I love reading history, Russian history in particular, and I've always found the Romanov dynasty to be intriguing. I think this book was good but had potential to be so much better! Fantasy is not in my wheelhouse.... This was a mish-mash of both.
The author did manage to prove that not everything is not black or white....or in this case Red or White in reference to the revolution. The scenes depicting Moscow and St. Petersburg were excellent! The confusion, needless violence, and high emotions during that time were well brought out.
However the storyline revolved around the powers of a Faberge egg called the Constellation, not much at all about the Romanovs. The one son Alexei is the connection....and his romance with the main character Natalya. But WAIT. Wasn't he shot to death at age 14 in actuality? A coddled boy-child with little to no life experience ? Hardly the young man presented here, in love. making manly decisions....
So. Not historical fiction......more of a historical fantasy! ( )

A beautifully written historical fantasy on one of the most fascinating eras in history. In the beginning, I wasn't sure what I'd think: the first explanations of the Constellation Egg, in how they described the Romanovs' connection to the land, didn't seem clear enough to me. As I kept reading, though, I was totally swept up in the story and the characters. I'm generally pretty generous in suspending disbelief, but I felt like I didn't need to much with this book--the motivations, the decisions, were all logical. Even the antagonist was fleshed out into a realistic character. Both sides of the Russian Revolution are represented fairly and honestly.

The conflicts all logically flowed from the story--and even the Romanovs' deaths, something I expected historically, made me ache. The resolution was satisfying, and not melodramatic.

The only downside, for me, was the mystics and the blood involved in their ceremonies. Too much for me (very weak stomach for violence and the paranormal/witchcraft/etc.).

But really, I'm impressed. And I want to read more on the Romanovs. And I do hope Jackson Pearce will write more books like this one--I wasn't a huge fan of [b:Purity|9268789|Purity|Jackson Pearce|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1326474250s/9268789.jpg|14150414], but this was an unexpected gem. ( )

Russian history ranks highly among my favorite kinds of history. Let’s be honest: some crazy shit happened in Russia. There are so many amazing stories to be told. As such, I was thrilled to hear about J. Nelle Patrick’s Tsarina. The fact that Patrick is actually a pseudonym for Jackson Pearce upped my excitement, since I really enjoyed Sisters Red. The Russia stuff is delightful and the writing solid, but Tsarina took more of a fantasy angle than I was really expecting.

Read the full review at A Reader of Fictions. ( )