each and every character in these book. Also the love between Anastasia and Damien were raw and soulfull. They balanced each other in their ups and downs. I had read many books in wattpad and in Amazon Kindle. But this is going to be the 1st book I'm going to buy as paperback. This book take a toll in me in a good way. I loved this journey throughout... Love u Sophie for this great writing of this book. I'm looking forward to ur future books..

Sophie's words were absolute magic! Anastasia by Sophie Lark is a novel that I fell in love with from the very first chapter! I was taken on a journey that I'll probably never forget. It was breathtaking to watch the FMC, Anastasia, go through all these phases in life that you couldn't have predicted in this storyline...while the MMC, Damien, omg, he was just...swoon.There was mystery, magic and tension between these pages...you'll thirst for more with every chapter.I loved every second of this story...I wasn't expecting this when Sophie mentioned that she was writing a fantasy novel...she did an amazing job with this one! I was mindblown.I'll be reading this one again, for sure!

Stars:🌟🌟🌟🌟Steam/Spice: 🌶️🌶️This book was a strange ride. As a girl, I was obsessed with Anastasia's story. I had picture books about her, listened to the animated soundtrack on a loop, and even cried when they discovered her body in Siberia. Because of this, I bought this book with an open mind and a willingness to see the author's POV.It was a ride. The story develops Anastasia more deeply than ever, taking a step further in her personal and romantic journey and her relationship with Rasputin. It makes you question how much human connection influences history and what would have happened if... And it's a big if. The fantastical setting was unique and felt organic to the story. And Damien was such a layered MC that I fell in love with him. The illustrations were beautiful and came at precise moments. I thought it was new (because I have yet to see a book use them that way), and I loved the author's choice.That being said, I had some things that confused me about the book that might be part of the author's writing style. If so, take this with a grain of salt.For one, the pacing felt strange. Some places moved along briskly, and others sludged. I sometimes wanted to jump ahead but forced myself to continue, to see what was happening, but it came to a point where there was too much or too little.The second point was new to me. The author inserted songs in every chapter or scene so that you could get in the mindset. Initially, it wasn't clear to me at all that she was using this as a resource, and when it did, I found it inventive. Nonetheless, I can only listen to music with lyrics while reading. If I do, I disconnect entirely from the story. This is just a personal preference.The last point has to do with language in general. This book for me is NA and has a lot of dark themes. There are times the language was very proper, and others where Fbombs happened out of nowhere. It was even stranger when there was a spicy scene where there was not specifics, then suddlening a character is talking about someone's a**. As I mentioned, this is a writing style in general.None of the points mentioned above take away from the story or readability. I honestly did love this take on Anastasia, and I would re-read the book. I will order it as a physical copy (I read the ebook). I think Sophie was respectful in her reimagining and brought so much to the story that it should be read more than once.

So over a year ago or so I was scrolling on tik tok and came upon a dueted video. It was Sophie Lark (the author) dueting this video of a girl wanting someone to write a book of the retelling of Anastasia. I immediately was curious and interested because Anastasia is one of my all-time favorite movies. So I followed Sophie immediately because I wanted to read this book. I waited all of this time and checked her tik tok multiple times a week to see the progress that she was making with this book. I commented and even got feedback from the author which made me ecstatic. I love when authors communicate with their readers. And then finally a couple of weeks back she announced the date that it would be ready to pre-order and you bet your butt I checked amazon several times a day and pre-ordered the paperback ASAP. I hadn't read any of her previous books so I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Now I will say that I plan on reading every single one of her books. They will fill my shelves. Sophie is an amazing author and retold this story in a new and amazing way.I'm not even on to my review of the book itself haha :)I'm not gonna lie I was a little biased about this book just because I knew that it would be different than the movie and boy was it. I mean come on, vampires, VAMPIRES!!!!!! What can get any better than that? I was not expecting anything remotely related to vampires when I first started reading. Yes, I expected magic but not vampires. My jaw hit the floor at the wedding part. I was not at all expecting that. SOOO many emotions went through my head and all through my body when that all went down. It was like I was watching the movie all over again. The book had so many aspects from the movie but yet was so different from the movie. It was crazy and this book was my best and all-time favorite of all the books I've read this year. I am although a little sad that I can't add this amazing book to my Goodreads. I would have loved to write another review for that app.It took me less than two days to read this book. I never wanted to put it down. The words, the drawings, THE DRAWINGS MISS SOPHIE WERE AMAZING. They might have been my favorite part of the book. Usually, when I read a book I picture the characters how I want to picture them. In this book, I pictured the characters just how they were described which never happens to me. This just shows that this book was amazing and I would love to erase it from my mind and read it over and over and over again. But wouldn't we all like to do that?I loved every part of this book even the bad parts. I was crushed after the wedding scene but literally screamed when I read that she had been able to travel back in time and warn her family. I want Damien for myself because dangggg was he an amazing man and boy did he love Anastasia. I wish a man would go to war for me but you know that's why I read books because fictional men are better than actual men.Okay my review is very long and I doubt anyone will read this but I don't care. I love this book and will probably read it again and again. I'm happy to boost the reviews and give Sophie the recognition that she definitely deserves for this book because WOW.

