Review: Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble

Dreaming Anastasia

(Dreaming Anastasia # 1)

By: Joy Preble

Pub. Date: Septemner 1, 2009

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Pages: 310

Source: eBook

What really happened to Anastasia Romanov?

Anastasia Romanov thought she would never feel more alone than when the gunfire started and her family began to fall around her. Surely the bullets would come for her next. But they didn't. Instead, two gnarled old hands reached for her. When she wakes up she discovers that she is in the ancient hut of the witch Baba Yaga, and that some things are worse than being dead.

In modern-day Chicago, Anne doesn't know much about Russian history. She is more concerned about getting into a good college until the dreams start. She is somewhere else. She is someone else. And she is sharing a small room with a very old woman. The vivid dreams startle her, but not until a handsome stranger offers to explain them does she realize her life is going to change forever. She is the only one who can save Anastasia. But, Anastasia is having her own dreams.

Dreaming Anastasia is a beautiful story filled with magic, romance, history, and Russian Folklore. In Joy Preble's story, Anastasia didn't really die with the rest of her family in 1918. The witch, Baba Yaga took her and she has been with the witch ever since, waiting to be saved. Ethan, who became immortal that horrible day in 1918, has the job of finding the girl who is supposed to set Anastasia free. That girl turns out to be Anne.

Anne is just a normal girl but has strange dreams about a girl and a witch. Not knowing what it means she chooses to ignore it. That is until she meets Ethan and learns that she is a direct descendant of the Tsar of Russia and she is the one that has to save Anastasia from her prison. I really liked Anne. She was dealing with the death of her brother, and when she found out her purpose, she put everything she had into it. The magic that was inside Anne was awakened when she met Ethan. Ethan definitely had my heart. Described as handsome with bright blue eyes, he has spent the past 100 years trying to find Anne. His back story was a sad one, and I wanted him to have a happy ending. Actually, I wanted everyone to have a happy ending. Anastasia watched her family be brutally murdered and has spent the past 100 years trapped and lonely. You definitely feel for her and want her to be set free.

Viktor, the bad guy in Dreaming Anastasia, was a very interesting character. I am very much looking forward to learning more about him in future books.

Dreaming Anastasia was a little slow for me to get into, but once it picked up, the pages just flew by. I was so engrossed with the story and I wanted to know what was going to happen so badly. I loved the chemistry between Ethan and Anne, but I wished it was explored a little bit more. I guess that is what the next two books are for! I also liked how the book was told through the point of views of Anna, Anastasia, and Ethan and also through letters that Anastasia had written to her family throughout the years. The letters added a different spin onto things, and I love when authors use multiple viewpoints. I feel that I get a much better idea of the situation and what is going on.

Overall, Dreaming Anastasia is a beautiful story. The sequel, Haunted is already out, and the third and final book, Forever Anastasia comes out on August 1, 2012.