Some Secrets Are Better Left Kept

"It's important to believe in something bigger than yourself."

--Jennifer Laam, Secret Daughter of the Tsar
    

Genre: Adult Contemporary, Historical Fiction. Alternative History

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Pages: 344

Publication Date: October 22nd, 2013

Source: Gifted to me by the lovely Erin Lindsay McCabe

Find on Goodreads

Previous Books in Series: Standalone

Goodreads Description

A compelling alternate history of the Romanov family in which a secret fifth daughter—smuggled out of Russia before the revolution—continues the royal lineage to dramatic consequences

In her riveting debut novel, The Secret Daughter of the Tsar, Jennifer Laam seamlessly braids together the stories of three women: Veronica, Lena, and Charlotte. Veronica is an aspiring historian living in present-day Los Angeles when she meets a mysterious man who may be heir to the Russian throne. As she sets about investigating the legitimacy of his claim through a winding path of romance and deception, the ghosts of her own past begin to haunt her. Lena, a servant in the imperial Russian court of 1902, is approached by the desperate Empress Alexandra. After conceiving four daughters, the Empress is determined to sire a son and believes Lena can help her. Once elevated to the Romanov’s treacherous inner circle, Lena finds herself under the watchful eye of the meddling Dowager Empress Marie. Charlotte, a former ballerina living in World War II occupied Paris, receives a surprise visit from a German officer. Determined to protect her son from the Nazis, Charlotte escapes the city, but not before learning that the officer’s interest in her stems from his longstanding obsession with the fate of the Russian monarchy. Then as Veronica's passion intensifies, and her search for the true heir to the throne takes a dangerous turn, the reader learns just how these three vastly different women are connected. The Secret Daughter of the Tsar is thrilling from its first intense moments until its final, unexpected conclusion.

The Settings
This book takes place across three time periods and three different settings. Tsarist Russia, Occupied Paris, and present-day Los Angeles. This was the best part of the book for me. I loved being immersed in this history and taking a secret look into the lives of the Romanovs. Having read a non-fiction book about Nicholas and Alexandra, I was pleasantly surprised to have the focus be on the positive attributes of Alexandra. The look we get in the Winter Palace, the streets of Paris, and the heat of Los Angeles was what kept this book going for me, as well as the subsequen history at the time. The ominous feeling of knowing the fates of the Romanovs years before tragedy happened is a perverse fascination for me and thus why I read historical fiction.

The Characters
I liked the characters, I didn't not like them but they were forgettable. I really love when books have multiple story lines especially over different time periods but this book is not a great example of that. The characterizations felt superficial, watered down, and rushed. I felt zero emotional connection to any of the three women featured and I really wanted to. I feel like if this was about a 600 page book with more build-up and description, this story would have really soared. But with the constraints of only being a 344 page book, we basically got a novella of each story...which sucks because the idea is really fantastic.

The Pacing
Along with my thoughts about the characters above, the pacing ties into this as well. When I'm not invested I kept falling out of the story. The first 100 pages flew by and I was excited to read but then I kept getting distracted while reading. Not wanting to keep going, and by the end of the book I just wanted to be done. I felt the romance aspect of the present-day story was insta-love rushed and it just didn't feel organic to the story.

Standing in Line Outside
If you love Tsarist Russia, superficial characterization, and rushed plots...this book's for you.

{Time Travel To} World War II

"​Ordnance Survey One-Inch Map

​"​

by bull_de is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Hey ya'll! The Time Travel To feature is back with my fellow friends Hannah from So Obsessed With, and Alexa from Alexa Loves Books because we are all historical fiction obsessed! We wanted to try and find a way to highlight our favorite time periods that we like to read about and tend to gravitate towards and give our breakdown of favorite books. This post is all about WWII. All three of us seem to have an affinity for this time period and we're each sharing our favorite books taking place in this time period.

The feature is broken down into three parts. {Departure}-we'll tell you why we love this time period; {In Transit}--highlighting a few books we love; and {Arrival}--a few books we haven't gotten to yet but cannot wait to read.

 Description of my chosen time period or place 

DEPARTURE// I don't know what it is that draws me to WWII except that even as a young girl it has always fascinated me. As an adolescent, I think it was so difficult to fathom that these horrors actually occurred in real life that I needed to read about to try and wrap my brain and understand to the best of my ability how and why something like this could happen. When I think about what draws me to it today, it's the intricacies and complexities of how many different nations were affected by it and what role they played during that time.

For pictures of this time period, I decided to include my own personal photos taken at the concentration camps I have visited when traveling. These are legit the only pictures I have. While photos are not prohibited it felt really creepy and eerie to me to be taking a ton of photos at a place where so much suffering has occurred. So a few general snaps to remember what it looked like even though the images will be forever burned into my brain.

Dachau Concentration Camp--Germany

 

 

Aushwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp--Poland

 

 

 

Favorite books I've read from this time period or place

 

IN TRANSIT// Alexa, Hannah and I decided to each highlight our favorite Middle Grade, Young Adult, and Adult WWII novel and also adding in a few extras.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry--I was obsessed with Lois Lowry as a child and Number the Stars was one of those books I read constantly. First, the main character has my Mom's name and it is not a super common one. Second, I really looked up to Anne Marie and how brave she was. I wanted to be like her when I was a kid and have that kind of heroism. Her selfless nature and her devotion to her friend kept me coming back time and time again.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein--Wow. This book is one that absolutely blew me away in the most unexpected way. I was ugly crying at multiple points and with Number the Stars as well as my adult pick, the theme of sacrifice is heavy. Maddie and Queenie have a friendship we should all strive for. They love one another and their bravery never ceases to amaze me. The writing style is unique and not for everyone but it worked for me in so many ways. It is brilliant how this novel is written and comes together and would recommend this book to everyone.

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons--I mean, where do I even begin with this book? It is one of my most favorite books of all time. I read it on a whim when I needed a long book to keep me occupied while traveling in Africa where electricity for charging my Kindle would be few and far between and The Bronze Horseman was that book. So much so that when I cut my foot in the Indian Ocean and was laid up in bed for 2 days I wasn't even upset about it. The romance, the story, the sacrifices, the utter horror of what the people of Leningrad went through during the siege of their city is so atrocious it is borderline actually unbelievable what these people went through. Add in the most incredible love story I've ever read and we have ourselves one of my favorite books of all time. Review

A books I want to read from this time period or place that I haven't read yet.

ARRIVAL // Even with all the WWII books I've read there are a few I haven't gotten to yet and one of them is thanks to Hannah!

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr-- {Goodreads}--This is one of Hannah's picks and I cannot wait to read this. She says it's so good and I'm definitely going to be checking this out!

Early One Morning by Virginia Baily {Goodreads}--This book takes place in Rome and I've never read a WWII taking place in Italy...crazy, I know!! But this book I got at BEA so I'm excited to read this soon!