The Romanov Sisters book club discussion (all can join)

[ufcasey]

Today is the day for our fourth book club discussion! The book picked for this month was "The Romanov Sisters" by Helen Rappaport.

Since this was a non-fiction book, you if you have not read the book you can still weigh in with your thoughts in general about this time period in history. But just to help get you thinking if you have a hard time figuring out what you want to say, there are some questions below. You definitely don't have to answer any of them!

Things to potentially consider:

• How did you feel about Alexandra? Her life growing up vs her transition to being a Russian empress vs her her role as mother to 5 children vs her belief in mysticism
• Do you think Alexandra really did suffer from chronic medical conditions or do you think she simply wanted the attention etc?
• Do you think the oldest daughter, Olga, also had medical conditions like her mother or was she too simply having trouble dealing with her life or some other cause?
• What did you think about the way Nicholas and Alexandra raised their children? (Slept on cots, very restricted access to the outside world, repaired and reused clothes)
• What do you think of the family's belief in mysticism with 'their friend' Rasputin? 
• What, if anything, could they have done to prevent their eventual downfall?
• Why do you think they were murdered instead of just letting them live somewhere else peacefully? Why were they turned away by other countries for refuge?
• Do you think the book did a good job of bringing the children to life for the reader or do you think it was too detail oriented?
• How do you feel that the book treated the historical context to the lives of the daughters, whether or not they experienced those events - too much, too little?      *ETA clarification: did it provide too much historical context or too little context when describing the lives of the daughters*
  
• How do you feel about the book's depiction of their final day?
  

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!!

Tagging people who have said in previous posts that they have read the book or are reading it:
travella , MrsAxilla , susiebw , monkeyfeet , rootbeerfloat , aurora , rachelgreen , mrspez07 , pandora89 , dorothyinAus

[MrsAxilla]

I'm reading but I, uh, got distracted and haven't finished. 

The the only thing I really knew about the Romanov family was sort of a romantic myth.  I had no idea how isolated they were, or that Alexey's condition was such a big secret.  Or that the Tzar was such an authoritarian.  I just read a passage that describes Alexey playing as a despot and ordering soldiers around, and Nicolai laughs and says with pride "that's how you raise an autocrat!"  I had to look those words up to verify that I knew what they meant!  Such a different world view.  

[susiebw]

I'm only about 1/2 through the book, but I find it fascinating how sheltered the whole family was, and how little interaction they had with anyone outside of their family and guards, but especially the public and "society."

I don't think that having more of a public presence would have really made a difference to their eventual downfall, given Nicholas' authoritarian style and the political climate at the time, but I wonder if it may have prevented their murder. Or maybe at least have prevented the murder of the whole family - they may have killed Nicholas anyway. But if the whole of Russia saw the family more as people and less like mere figureheads who locked themselves away in the countryside, I wonder if it would've ended differently.

I recently read a passage (because I'm only 50% through) about Olga just wanting to live out her days happily in the country, away from any public commitment or imperial role, and I can completely see how she came to that mindset. Frankly, I think I would feel the same way. But given the way they were raised, as compared to other European royal families at the time, and given their mother's attitude toward anything outside of their family, I can see how "society" may start to feel like a drain.

[monkeyfeet]

Ugh, I was not a fan of this book. I knew little of the era and didn't feel like I gained much knowledge beyond the family by reading it. But with the family being so unusual, I never really felt excited to learn more about them.

How did you feel about Alexandra?

It was sad and hard to comprehend.

Do you think Alexandra really did suffer from chronic medical conditions or do you think she simply wanted the attention etc?

I think she did suffer. Couldn't she have had more attention by attending the balls, etc that she never attended? Or do you think she just wanted attention from her family? Maybe it was self-induced too because when she was just with her family on the water, she seemed ok.

Do you think the oldest daughter, Olga, also had medical conditions like her mother or was she too simply having trouble dealing with her life or some other cause?

