This book was kind of all over the place. It is told from Alexie Romanov's perspective, which I guess I fundamentally couldn't get over. I appreciated the author's note at the end giving the context of Russia and the Russian people at the time, but to have essentially none of that come through felt too much like Romanov apologism to me (is that even a real thing?). I found it interesting enough to finish reading and enjoyed the Russian words sprinkled throughout, but just couldn't quite lose myself in it. The change to Rasputin's relationship with Alexie was also very strange. I also found the imagining of where we would be technologically in 2010 to be a little advanced for a book published in 2007. I did like Varda's character, though. ( )

I perused this book in preparation for the final project I was doing on the Russian Revolution. It's an interesting premise with Alexei being thrust into the future, but I'm not certain it's actually a title that would draw students to reading about actual history. Oddly enough I'm a little confused as to how the hemophilia would deal with time travel, but that's more of a point of speculation than criticism. As an alternate history it's pretty compelling, and I might finish reading it in my free time. ( )

The setting is 1916 Russia where political disaster occurs as the three-hundred-year dynasty of Romanov rule is about to crumble.

Young Alexi Romanov is a hemophiliac, a secret kept from all but the inner circle. He is under the spell of Rasputin who seems to be the only one capable of bringing relief from Alexi's incredible pain.

Mixing science and historical fiction, but also weaving well researched facts about the Romanovs and the Russian revolution, the author details Grigory Rasputin's influence on the Romanovs.

Escaping to the future, in New York City, Alexi meets an intelligent distant cousin who happens to be working on a cure for hemophilia. Alexi becomes enamored with her and convinces her to return with him to Russia in a desperate attempt to save his family from murder.

While enjoyed the author's creativity, I cannot recommend this book. It seemed convoluted and trite, filled with unrealistic possibilities and overall pretty darn corny. ( )

Reviewed by Amber Gibson for TeensReadToo.com

THE CURSE OF THE ROMANOVS by Staton Rabin is an absolutely spell-binding story of Alexei Romanov and the Russian Revolution.

The story begins in Russia in 1916, where Alexei Romanov is the hemophiliac heir to the Russian throne. As a hemophiliac, Alexei cannot stop bleeding, and the only person who can seem to heal him is Father Grigory, otherwise known as Rasputin. So many of the Russian people despise Father Grigory and spread gossip about his drinking and womanizing, but Alexei's mother, the Tsarina, comforts Alexei by telling him that these are all lies and that Father Grigory is their dear friend.

Alexei believes his mother, until one night when he hears a conversation between his mother and Father Grigory that challenges everything he has been told. Not knowing where to turn, Alexei confides in his cousin, who decides to murder Father Grigory. But killing Father Grigory is not as easy as it appears, and when Alexei fears for his own life, he flees to the year 2010, using a method that Father Grigory himself taught Alexei.

In the future, Alexei meets a distant relative, Varda Rosenberg, who is currently working on a cure for hemophilia. When Alexei learns about the Russian Revolution and the fate of his family, he is determined to travel back to the past and rescue them from a horrible death at the hands of the Bolsheviks. With Varda's help, Alexei travels back into the past in a desperate attempt to save his family, his honor, and his way of life. But will he be able to change the course of history?

Staton Rabin somehow mixes the genres of science fiction and historical fiction to create a novel unlike any I have ever read. So much of the story is fact-based that you will find yourself believing every word. Rabin captures the voice of a young Alexei so well, as the book is written in diary form. At the end of the novel, author's notes clear up any misconceptions and separate fact from fiction.

So many stories have been written about the Romanov family, including the Disney movie Anastasia. But Rabin's take on this famous story is so different than all of the others, it is definitely worth reading! ( )

Part Fantasy, part Historical fiction. This diary like account of the last days of Tsarevich Alexei Romanov is packed filled with adventure and suspense. The last days of the Russian empire are depicted in a vivd and intersting story. ( )