Blog Tour and Review of Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble

10:17 PM

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (September 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1402218176
ISBN-13: 978-1402218170

What would you do if your nightmare turned out to be more than just a dream—and the only way to stop it was to believe the impossible?

Anastasia Romanov knows she should be dead; she watcher her family fall in a hail of gunfire. Instead, something, or someone saved her. Trapped and scared in a magical hut with a witch who may be friend or foe, she begins to come to grips with the truth about her situation: that some fates are WORSE than death.

In her dreams, sixteen year old Anne Michaelson is somewhere else. She is someone else. The dreams feel as real as her waking life and they terrify her. This is not good for her social life! Aside from that, Anne thinks her life is pretty ordinary - until she runs into handsome, mysterious, and (okay) annoying Ethan on her way to chemistry class. Now Anne has powers she doesn't understand, a history-altering mission that she doesn't want, and a growing attraction to a blue-eyed stranger that seems to be stalking her! And when Ethan realizes that Anne is the girl he's been searching for, things start to get a little surreal! Despite her skepticism and reluctance, Anne quickly realizes that you don't need to be imprisoned to be trapped! Stir in the doomed Duchess Anastasia, who is not quite as dead as the history books say, and the Baba Yaga, a legendary witch from Russian folklore, and you've got Dreaming Anastasia by debut novelist Joy Preble.

This contemporary YA fantasy alternates between the voices of Anne, Ethan, and Anastasia as they try to decipher what is going on, and who they can trust-which becomes difficult when you have secrets going back nearly 100 years...

Author's Website

Joy Preble grew up in Chicago (the setting for Dreaming Anastasia) though she moved to Texas and inexplicably began listening to country music, which she claims she didn’t like until then. She has an English degree from Northwestern University and she teaches English to high school kids. Dreaming Anastasia is her first novel. She can be found online at www.joypreble.com.

Review

Before I even start to tell you how magnificent I think that this book is, let me tell you that I have been fascinated by the story of the Romanov's since probably Junior High when I wrote a term paper on them. Ever since I've read quite a bit on the family and their fate. When I saw the theme of this book I really was dying to get my hands on it. I was really hoping for something really great and I wasn't disappointed at all in this debut novel by Joy Preble.

After reading the synopsis above I had really high hopes for this fantasy adventure and over and over while I read I was rewarded. I'd recommend this to any adult who's been interested in this story. Preble has woven a wonderful story that embraces the Romanov legend and gives it a bit of a twist. Even young readers who aren't knowledgeable about the Romanov's won't be lost in the story. By telling it from three different perspectives it's all laid out well and easy to understand.

While this book is listed as a YA book, it's definitely one that parents can pick up and be just as thrilled with. The action never really stops in this book and I found myself hating to put it down for things like eating and sleeping ;)

I found the dialogue between characters to be very believable, and the action was fast-paced and really moved the story along. Interspersed with the story of Anne and Ethan there were handwritten letters that Anastasia writes to her family that tell the story of the Romanov family.

This is definitely one you'll be happy to see your teen reading. I'd give this book 5 stars! I absolutely loved this one!