Um, I knew she was sick a bit, but maybe all the illness ran together because nothing is ringing a bell for me with her specifically.

What did you think about the way Nicholas and Alexandra raised their children? (Slept on cots, very restricted access to the outside world, repaired and reused clothes)

Definitely unusual and not really sure why, other than Alexandra's health and then restricting alexy due to his illness. The kids seemed pretty happy with their life. Do you think Nicholas just went along with what alexandra wanted or he wanted to raise them that way too?

What do you think of the family's belief in mysticism with 'their friend' Rasputin?

Honestly, his presence pulled Alexy through so many situations when it seemed he could have easily died, that I probably would have wanted to keep him around....

What, if anything, could they have done to prevent their eventual downfall?

This is where I wish the book would have gone into more detail. I didn't feel like I even understood the rebellion.

Do you think the book did a good job of bringing the children to life for the reader or do you think it was too detail oriented?

Too detailed

How do you feel that the book treated the historical context to the lives of the daughters, whether or not they experienced those events - too much, too little?

Too little

How do you feel about the book's depiction of their final day?

It showed courage, but again, it was almost left to our imagination. Maybe I just don't have enough knowledge of this time period and really haven't done much research since reading the book.


Read more: pandce.proboards.com/thread/575200/romanov-sisters-book-club-discussion#ixzz4fNWx594K

[ufcasey]

So I thought this book was rather boring. I listened to the audiobook for it, which I actually think helped make it less so, but still. I enjoyed the beginning of the book about Alexandra growing up, marrying Nicholas for love despite her religion, and her struggle to produce a male heir. But once Alexei was born and it was discovered that he had hemophilia, it went downhill. It was just so full of details about the officers the girls had crushes on, the people they helped at the hospital, etc. None of that was interesting to me. There wasn't enough historical background given to explain why they were in a war in the first place. When Nicholas abdicates both himself and Alexei from the throne, that's not even exciting. The family's forced seclusion seemed more boring than menacing, and then it fades to black on their final day when they were all murdered. I understand this book was supposed to be focused on the sisters, but man, they were only children and then very young adults who lived very sheltered lives, so reading about those lives was quite frankly boring. It was eye opening to learn just how sheltered their parents forced them to be, but that shock wore off fast. It felt like there was a lot of "here's another day where they went to the hospital to help patients". BORING.

I agree that I would have kept Rasputin around too if he gave me peace of mind that my child would survive and my child then proceeded to survive, multiple times. I just thought the book should have maybe delved more into who he was, but again I guess this book was trying to focus more on the sisters only, so maybe that was why it was so light on the details.

[susiebw]

Apr 26, 2017 13:35:12 GMT -5 ufcasey said:

So I thought this book was rather boring. I listened to the audiobook for it, which I actually think helped make it less so, but still. I enjoyed the beginning of the book about Alexandra growing up, marrying Nicholas for love despite her religion, and her struggle to produce a male heir. But once Alexei was born and it was discovered that he had hemophilia, it went downhill. It was just so full of details about the officers the girls had crushes on, the people they helped at the hospital, etc. None of that was interesting to me. There wasn't enough historical background given to explain why they were in a war in the first place. When Nicholas abdicates both himself and Alexei from the throne, that's not even exciting. The family's forced seclusion seemed more boring than menacing, and then it fades to black on their final day when they were all murdered. I understand this book was supposed to be focused on the sisters, but man, they were only children and then very young adults who lived very sheltered lives, so reading about those lives was quite frankly boring. It was eye opening to learn just how sheltered their parents forced them to be, but that shock wore off fast. It felt like there was a lot of "here's another day where they went to the hospital to help patients". BORING.

I agree that I would have kept Rasputin around too if he gave me peace of mind that my child would survive and my child then proceeded to survive, multiple times. I just thought the book should have maybe delved more into who he was, but again I guess this book was trying to focus more on the sisters only, so maybe that was why it was so light on the details.

