| Title | : | The Diamond Secret: A Retelling of Anastasia |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1416975306 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781416975304 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 240 |
| Publication | : | First published January 25, 2009 |
The Diamond Secret: A Retelling of Anastasia Reviews
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I have always been fasinated by the story of Anastasia, which is the only reason I picked up this book--some of the "Once Upon a Time" novels are really awful, and this is coming from someone who loves fairy tales--and I was disappointed.
Picture the 1990s animated movie of Anastasia--now make Anastasia 17/18, like she was in real life at the House of Special Purpose, call her Nadya instead of Anya, and renamed the two con men, make the younger man a guard at the House, who witnessed the murders, and you've got the basis for "The Diamond Secret".
There's a diamond necklace behind the title that proves her identity to her grandmother in Paris, and she falls in love with one of the con men (Anya/Dimitri anyone?) along the way. She also has dreams of her past. Turn Rasputin into a dead man, cast his creepy assistant in his place, and you've got the villain.
The main difference between this novel and the film is the more historically acurate novel (the murders of the family, the jewel-lined corsets and pedicoats, Anastasia being a teenager, not a little girl). However, the basics of the plot seem ripped straight from the movie, just with slightly different names (there's even train-hopping!).
"The Diamond Secret" is still a good novel based on the myth of Anastasia and an entertaining read, but it does echo the 1990s film version a bit too much. Well-written and mostly historically acurate. -
Review updated -
For good and bad, this book reminded me a lot of the movie Anastasia. Little details were different, and the magic was removed, but it was still extremely similar and followed the same basic plot. But, I loved that movie. It’s probably still one of my all time favorites, and this book appealed to me for the same reasons I loved the movie. So, I still enjoyed the book a lot despite strong similarities (I wouldn’t call it a knock-off/rip-off, but I would understand if someone else said that).
The historic details were much better though, and Weyn painted the time period well. I enjoy Weyn’s writing style and her use of history, but I wish that she’d been able to find a way to give the tale a new twist, instead of just kind of expanding on the movie. I also enjoyed Sergei (not-Dimitri)’s partner, who I felt was much better developed than his counterpart in the movie (not that I didn’t love Vladimir).
For those who enjoy the Once Upon a Time series, especially Weyn’s books in it (which are typically my favorite), I recommend reading the book, but just accept up front that it’s a lot like the movie–it’ll be much easier to read that way.
The book was also awfully predictable, more so than the typical book in this series. I think it was the title, because the title gives away the "mystery" pretty early in the book. As soon as she starts dreaming about a diamond, you know it’s pretty essential to the plot, even more so than just that a reader knows to pay attention to a character’s dream.
Read more of my review, including sub-ratings and extra, at Bookwyrm Chrysalis :: YA Fantasy Book Reviews -
http://yafantasy.com/the-diamond-secret -
I love me a good alternate history story and fairytale retellings but this one? Not so much.
The first thing that jumped out to me was the writing. It was clunky, stiff, with poor to awkward word choices. The dialogue seemed unnatural and didn’t flow at all. It felt to “modern” to be honest to fit in with the time period, not to mention there were instances where I had to raise my eyebrow in amusement because some of the things the character said were so childish, I couldn’t help but go “pfft”.
I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. Especially the main girl, Nadya, who’s supposed to be Anastasia. Her voice, thoughts, speech, and actions were very immature and rather dense. Even if she was a teen, I wouldn’t expect the grand duchess of Russia to be a ditzy woman, memory or not. Not to mention the interactions between the two main characters were so unrealistic! One minute they hate each other, sniping at one another, then the next they’re having a jolly good time as friends, and then oops one fall into a ditch later they’re all in love? What-the-heck?
The plot of this story was a good idea (albeit heavily borrowed from the movie), but it lacked in execution. There were moments and scenes that were better than the rest, the whole bit with the necklace and the hidden diamond was a positive for me, and the grandmother’s snarky character, but overall I did not like this story. The ending too was pretty unsatisfying. She just finds her grandma, throws an immature tantrum about how she can’t live without this man after finding out he’s going to leave for America, and then wooosh she rushes off to meet him and they sail away forever? Uh, what? She obviously has no consideration for the other characters’ feelings does she?