A great deal of us, millennials and gen-z alike, all came to know the story of the Romanovs through the animated cinematic masterpiece that is Anastasia. No offense to Meg Ryan and John Cusack, but the story of Anya's family is a great deal more interesting than they give her credit for.It's a kind of credit, however, our dearest Sophie isn't afraid to give. We see the Romanov dynasty at the height of Nikolai's power– a dictatorship of sorts. While I think the pacing of the story is a little unbalanced because of the attention given to Anastasia's childhood, I do understand why Sophie gave it the time and energy she did, so that we might understand how someone born under such a harsh regime might see it as normal. How they might come to accept it and, one day, even oppose it.Not only is Sophie paying homage to historical accuracies while still making the story magically her own, she's also paid great tribute to that classic film many of us grew up with and there's quite a few Easter eggs hiding in the wings from the music box to themes of winter to our favorite sassy white bat. While seeing Dimitri as a cousin was a little disappointing, our main MC, Damien, more than makes up for that little shortcoming.At no point did I know for certain what was going to happen but I've come to look forward to Sophie's surprises if I'm terribly honest because she's just so good at them. When you find out the first big twist concerning Rasputin's backstory I was really confused. I found myself thinking: 'Really? This? That was the choice that was made?' but by the time the story came together I found myself buying into every part of the plot: conflict, resolution, and conclusion.Despite the fact this was a behemoth (don't let them fool you– the ebook is just under 850pgs) I more than found the story worth it. A good slow burn with the right context just hits different and while this is a very romantic, soft kind of spice you still get your spice. Just not a lot and not often. But man…it is worth it.What a beautiful story that gives our favorite lost princess the ending, the story, the life she deserved. Even if it's just fantasy.Trigger WarningChapter 34: Ice StormPage 545•forced self harmThemes•historical fantasy•magical retelling•enemies-to-lovers•friends-to-lovers•dual pov•slow burnRatingsCharacters: 5 ⭐Plot: 5 ⭐Style: 5 ⭐Spice: 2 ⭐Overall: 5 ⭐

Read if you ❤️:- enemies to friends to lovers- Dark fantasy- Loose Retellings/Reimaginings- Soulmates- Forbidden Love- Magic- Thick books“Even if you see how dark the world can be...choose to believe it could be better. Life had been beautiful once. It could be beautiful again.”MY GOODNESS! I LOVED this book so much!Even though this was a THICK book, it didn’t feel like it. The story moved by quickly. The beginning consisted of world-building/character introductions because the book follows Anastasia from when she was young. But I think that decision was worth it! Watching Anastasia’s journey made the story that much richer! Also, I was on the edge of my seat in the book's last third. When things pick up, they pick up.I also loved the magic in this book! It was so cool and added an exciting dynamic to the story. The love story between Anastasia and Damien was also well done! Their love story doesn’t dominate the book, but it’s a beautiful slow burn worth the wait.I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time!

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.