I agree with a lot of this, too.  The book was entirely too long for the topic, I think.  Like you said, they were so sheltered and not a lot happened to them for most of their young lives, so why do we need 5-600 pages about them?  I guess I expected that once the revolution got under way, the book would get into the politics behind it all a bit more, but I'm not surprised to learn that that is not the case.  Because you're right - the war wasn't explained at all, just the girls' work in the hospitals and the fact that Nicholas and Alexey were away.

I think I would read a whole book about Rasputin, though. 

[rachelgreen]

...yeah...imma hafta come back when it's finished being read...

LOL

[MrsAxilla]

This thread is not encouraging me to continue reading.... I think I'm only 30% through.

[aurora]

I'm glad I read it (well, listened to the audiobook), but I definitely wouldn't do so again! I agree with the other comments that it was a long book for the subject matter. It's like Rappaport was trying to squeeze in all of the information that exists about the girls' lives before it gets lost to history.


How did you feel about Alexandra? Her life growing up vs her transition to being a Russian empress vs her her role as mother to 5 children vs her belief in mysticism
I was interested in how she grew into the empress, but I think her reclusivity (is that a word?) hurt the royal family in the end.

Do you think Alexandra really did suffer from chronic medical conditions or do you think she simply wanted the attention etc?
Do you think the oldest daughter, Olga, also had medical conditions like her mother or was she too simply having trouble dealing with her life or some other cause?
On these two I neither know nor really care.

What did you think about the way Nicholas and Alexandra raised their children? (Slept on cots, very restricted access to the outside world, repaired and reused clothes)
I thought this was interesting, actually. It's like they wanted the kids to grow up to be grounded individuals as though they saw the importance of understanding the populace, but then they still isolated them and prevented the Russians from knowing that the girls were really pretty normal people who probably could have contributed to society if they had been allowed to live. It's a weird dichotomy.

What do you think of the family's belief in mysticism with 'their friend' Rasputin?
It certainly wasn't a wise move politically.

What, if anything, could they have done to prevent their eventual downfall?
I don't know that much about Russian history but I think there's a good chance that nothing could have been done to save Nicholas, Alexandra, and Alexei. It seems that the people were just done with the monarchy and these people ruled (or in Aexei's case was heir to the throne). I do wonder if the girls were sufficiently less threatening that they could have survived as citizens if they had been more out in public as they grew up.

Why do you think they were murdered instead of just letting them live somewhere else peacefully? Why were they turned away by other countries for refuge?
Uhm, I forgot already that they were turned away from other countries, so apparently I wasn't reading very closely by the end. But, a deposed monarch is always a threat to the throne (or whatever ruling party takes over), so even though I don't condone murder the idea of killing the actual emperor and his heir makes sense from a removal-of-threat perspective.

Do you think the book did a good job of bringing the children to life for the reader or do you think it was too detail oriented?
I think we've covered this one.

How do you feel that the book treated the historical context to the lives of the daughters, whether or not they experienced those events - too much, too little?
I would have personally liked learning more about the historical context in place of some of the details about the girls' day-to-day lives.

How do you feel about the book's depiction of their final day?
This was the chilling part. It definitely felt like I had walked off a cliff - spent hundreds of pages learning the mundane details of these girls' lives, then all of a sudden they are dead. Even if I had their deaths spoiled for me a few days earlier by the news discussing the end of the Romanov's.

[aurora]

I do want to add that even though I have some criticisms of the book I'm still really glad we're reading different genres and I appreciate the choice. This was definitely not one I would have picked up on my own and I learned something by reading it.

[aurora]

Apr 26, 2017 15:38:09 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

This thread is not encouraging me to continue reading.... I think I'm only 30% through.

Maybe read every other chapter and then the end. You'll get the picture.