I absolutely love the cover though! The gown and her hairstyle is absolutely gorgeous, not to mention it’s a scene from the book. I always like it when book covers have relevance to the actual story. So, it saves itself from getting a lower grade because of this. Not sure if I’d read any of the other novels in this “Once Upon a Time” series, but I may find myself erring on the hopeful side again because the covers are just too pretty. (Yes, I’m a sucker for aesthetics.) -
"Do you know what 'Anastasia' means?"
"No. Tell me," Nadya replied.
"It means 'breaker of chains'."
GTFO -- there's only one Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains and that's Daenerys Stormborn.
THE GOOD
Since this could be a literary accompaniment to the 1997 animated movie, you'll probably enjoy if you want to re-live the movie.
THE BAD
1) Insta-love with zero chemistry and zero romantic development. And zero brains.
2) Barely developed characters and a flat, monotonous story.
3) Nadya trying to associate herself with the Mother of Dragons. 🙅🏻
THE VERDICT
The sudden onslaught of insta-soul mates was time of death for me and that "breaker of chains" dialogue sealed the hate...but up until then, I'd say this read as a mediocre young adult book. I'll save you the trouble and reiterate that it's literally a 90% retelling of the animated movie. Better off watching that instead. -
”’I’m so tired of being lost and alone.’
Empress Marie reached out her soft, bony hand and laid it on top of Nadya’s hand.
‘I am too,’ she said.”’
Yet another Anastasia retelling book!! Look at it this way: at least this book didn’t start off with a disclaimer that it was based on a true story.
Russia, 1919. The Russian Empire has fallen. Tsar Nicholas II, the last czar of Russia, has been assassinated, along with his entire family. Despite their demise, there is a rumor floating all around Russia that the youngest Romanov daughter, Anastasia, managed to escape and is, in fact, alive.
Nadya is an ordinary maid at a tavern in the middle of nowhere Russia. Orphaned at a young age and raised in an asylum, Nadya has no memory of who she is or where she comes from. Elsewhere, Sergei and Ivan are concocting a plan to try and convince the Dowager Empress that her long lost granddaughter Anastasia is still alive. They just have to find a presentable woman who will convince her. Enter Nadya. She has the looks and mannerisms, but will she agree to the plan? And what if the rumor is true? What if, in fact, they have found Anastasia Romanov?
Would you look at that. A Once Upon a Time book from the series that I actually liked. I absolutely loved this series when I was younger, but after reading some of them again as an adult, I thought they were all absolutely ridiculous. By the time this book was published, I had aged out of the series. After my failed attempt at reading the three books I did as an adult, I swore to myself that I was finished. But loving all things Romanov, I couldn’t resist the chance to read this one. And I was pleasantly surprised.
Be that as it may, this book was super sweet. Short, clean, and sweet. There wasn’t anything that astounded me into loving this book with every fiber of my soul, but it didn’t hardcore offend me either. This was a light, escapist read that whet my appetite. I was able to lose myself in the story and enjoy it for what it was. Although I will say, the series has a serious problem with its villains. They’re always mentioned as this menacing presence, but they only actually show up in the book for all of a couple pages. WTH?
From reading this book, there are going to be two very clear camps when it comes to this book. If you’re a Romanov purist who has done extensive research into the Romanov family, you will hate this book with the passion of a thousand Australian bushfires. It will make your blood boil. You’ll want this book to die a thousand deaths, just as Rasputin did because the fucker wouldn’t die (seriously. They had to try three freakin’ times before he actually choked out his last breath.)
This book was clearly written for those who watched (and loved) the animated Anastasia movie from 1997. The plot is nearly identical: Anastasia Romanov has been rumored to be alive, two swindlers try to pass her off as the real thing so they can get the reward money, the more dashing and handsome of the two falls in love with her and rethinks his position, she turns out to be the real thing, the end. Same darn plot. Being that I watched the heck out of that movie when I was younger, this book didn’t bother me as much. As a lover of history myself, I know how important it is to protect the historical integrity of things, which actually makes the Once Upon a Time series the perfect place to speculate about the Anastasia theory.
In a sense the theory of Anastasia Romanov surviving the massacre that killed her entire family is, indeed, a fairytale. We all would love to believe it’s true and that she somehow managed to survive and live happily ever after, but in our hearts of hearts we know that’s not the case. The Romanovs were a tragic family who were immensely sheltered from the realities outside the palace walls who met a horrifically violent and tragic end. In a sense, there really was no good reason for them to be assassinated, but they were. The fact that all five of the Romanov children were killed is something that, in hindsight, seems so unfair. They had nothing to do with how the country was run, and they were so sheltered from the outside world that they probably had no idea what was really going on. They were the innocents in all this, and they were terribly betrayed.
