Anastasia

By: Sophie Lark

Narrated by: Larissa Thompson, Anthony Santora

Anastasia is the princess no one needs: the fourth daughter born to an emperor without a son, and the only royal lacking a magical gift.

Until she collides with a young Cossack rebel, changing both their lives forever.

Damien is taken from everything he knows and raised as a ward of the Romanovs.

Anastasia develops a strange kind of magic shared only by the Black Monk Rasputin.

While her power grows in secret, boosted by forbidden contact with Damien, Anastasia makes a mistake with terrible consequences.

Fate grants her a single chance to set it right, but saving what she lost may cost everything she loves.

The Lark notes: I think what captivates us about Anastasia is our dream of what could have been. Anastasia’s death was so tragic that I wanted to give her another life.

This book is not a retelling of any other Anastasia story. It’s set in 1919 in a world similar to ours, but with magic. My next series will be a vampire family saga set in the modern version of that same world.

This is my fantasy of the happy ending Anastasia deserved. Not because she was a Romanov, but because she was a human. I want all of you to have the happy ending you deserve—it’s why I love writing romance.

Anastasia is an epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance. It is intended for mature listeners and contains spicy scenes not suitable for all ages.

©2022 Sophie Lark (P)2023 Sophie Lark

Wonderful and cruel

One of the greatest plot twist I have ever read. At the beginning it felt a little too slow, but by the end I completely understand why we need all the details. THE SLOW BURN WAS PAINFUL BUT I LOVE IT! I cried like a baby from the half of the book to the end.

A new spin on a timeless classic

One of my fav retellings to date! Even though this is a long read - I thought it was beautiful, and a wonderful reinvention of a story so many of us love.

Amazing!

The female narrator was AMAZING! Wonderful story if you like Russian history. The male narrator sounded good, however, his cadence was a bit… off. The rhythm in which he spoke just seemed choppy.

HEA I wanted for Anastasia

I was extremely apprehensive when starting this due to the magic and vampires but oh gosh was I pleased.
This love story made my heart cry and rejoice.
Not very “spicy” although the 3 scenes are good enough.
Lots of twist and turns, so it’s not predictable.
I would have enjoyed more on the ending BUT it’s not necessary because the absolute detail of the palace and parties in the beginning gave everything necessary.

phenomenal story

“Poor little princess. All your family’s dead. Who’s going to save you now?”
“I guess it’s going to be me”

Every morsel of this story had me gobbling it up. Infinite Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

*This review contains the mildest of spoilers, with nothing at all of the ending or the last like 40% of the book. I listened to this on Audible which was phenomenal.

Anastasia finally got the story and life that we all wanted for her, and what a badass she is. This is nothing like the Disney movie (which is still one of my top 3 fave movies ever), and this world is much heavier and less light-hearted. This is not a retelling of the movie, and it brings in a lot of important parts of Russia’s history and that of the Romanov family. Sophie Lark did this so beautifully that I could not stop listening to this or slow down to start a review as I was reading. There is a lot of war, the history of the different Romanov rulers, the duties of the royal family, sorcery and different creatures, and of course a sprinkle of romance.

Anastasia is the wild child of her family and has magic that could save everyone. It starts out when she saves her father from getting killed by Damion, a Cossack prince who is about her age. She stops time with her magic, which she’s never done before and adds 10 years to Damion’s servitude to her father even with their new peace treaty which ceases fighting and battling for land. As Anastasia grows and learns to use her magic and navigate the courts, Damion is serving in the war over his 10 years. She gets gifted a falcon named Artemis who I adore and finds that she has the ability to speak to animals. As she trains for her presentation day showing the court and her people what her magic abilities are, she also embraces her wildness and rebellious nature. She is ignorant of what her people are suffering because she was taught that the royal family has done no wrong and are born to rule. Damion challenges that in the few times they see each other and drive each other nuts, and later through letters. The heir to the throne, Aleksi is sick and not expected to live long. Rasputin, a mystic known throughout Russia for his future-telling and magic, says he can help. The royal family was reluctant but had no choice and he started treating the child which appeared to cure him. The family became dependent u[on Rasputin and his powers to heal while he infiltrated the courts, the people, and the family. He was charming and kind, and viewed as a holy man, and Anastasia wanted him to teach her how to use her magic and see what else she could do since he can do practically anything. As the story unfolds with more war and more unrest with the people, the royal family just continues to have parties and remain wealthy and unaffected. Some people see through Rasputin, and he garnishes a terrible reputation with whores and other vices, but they ignore it. Anastasia suspects him of something and digs around trying to uncover the truth. Her and Damion exchange letters and he challenges her on what she knows, and she lightens the dreariness of the front lines for him. They slowly fall in love through these letters, but this is definitely not a romance book, there is seriously just a sprinkle of that. As Anastasia and her family begin to fall and Rasputin strikes, the twists and turns of this story had my jaw on the floor. I was flabbergasted. I did not expect anything in the last like 30% of this book and do not want to spoil that at all even in the review. It was THAT good. Just know that Anastasia quickly had her eyes open to what her family’s rule was really like and turned her entire views upside down. There is love and loss, and suffering, and reality. The last 40%ish of this book was so fast-faced and so intense and honestly threw me for the biggest loop. I cannot recommend this enough.

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