[aurora]

Apr 26, 2017 13:35:12 GMT -5 ufcasey said:

So I thought this book was rather boring. I listened to the audiobook for it, which I actually think helped make it less so, but still. I enjoyed the beginning of the book about Alexandra growing up, marrying Nicholas for love despite her religion, and her struggle to produce a male heir. But once Alexei was born and it was discovered that he had hemophilia, it went downhill. It was just so full of details about the officers the girls had crushes on, the people they helped at the hospital, etc. None of that was interesting to me. There wasn't enough historical background given to explain why they were in a war in the first place. When Nicholas abdicates both himself and Alexei from the throne, that's not even exciting. The family's forced seclusion seemed more boring than menacing, and then it fades to black on their final day when they were all murdered. I understand this book was supposed to be focused on the sisters, but man, they were only children and then very young adults who lived very sheltered lives, so reading about those lives was quite frankly boring. It was eye opening to learn just how sheltered their parents forced them to be, but that shock wore off fast. It felt like there was a lot of "here's another day where they went to the hospital to help patients". BORING.

I agree that I would have kept Rasputin around too if he gave me peace of mind that my child would survive and my child then proceeded to survive, multiple times. I just thought the book should have maybe delved more into who he was, but again I guess this book was trying to focus more on the sisters only, so maybe that was why it was so light on the details.

I agree that the audiobook was good for this one. I could listen while say washing the dishes and it was OK if my mind wandered.

[rootbeerfloat]

I thought this was pretty boring. There was too much detail about their outfits or what some random unknown person had written about an event to another random unknown person. Every time they mentioned a guard, I was hoping it would lead to some affair or romance, but no lol. They really were so sheltered as to have had dull lives. I didn't have a lot of sympathy for Alexandra, and I thought Nicholas was too dumb to lead a country (outdated system of government or not). I didn't need the gruesome details of their execution, but that was a let-down, too.

[travella]

I don't have too much to add that hasn't already been said. I too found it overly detailed through much of the book, but was disappointed with the lack of information about their final days. The book explained everyone else's final history but the story of the girls which was a little frustrating. I had to go out and do further research to answer questions I was left with after finishing the book. I'm not disappointed that I read the book, but I wouldn't do it again and wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

[dorothyinAus]

I was actually quite disappointed by this book.  I was really hoping to have more focus on the girls rather than the rest of the family.  I know it's hard to tell the story without drawing in the rest of the family, but I really wanted more information about the girls.  And I really feel Maria & Anastasia were lost in the discussions of the older two girls.  I know they were still quite young in 1918, but surely in the all minutia of the older girls daily lives there was some information about the younger ones.

I have read about Nicholas & Alexandra quite extensively, it is my favorite period of history, so I know most of the story and aside from the all-too-few details about the girls' daily lives, there was very little new information to me.  I was very disappointed by the inconsistencies in spelling -- the quotes in the chapters spelled words one way the text another.  Other books I have read use either Alexis or Alexei and I found Alexey insipid and juvenile, almost like the author was intentionally infantilizing him through the book.  But that was definitely my personal issue.

As far as the discussion questions, well, I could make a really long wall of text about those because I have read quite extensively, so I'll try to keep it brief.

How did you feel about Alexandra? Her life growing up vs her transition to being a Russian empress vs her her role as mother to 5 children vs her belief in mysticism -- I think much of Alexandra's character was a direct result of Victoria's influence and Victoria was a mean, spiteful, vengeful woman.  I think she would have been a better Russian Empress had she had adequate time to prepare for the role, but much of that was a result of Alexander III thinking he was going to live forever and not preparing Nicholas adequately for the role he would inherit.  I also think Alexandra needed intense counseling after the death of her siblings and her mother, and that much of her health issues would today be diagnosed as conversion disorder.  I think she was trying to live up to a idealized memory of her own mother, who was in turn trying to live up to the expectations of her dead father.