Perhaps by acknowledging the myths that Anastasia Romanov, the most lively and mischievous of the sisters, managed to survive is a way for us to cope, comprehend, and perhaps even atone for the horrific things done to her. I actually think, in her own way, she would approve. She loved writing stories and plays. This book should not be taken as an accurate historical account as much as wish fulfillment. And if that’s the case, the author did a fine job attempting to give everyone’s favorite grand duchess her own happily ever after. -
Cute book- great addition to the series, although I'm not sure I'd count the story of Anastasia as a "Once Upon A Time" fairytale. Since the legend itself is clearly based on historical events that occurred only a century ago, and is devoid of magic, or anything that would typically classify it as a fairytale, I had issues accepting this as a part of the series. Sure, it was a good book, but I had a few problems:
CONS:
1) The story is essentially a retelling of the story 1997 animated feature. It's a good movie, and it certainly alters ones perception of the story, but this really did seem like a reimagined version of the movie with a few new twists.
2) The "conflict" with the main antagonist was over far too quickly. Although he followed the group for the entire book, his confrontation with the party was brief and over within a few pages.
3) The afterword. The fact that we now know what happened to Anastasia sort of ruins this story. In fairy tales, we are able to suspend our disbelief, to pretend miracles happen, and that good can triumph. But the real story of the Romanovs is too real. We have DNA evidence, government papers, and even bodies. And in the end, that hard, cold reality ruins the fairytale.
4) As in many of the more recent books, I felt there was little chemistry between Nadya and her love interest. If the romance had been more believable and built up more, such as in Water Song, I do believe I would have liked it better.
5) The title, in connection with the evil villain's demands and Nadya's dreams, gives away most of the story pretty early on. A pretty small complaint, I know, but I hate when the plot twists are given away by a dramatic title.
PROS:
1) The author did a great job of showing us Bolshevik Russia and incorporating history in the story. It wasn't too heavy handed, and the pieces of "fact" were incorporate cleverly and seamlessly. Bravo!
2)I enjoyed that the story was told from three viewpoints of the three main characters. I also enjoyed the fact that the story incorporated a third character- Sergei, instead of just focusing on the girl and her boytoy. It made things more interesting.
3) As many goodreaders mentioned, the story is almost a complete rip off of the movie. However, that movie is one of my favorites, and a solid story. And the book certainly pays the movie homage, if nothing more. It's a solid story and an ultimately satisfying one.
All in all, Diamond Secret was a good read, but due to the subject matter and the way it followed history and a fairly recent and popular film, I simply did not enjoy this one. My score of three reflects both my disappointment in the final product (a 2) and the overall quality of the book (around a 4). I'm hoping the next will be better! -
Boring.
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For the record, I was too hard on this book. The stuff I said about it a few years ago in my audio review were all true, this book does have some problems (it needed at least another draft, in my opinion, before publication) but I was so busy finger-pointing at its flaws I failed to acknowledge its merits as well. Suzanne Weyn, you may not be my favorite author (I still think "The Night Dance" was one of the worst things I've ever read), but you didn't deserve that. You didn't deserve such a negative review for what was clearly a good story, under it all.
So here is my updated review, where I will highlight both its faults AND its merits.
Summary: Similarly to the Don Bluth Film, a girl is coned by two conmen into joining their con and pretending to be Anastasia, only to find out she actually IS Anastasia.
In examining the bare bones of the story, it doesn't seem very original, but to be fair, it IS a retelling as it claims to be. Weyn introduces several elements of her own, such as Rasputin's assistant and the rag doll and Anastasia's grandmother being the one who sewed jewels into the girls' clothing rather than Alexandra and the girls themselves. Also, while I have some issues with his character (I will get to that later in this review, he's not getting off that easy), Ivan isn't a COMPLETE dumbed-down Dimitri knock off. In re-reading this, it's actually clear that he DOES have some character traits of his own, and I sympathized with him (a little) more than during my first reading years ago. Sergei deserves more credit for being original to Weyn's version than I gave him initially. Yes, he plays the Vlad role, BUT the idea that he's only 25 (something I think I missed in my first reading) and so actually much closer to Ivan and Nadya's ages changes the dynamic a little.
Also, Weyn does capture Anastasia's prank-loving nature with a number of cutesy pranks that would have been better if seen from her or Ivan's POVs, rather than Sergei's in passing, but this was still charming.
