Thursday, August 12, 2010

"Dreaming Anastasia" by Joy Preble [4 1/2]



Anastasia Romanov,
the daughter of the last Tsar of Russia,
is believed to be dead by the world, but she is alive,
and when she sleeps, she dreams ...
Anne Michaelson
doesn't know much about Russian history; she is
more worried about getting into a good college.
But then the dreams start ...

In her dreams Anne is somewhere else. She is someone else.
The dreams seem as real as her waking life, and they terrify her.
Then a stranger offers to explain them - a boy who by
all appearances is her age. He claims he has been waiting for someone who can help save Anastasia. And through him, Anne sees: you don't need to be imprisoned to be trapped.

Irish said to me you'll just love this cover Legs ... well she was right, it is just beautiful and looking closely you'll see an image of Ethan with his stunning blue eyes. The second book is just as beautiful ... yes there is a next installment called "HAUNTED" coming early 2011.
So the cover drew me first followed closely by the write up from the back cover ... it sounded very intriguing. I love the idea of taking a story about Anastasia Romanov and the Russian history and blending it with a story of now. But did it live up to this idea?

So the main three characters of this novel are Anastasia, Anne and Ethan with a supporting role from Tess, Anne's best friend. Each of these characters were strong in their own individual ways and complemented the story. The author has given each character a chapter so you don't get confused with what's going on and it's good to read from the male point of view. Anastasia has written letters to her family and through this you get the background information you need to know about the magic in the novel and what happens to her. The blending of past and present was really well done and you do get a sense of Anastasia's history. Our handsome male hero is swoon worthy and our heroine is coming up to scratch with her destiny and her new abilities.

But ... I did feel like the author rushed the ending of the novel just a little. I was hoping for Anne to do something more with her powers and perhaps more to develop between Ethan and Anne, sadly not to be ... at least at this stage. I don't know if the next book continues off from where this one left of, or if it's another character altogether?

This is a book that you'll really enjoy and it reads really well, you won't want to put it down until your finished. There are a couple of swear words in it so I'd probably not recommend to under 15's. It's a novel about LOVE. MAGIC, and the POWER of DREAMS.

I rate this book 4 1/2 stars

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