Do you think the oldest daughter, Olga, also had medical conditions like her mother or was she too simply having trouble dealing with her life or some other cause? -- I believe that Olga may have been sickly, but then again, it may be a case of conversion disorder.  I really think the strain of having to keep so many secrets from such a young age took a toll on her mental health and that manifested itself as physical symptoms.

What did you think about the way Nicholas and Alexandra raised their children? (Slept on cots, very restricted access to the outside world, repaired and reused clothes) -- Nicholas' & Alexandra's own upbringings were relatively sparse in comparison to other royals at the time, and they raised their children in similar ways. I really don't have a problem with the sparseness of the upbringing, though it would be luxurious compared to my own childhood.

What do you think of the family's belief in mysticism with 'their friend' Rasputin? -- Rasputin saved Alexandra's only son, the heir to the throne. I think she would have done literally anything to save Alexis.  But I do think that Rasputin capitalized on that for his own benefit.  I do think Rasputin was a charlatan.  I don't necessarily believe that Nicholas was as enamored with Rasputin as Alexandra was, but I think he wanted to keep his wife happy.  I also think that in addition to concern for her son, much of Alexandra's faith in Rasputin came from her own guilt at having been the person who caused Alexis to suffer from hemophilia.

What, if anything, could they have done to prevent their eventual downfall? -- I think preventing the downfall of the Russian Royal Family needed to have happened long before Nicholas was born.  The seeds of revolution were sown when the serfs were freed.  The writing was on the wall from the beginning, and I think Nicholas' reign was just of perfect storm of events the could only being about a violent revolution and his own death.

Why do you think they were murdered instead of just letting them live somewhere else peacefully? Why were they turned away by other countries for refuge? -- Other books I have read indicated there were counterrevolutionaries in Ekaterinburg who were ready and able to rescue the Tsar and his family.  The family had to be killed to prevent any rescue.  Most other countries did not want to touch the royal family, I think for 2 reasons:  (1) Alexandra was Kaiser Wilhelm's first cousin and there were rumors of her correspondence and compliance with the Kaiser and the german war effort; that taint was too much for the Allies to take on safely; and (2) I think other countries did not want the revolutionaries to gain a foothold within their borders; Publicly sheltering Nicholas would have made them a target for similar revolutionary action and would have been a HUGE security risk at a time when manpower was badly needed elsewhere. 

Do you think the book did a good job of bringing the children to life for the reader or do you think it was too detail oriented? -- I think it was far too detail oriented in the wrong way, there was much detail in the book, but not nearly enough about the title subjects.

How do you feel that the book treated the historical context to the lives of the daughters, whether or not they experienced those events - too much, too little? -- I'm not really sure I understand this question enough to answer it.

How do you feel about the book's depiction of their final day? -- There is no getting around the final day, unless you are writing an alternative history.  It's a bad thing, and there is no real sugar-coating history's ending.  I did like the way the book portrayed the commander at the Iptaiev House, every other book I have read indicates he was a real son-of-a-bitch bastard and I think this book did a good job conveying that character.  The end of the book was never going to be happy and there is no way to make it happy.  I think it was s accurate as possible without being as graphic as other books I have read have been. That's about the best it can be.

[monkeyfeet]

Apr 26, 2017 19:39:12 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

I was actually quite disappointed by this book.  I was really hoping to have more focus on the girls rather than the rest of the family.  I know it's hard to tell the story without drawing in the rest of the family, but I really wanted more information about the girls.  And I really feel Maria & Anastasia were lost in the discussions of the older two girls.  I know they were still quite young in 1918, but surely in the all minutia of the older girls daily lives there was some information about the younger ones.

I have read about Nicholas & Alexandra quite extensively, it is my favorite period of history, so I know most of the story and aside from the all-too-few details about the girls' daily lives, there was very little new information to me.  I was very disappointed by the inconsistencies in spelling -- the quotes in the chapters spelled words one way the text another.  Other books I have read use either Alexis or Alexei and I found Alexey insipid and juvenile, almost like the author was intentionally infantilizing him through the book.  But that was definitely my personal issue.