This book is actually pretty enjoyable (thus the extra star I've added) for fans of the Don Bluth film and the more recent Broadway play (in a weird way, Ivan is almost a combination of Gleb and Dmitry, so that's interesting). And I'm not going to lie, after seeing Royal Misfits on youtube, I now picture Nadya's rag doll as Creepy Anya, I just DO, nothing can cure me of that.
Now for the negative stuff (if you want more, my old review is still up, but you'll get an overview here).
Yes, the whole "we teach her nothing, and just tell the empress she lost her memory" is every bit as stupid now, as it was then. I stand by that. This plot thread is lame. But it maybe doesn't taint the whole plot the way I originally thought.
Ivan. Oh, Ivan. Now I remember the real reason I hated your guts. It wasn't just because I thought you were kind of stupid (you were, but in fairness, not any more than Anastasia's love interest in House of Special Purpose). It was the hair-cutting scene. There is literally a scene where Ivan snatches up Nadya's hair and cuts it off. Nadya gets over it (though she's initially upset), but I don't think I did. See, that's kind of a personal trigger for me. Something similar happened to me (someone grabbed my hair and forcibly cut off the ends when I was younger), and I felt really bad for Nadya. I think the scene would have been less upsetting if he gave her a choice, even initially. Or let her try to comb out the knots before he did that.
It somewhat bothered me before that Ivan makes Nadya hate him on purpose, so she can have a better life, then changes his mind and flat out reveals to the empress that she's (as far as he thinks) not really Anastasia so that she has no choice but to be with him after all. It seemed counterproductive and a way to rush the ending. But, in retrospect, it's not that bad. All of the books in this series have rushed endings, it's kind of their format, and of those, and of Weyn's, this one is obvious the best, so I'll give it a friendly pass.
What I do have to call it out on, however, is the uncomfortable number of Deus Ex Machinas. Oh boy are there are a lot of them in this book! The land they are crossing through happens to be owned by Sergei's friend, Nadya randomly happens to hear news of Sergei's wife, Rasputin's assistant happens to have a scar so people can recognize him years later... And it's just scratching the service. It gets a little silly.
That said, I really enjoyed in this time around! To my great surprise, I had a lot of fun with this simple story, knowing what I was getting into. Thus the better review.
Oh, and I was wrong about that head-butt doing in Rasputin's assistant. Apparently I missed the part where it reveals they find him alive. All Ivan did was knock him into a river. -
This book is part of the
2015 Reading Challange : A book with bad reviews.
For those of you who don't know, I am OBSESSED with the 1997 20th Century Fox animated film Anastasia, which is a fun yet sophisticated take on the "Anastasia Romanova escaped her execution and is alive theory" with the hottest animated character ever and my first and still one my favorite OTPs. (Idk why I just said that. If you haven't watched this film drop everything right now and go watch it.)
Anyhoo, The Once Upon a Time series is a series of YA novels that are fairly tale retellings written by various authors. The only other one I have read is
Scarlet Moon, which though I read many years ago when I was 16, was a decent Red Riding Hood retelling. That being said, I am not sure why a speculative story about a real life person like Anastasia is in this fairy tale retelling category, but I'm guessing it is because the movie Anastasia has joined the ranks of Disney Princess movies.
This book sounded like it had a similar premise to the movie. I figured it would be fun to revisit a similar story in print format. What I wasn't expecting was that it would be EXACTLY like the movie, sans magic and with very poor writing. Like to the point where certain lines of dialogue are so much the same that it could be considered copyright infringement (trust me, I have this movie memorized...no shame). In fact, I'm not sure how the intellectual property on this even works.
But back to the writing. It sounded like an 8th grader trying their hand at creative writing. Nadya (Anastasia) and the two Vlad and Dimitri-like characters have no distinct voice, are woefully undeveloped, and think like a 14 might sound in their diary. (Remember, just because you are writing for a teenaged audience doesn't mean your adult characters have to sound like teenagers!) Nadya and Ivan were supposed to have some sort of romance but it was like trying to ship 2 pieces of driftwood.
It was kind of disappointing that this book was so bad. However, I would encourage anyone who likes the movie Anastasia and had any remote interest in reading this to read
Anastasia's Secret, which was excellent! -
How about NO. Diamonds are cliche. What kind of title is that?
Anastasia was actually not a fairy tale.
[If you can't tell, the Romanovs are rolling in their graves.]