As far as the discussion questions, well, I could make a really long wall of text about those because I have read quite extensively, so I'll try to keep it brief.

How did you feel about Alexandra? Her life growing up vs her transition to being a Russian empress vs her her role as mother to 5 children vs her belief in mysticism -- I think much of Alexandra's character was a direct result of Victoria's influence and Victoria was a mean, spiteful, vengeful woman.  I think she would have been a better Russian Empress had she had adequate time to prepare for the role, but much of that was a result of Alexander III thinking he was going to live forever and not preparing Nicholas adequately for the role he would inherit.  I also think Alexandra needed intense counseling after the death of her siblings and her mother, and that much of her health issues would today be diagnosed as conversion disorder.  I think she was trying to live up to a idealized memory of her own mother, who was in turn trying to live up to the expectations of her dead father.

Do you think the oldest daughter, Olga, also had medical conditions like her mother or was she too simply having trouble dealing with her life or some other cause? -- I believe that Olga may have been sickly, but then again, it may be a case of conversion disorder.  I really think the strain of having to keep so many secrets from such a young age took a toll on her mental health and that manifested itself as physical symptoms.

What did you think about the way Nicholas and Alexandra raised their children? (Slept on cots, very restricted access to the outside world, repaired and reused clothes) -- Nicholas' & Alexandra's own upbringings were relatively sparse in comparison to other royals at the time, and they raised their children in similar ways. I really don't have a problem with the sparseness of the upbringing, though it would be luxurious compared to my own childhood.

What do you think of the family's belief in mysticism with 'their friend' Rasputin? -- Rasputin saved Alexandra's only son, the heir to the throne. I think she would have done literally anything to save Alexis.  But I do think that Rasputin capitalized on that for his own benefit.  I do think Rasputin was a charlatan.  I don't necessarily believe that Nicholas was as enamored with Rasputin as Alexandra was, but I think he wanted to keep his wife happy.  I also think that in addition to concern for her son, much of Alexandra's faith in Rasputin came from her own guilt at having been the person who caused Alexis to suffer from hemophilia.

What, if anything, could they have done to prevent their eventual downfall? -- I think preventing the downfall of the Russian Royal Family needed to have happened long before Nicholas was born.  The seeds of revolution were sown when the serfs were freed.  The writing was on the wall from the beginning, and I think Nicholas' reign was just of perfect storm of events the could only being about a violent revolution and his own death.

Why do you think they were murdered instead of just letting them live somewhere else peacefully? Why were they turned away by other countries for refuge? -- Other books I have read indicated there were counterrevolutionaries in Ekaterinburg who were ready and able to rescue the Tsar and his family.  The family had to be killed to prevent any rescue.  Most other countries did not want to touch the royal family, I think for 2 reasons:  (1) Alexandra was Kaiser Wilhelm's first cousin and there were rumors of her correspondence and compliance with the Kaiser and the german war effort; that taint was too much for the Allies to take on safely; and (2) I think other countries did not want the revolutionaries to gain a foothold within their borders; Publicly sheltering Nicholas would have made them a target for similar revolutionary action and would have been a HUGE security risk at a time when manpower was badly needed elsewhere. 

Do you think the book did a good job of bringing the children to life for the reader or do you think it was too detail oriented? -- I think it was far too detail oriented in the wrong way, there was much detail in the book, but not nearly enough about the title subjects.

How do you feel that the book treated the historical context to the lives of the daughters, whether or not they experienced those events - too much, too little? -- I'm not really sure I understand this question enough to answer it.

How do you feel about the book's depiction of their final day? -- There is no getting around the final day, unless you are writing an alternative history.  It's a bad thing, and there is no real sugar-coating history's ending.  I did like the way the book portrayed the commander at the Iptaiev House, every other book I have read indicates he was a real son-of-a-bitch bastard and I think this book did a good job conveying that character.  The end of the book was never going to be happy and there is no way to make it happy.  I think it was s accurate as possible without being as graphic as other books I have read have been. That's about the best it can be.