A copy
of a more inaccurate copy
of a romanticised copy
of an impostor
to the real thing
I didn't actually read it because my library doesn't have it, but I've read the bad reviews, not to mention the way the sampler reads."The White Russian Army is coming to save us, just as father said they would," Olga told her, giddy with excitement.
Okay, so this book sticks closer to history than the Fox film, it looks like, but doesn't the writing make you cringe (I mean, unless you're a middle school English teacher who's used to this kind of writing)? And also, if you've researched far enough to know that they were executed in Ekaterinburg, about the Red/White army thing, and the fact that Maria was called Mashka, it's one step more of research to discover that by this point in time, they knew that if the White army was coming, they Reds would shoot them, and that they were sure they would never go back to the palace. Not only that, but the all the sisters act as if they were twelve, when history will easily tell you that Olga was almost 23, Tatiana 21, Maria 19, and Anastasia 17. Come on, do the math.
"We're going to be out of this awful place soom!" Mashka exulted.
"It's better here than it was in Siberia," Anastasia pointed out as she swung her bare feet onto the cold wooden floor.
"But not mearly as good as it was in at the palace," Olga countered.
You're not writing a film for a bunch of three-to-seven-year-olds, so can't you stop the happy-clappy crap?
I will not be reading any more than the preview of this.
Oh yeah, and diamonds are cliche. Did I say that? -
FINALLY, one of these Once Upon a Time books that wasn't terrible. I knew there were some in the series that were decent.
This one was interesting because it's not really a fairy tale retelling. The story of Anastasia isn't a fairy tale....it's fairly recent history. This book was published 2 years after DNA evidence confirmed that the graves of the missing Romanovs had been found, so this book wasn't even the author's whimsical speculation on the legends surrounding Anastasia's supposed survival. I'm going to still shelve it under "retold tales", but really it's more like "alternative history". There were also no fantasy elements, just straight historical fiction.
What set this apart from many of the other books in this series is that it wasn't overly mushy. Sure, there was some insta-love and families coming tearfully together....but it wasn't nearly on the same level as some of the books written by Cameron Dokey where the plots resolve all in a rush with the solution to every problem being "love". There weren't soppy goodbye scenes that lasted half a dozen pages, like the last book in this series that I read. It was a relief to not roll my eyes every other page as I read.
That's not to say that this book was great. Like all of these, it suffers for being too short. Relationships had to form swiftly, travel and other chunks of time had to be skimmed over, and the conflicts wrapped up too quickly and easily. The setting was just barely developed; we know the place and the time period because we know it's right after the Romanov assassinations, but there wasn't a lot of detail that really made this *feel* like early 20th century Russia. You could tell the author had done research into the events (at least read the Wikipedia page), but the short length of the book prevented more historic detail. Two of the main fictional characters had painfully stereotypical Russian names (Ivan and Sergei), but there wasn't much else to show that the author had studied up on the language or culture outside of the immediately historical facts surrounding Anastasia's death. Interestingly, we don't see Russian in the text anywhere, but French is used a few times.
So, I won't be keeping this one for my collection of retold fairy tales, but I still feel like it's worth a read for anyone interested in a brief overview of the Anastasia story. -
I couldn’t actually finish this book but I marked it as done just to say I’m actually finished with reading this book.
From the very beginning, it had the same base plot for the animated movie. The only difference being some name changes and no magic. The writing was dull. It’s very rare that I put down a book and don’t push through it, even if I’m not enjoying it. But why read a plot I already know about? It wasn’t a retelling. It was a fan fiction or copy of someone else’s work. Someone already retold it this way: Dreamworks.
Highly disappointed. 2 stars. -
There is just something about the Anastasia story that will always capture my interest. And this version, is rather sweet in my mind. I’m rereading some of these Once Upon a Time books so that I can track down the stories that I still need for my personal library.
-
I have really enjoyed this series of books thus far. For the most part they are engaging and original, albeit a little corny with writing that is less than stellar. But, the unique view of these fairy tales and the fresh voice of many of our heroines eclipses the oft shallow writing.