Do you have any recommendations for other books set in this time period?

[aurora]

dorothyinAus , thanks for weighing in. I know you read a lot of history and biographies so it's good to hear your confirmation that this one just has too much detail.

[dorothyinAus]

Apr 26, 2017 20:10:41 GMT -5 monkeyfeet said:

Do you have any recommendations for other books set in this time period?

I read Robert K. Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra in 8th grade and have re-read it several times since.  I also read the follow-up The Romanovs: The Final Chapter when it came out in 1995.

A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra Their Own Story was an interesting look at the couple in their own words.

Edvard Radzinsky's The Last Tsar: The Life and Death of Nicholas II was very good as well.

Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria was interesting and had the bonus of discussing Queen Maud of Norway, who is often forgotten in the period.  Which reminds me, I really much look for more about her.

I really haven't read anything written after the information from the DNA testing came out, so some of the information in the above books is not incorrect, but outdated, though it's all to do with the murder, and not with the reign.

I have Helen Rappaport's Caught in the Revolution and The Three Emperors: Three Cousins, Three Empires and the Road to World War One on my TBR list, and I am sure there will be a good number of books coming out between now and next year, the 100th anniversary so I'm certainly going to have more reading materials.

[dorothyinAus]

Apr 26, 2017 20:42:17 GMT -5 aurora said:

dorothyinAus , thanks for weighing in. I know you read a lot of history and biographies so it's good to hear your confirmation that this one just has too much detail.

Yes, I definitely thought it could have used a heavier-handed editor.  It had such great potential as a book, but ended up disappointing.  There is no way to tell the story without the drama of the history, because the story is part of the drama of the history, but I am certain there is a better way to write the story, or at least structure it to make it more interesting to read.

Some non-fiction is written more novel-like with a story arc that draws the reader through it.  I found Destiny of the Republic was like that, it was a pleasure to read and a well-crafted telling of the story.  The Romanov Daughters was more like a paper written for a history paper with lots of facts and quotes, but not much of a story arc so it was drier and harder to read.

[dorothyinAus]

Apr 26, 2017 15:38:09 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

This thread is not encouraging me to continue reading.... I think I'm only 30% through.

In my opinion, this is not the book to start reading about this period/subject.  It is a bit dry and history paper-like.  I love the period, so I would encourage you to finish it, but that is my love of the period talking and not an objective view of the book.

If you know the history, you know how the story ends and the book does not mince words about it.  I actually found the beginning of the book better than the middle & end, but the beginning was not as much about the girls.

I can't decide if the author was trying to make this an all-encompassing book about the period/subject or just providing all the "interesting" bits she found during her research.  I really do think it needed better editing and a better structure.

[ufcasey]

Apr 26, 2017 17:45:02 GMT -5 rootbeerfloat said:

I thought this was pretty boring. There was too much detail about their outfits or what some random unknown person had written about an event to another random unknown person. Every time they mentioned a guard, I was hoping it would lead to some affair or romance, but no lol. They really were so sheltered as to have had dull lives. I didn't have a lot of sympathy for Alexandra, and I thought Nicholas was too dumb to lead a country (outdated system of government or not). I didn't need the gruesome details of their execution, but that was a let-down, too.

Yes! Listening to the audiobook for the part where they listed out, in excruciating detail, the cost of repairing several items of clothing....ugh! That was the one point of the book I wished I had been reading it so I could have more easily skimmed over that part once I saw it was just a list of stuff. That no one cares about. Talk about filler.

[ufcasey]

dorothyinAus - your comments are basically spot-on with how I felt about this book! I will definitely be checking out the other books you recommended.

[monkeyfeet]

dorothyinAus, thanks for the recommendations!!