Now, we look into The Diamond Secret. This is the worst of the Once Upon a Time series I have read and, at this point, I believe I have read all that have so far been published. The Diamond Secret explores the story of Anastasia and what might have happened if she had lived. Although not actually a fairy tale, it is a legend that has inspired much thought, controversy and fantasy. A few other stories weren't exactly fairy tales either, so I can forgive this small lapse. I've been fascinated with the story of Anastasia since I watched the Fox animated feature that everyone I knew thought was done by Disney. What's not to love?! It's a great story. And, that's the whole problem with this book. It's the same story. Take the movie, substitute Rasputin for his horribly scarred sidekick, remove the supernatural element and add in a lust for beautiful gemstones and you have this book.
Now, I don't expect these books to be amazingly well written. That's not what these books are about and it's not really the audience they are directed at. As a general rule, with these stories I am easily able to overlook the writing because the stories are usually original enough to keep me entertained. I love fairy tales that take a completely unique look at an old tale. This story did not do that. The story was so close to the movie that I found myself unable and unwilling to overlook the poor writing. The whole book read like she was trying to hard. When talking to a friend, I compared the writing to people who speak using words like cornacopia or plethora. They use it to make themselves sound more intelligent and well versed, but it inevitably has the opposite effect- they just sound silly.
This book has been the most disappointing of the series thus far. Poor writing and an unoriginal (and beyond predictable) story makes this the first Once Upon a Time book to earn only 3 stars. I do need to go back and give Belle a 3, because I had many of the same problems reading that as I did this. (Has anyone read Beauty by Robin McKinley? Ya... Basically a watered down version). This one was a disappointment. I definitely don't recommend this for people new to the series. Keep this one on reserve after you've already had some exposure to the other stories. -
I'm not really sure what to say about this book. It was, at best, okay. There was nothing wrong with the book, necessarily, but there was nothing utterly fantastic about it, either. Truth be told, I forgot the book about ten minutes after I put it down, and I couldn't tell if anything I do seem to vaguely recall was in the book or if I'm remembering the cartoon "Anastasia" movie.
There are obviously many similarities between "Anastasia" and "The Diamond Secret." (Note to whomever is in charge of these things: A secret is neither a mystery nor a secret if it's right there in the title.) There are some differences. Most notably, there are no talking bats or smoke demons in the novel. Otherwise, the basic premise and sequence of events was essentially the same. At one point, I started humming the soundtrack to the movie because...why not?
This isn't to say the book was bad. It wasn't. If I had never seen the movie, I would likely have liked it more. However, having seen the movie, I can say that the characters in this book failed to capture my imagination or heart the way Anya and Dimitri did.
This is a fair addition to the series but added nothing really to a story I'd already seen. I won't say I definitely would never re-read the book, as I didn't hate it. However, it would likely be at the very bottom of my pile and would likely only ever make it there due to me forgetting I'd already read it. -
C-, so 2.5 stars I've read and enjoyed a few books in the Once Upon a Time series of fairytale retellings, but not so much this one. My first warning should have been the fact that a "retelling of Anastasia" was being sold as a fairytale. The story of what happened to Tsar Nicholas II and his family is quite well-known (spoiler: There's not an HEA) and also well-known is the fact that numerous imposters came forward over the years claiming to be Anastasia, the Tsar's youngest daughter.
This story is something of an alternate history, taking on the idea of what might have happened if Anastasia really was out there. In this version, she has lost much of her memory and is now working in a pub in the newly formed Soviet Union. There she is discovered by a former Army officer and an aristocrat who survived with not much more than the clothes on his back. Somehow these two plan to get her out of the country and into the loving embrace of her grandmother. And of course there's some romance along the way as well.
The entire book is written in a rather matter of fact, "I just dialed this in" kind of style. As a result, I found it hard to get a sense of any of the characters and I really didn't feel involved in the story. On top of all that, while I can appreciate alternative histories, this one had such thin worldbuilding that it felt more like shoddy research than an alternate world. I think I'll stick with some of the earlier books in the series. -
I've always loved stories about Annastasia and was really excited to learn that the "Once Upon a Time..." series had added her tale to the collection. Granted it is more of an urban legend than a fairytale, but I hoped that the outcome would be good. Suzanne Weyn did a good job with the story. I wasn't blown away, but I wasn't disappointed. She basically reitterated the tale we all know, there was no 'surprise' elements. Nontheless, a good read.
Nadya has worked in a tavern ever since she was thrown out of the mental institution. While she hates it, she doesn't know what else to do. Ivan and Sergei have heard about the Empress's offer of a reward if anyone can return her granddaughter Annastasia to her and prove that it is she. The two of them concoct a plan to take a girl that is similar enough to what they know of Annastasia (luckily, Sergei was an aristocrat connected with the Russian royal family and Ivan was a guard at the House of Special Purpose). They stumble upon Nadya and are enchanted. They pull her from her life of drudgery and into a sparkling world of the upper classes. The only thing Ivan didn't count on was falling in love with her himself... -
2.5 stars.
A retelling of "Anastasia" which, while not a fairytale, is a great story. I absolutely love the Fox Animation movie done in the 90's and
The Diamond Secret: A Retelling of "Anastasia"is a complete knock off of "Anastasia" Sure, names are changed and events play out slightly differently and the author threw in an extra plot point and some thing are more historically accurate(which was nice)but it's basically a copy in book form. Come on, really? Con men who find a girl to play Anastasia who then turns out to actually be the Grand Duchess Anastasia? Been there, done that, bought the movie and the t-shirt. I thought this was a retelling. A NEW way to tell Anastasia's story. Something I haven't seen or heard before. Which is a real shame because this probably would have been one of the books in this series that I would re read fairly frequently if it wasn't so blatantly stolen. -
I am slightly addicted to this Once Upon A Time series, even though they are never particularly remarkable. In general, the stories are too rushed, with not enough character development, and that's true again in this one. Although there is no curse or other magic, this retelling of the story of Anastasia is very similar to the 1997 animated movie (which I love). There were many scenes that echoed very closely scenes from the movie, but with less spark and vivacity than the movie's characters.
What does make this particular book interesting is its inclusion in a series of fairy tale retellings. Although the missing grand duchess was found to have been murdered with her family through modern DNA testing (as noted in the author's historical note), the legend of what-might-have-been for her is still captivating. Including her tale in a fairytale series is noteworthy because this is folklore in action. History becoming legend becoming fairy tale. -
-POTENTIAL SPOILERS-
This book is supposed to be a retelling of the original 1950's Anastasia movie, and somehow I'm the only person who knows that. And it shows. The sheer fact of doing a story based on a real-life person for a series on fairy-tale retellings sounds strange, but it is based on the fact she survived, which is fantasy anyway so I'll let it pass.
While there's technically not anything offensive in this book, it was just so boring. I didn't really relate to any of the characters, and sometimes it felt like the author didn't care about what she was writing. I love Suzanne Weyn's works, but this isn't one of her best.
There were a few scenes I liked, like the execution scene, and the scene where she gets dressed up and convinces people she's Anastasia, but other than that it was just boring.
There was potential in a story like this, but it didn't work and it's my least favorite of this series. -
This was a light, quick read. I have seen the Anastasia movie and read the Royal Diaries book about her and just generally have been interested in her story.
The Diamond Secret is a nice spin on the story. Some claim too much similarity to the movie and I can see it too, but I liked the movie so I don't mind.
It's not really a fairy tale, but I enjoy retellings of old stories and this one is no exception. A huge plus for this book is that there is no bad language or sex! I also really appreciated the selfless love that Ivan displayed. It's rare that love is described in a selfless way in fiction.
So while it's not original or terribly deep, it's sweet, clean and I enjoyed it which is why I gave it five stars. -
This installment in the "Once Upon A Time" series is a retelling of the fate of Anastasia Romanov, the last Grand Duchess of Imperial Russia. It draws heavily on the plot of Fox's animated film "Anastasia." Despite the lack of inventiveness or originality, it was an enjoyable, quick read. Bit lackluster, though, and it does not truly belong in the class of fairytales. Given the wealth of fairytales available, especially those that have not been retold a thousand times like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, however well done, it would be nice to see some of those lesser known gems be given a slot in this series.
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This was a great book, but not recommend for too young a reader due to the graphic nature of the assassination of the Romanov family. I loved how the author wove in facts from Anastasia's real life and also from the actual rumors circulating after her death. This was a nice mix of fact and fantasy as it portrays an example of what could have happened if Anastasia had survived the massacre of her family.
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Have you seen the movie "Anastasia" from the '90's? Then you've essentially read this book... >_>
It was a quick read, predictable. I think the inclusion of Rasputin's right-hand man was over too quickly. My favorite scenes come later in the book with Sergei's friend and meeting the Empress. The coincidence about Sergei was just a little too much. I'm glad I was able to borrow this book from the library, instead of purchasing it. -
Cute book, quick read. I liked the characters (especially the girl) and enjoyed the ending the author gave each of them. There was enough real history in it that I would have liked the book to follow through with an actually-possible scenario, but it was still good.
