So for those of you who don't know, ANASTASIA FOREVER is book 3 in the DREAMING ANASTASIA trilogy, written by the lovely Joy Preble and published by Sourcebooks. You can check them both out at these websites:
Joy's website: http://joypreble.com/
Joy's blog: http://joysnovelidea.blogspot.com/
Soucebooks's website: http://www.sourcebooks.com/
If you've been reading the other books, you can skip this paragraph. Basically, the DREAMING trilogy tells the story of 16-year-old Chicago resident Anne, mourning the death of her older Brother David to cancer 2 years ago. Lately Anne has been having some incredibly strange dreams, about a girl in a hut in the forest, and an old woman with huge hands, iron teeth and skulls in her pupils. About this time is when "Mr. Stealthy Hot Guy" -though he's more Stalker than Stealthy - shows up at Swan Lake, and later everywhere Anne goes. Why? She has no idea. Then one night, the girl Anne is Dreaming as is in turn dreaming of her family's assassination. It is here that Anne realizes just who she is dreaming as - Anastasia Romanov - who may not be as dead as the world believes. Anne's hand glows. She sees a painting move before her very eyes. The old woman from her dreams materializes on the streets of Chicago. And as if her life wasn't freaky enough, now Mr. Stealthy (better known as Ethan or Etanovich) keeps trying to tell her that she has a destiny. He says she is the one who can save Anastasia from the hands of the mighty witch Baba Yaga, from Russian folklore. She's more than just a fairy tale. Anne, of course, tells him to bug off and leave her alone. But she can't run from the truth forever...
Okey dokey then, let's get down to what you're all waiting for! REVIEW TIME!
WARNING: If you haven't already read DREAMING ANASTASIA and HAUNTED, this review is full of spoilers. Full. If you still want to read it, go ahead. But don't blame me when you already know the huge massive thing that happens at the end of HAUNTED.
Now that that's out of the way, we can start:
Anastasia Forever by Joy Preble Review
Anastasia Forever is the thrilling finale to an epic trilogy. I hadn’t been this excited or impatient for a book to come out in a long, long time, possibly ever! So getting an early copy made my month.
“Secrets within secrets. Truths within lies.”
At the start of the book, Anne is bound to the witch Baba Yaga. Viktor has somehow regained his immortality, for reasons Anne and Ethan have to figure out. This is the only way Lily, Anne’s rusalka grandmother, can be freed from her curse. Anne still feels guilty about what happened to Ben, Tess and Ethan; and to top it all off Anastasia herself may still not be truly dead. Is it really too much to ask that all the crazy magical Russian things leave Anne alone for one day?
But that’s not all. She’s actually time-travelling to moments in the past. Anne doesn’t know how or why, but she’s certain they must have something to do with Viktor, Anastasia and helping Lily. All the weird stuff in her life is somehow connected, even something as seemingly irrelevant as a ballet holds clues to the solution. With Ethan’s magic getting mysteriously stronger and darker, and her own power flourishing like never before; will they finally be able to write a happily ever after for their fairytale?
I adore this book. I adore the entire trilogy – but this one has to be the best! All the loose ends get tied up, there are loads of amazing twists, returning characters and, of course, loads of Anne and Ethan romance! I had to force myself to put it down; I really wanted to make it last but could have read it in a single sitting. So much suspense! Anastasia Forever was definitely worth the wait.
Preble’s writing is perfect for this genre and age group. Anne’s voice sounds authentically teenage and humour is used in just the right places. The imagery is vivid and the descriptions are just the right length. Not too long so that they get boring, but not too short, the reader still has a clear mental image of the setting.
I like pretty much all of the characters. I love Anne, but everyone always loves the heroine. I really like Tess too, but my favourite character has to be Ethan! I love how at the start of the series he is very mysterious, but you slowly learn more and more about him. Ethan’s past features heavily in Anastasia Forever. I like how even though he is so much older than he seems and has seen so much violence and suffering, he’s still a kind person. His intentions are good, even when he screws up. But he’s not stupid, he learns from his mistakes and from other peoples’. And his heart is pure. He’s still capable of love and empathy, unlike some of the other members of the Brotherhood. Ethan has an endearing innocence.
Another character I really like is Baba Yaga. Like Ethan, she is mysterious. She has depth, many layers, and people tend to only see what’s on the top. She is a witch, and that’s that. The end. When in reality, she has a history and a personality just like the others, and they shape who she is and how she behaves. In the first two books, it is very hard to identify with Baba Yaga. However Anastasia Forever reveals a lot more about her past too, and she seems suddenly so much more human. Baba Yaga isn’t just “the witch” anymore. She may still be unpredictable, but she is a lot more understandable.
So in short, Anastasia Forever is an amazing book, by an amazing author. It is really the perfect end to Anne’s story. Often when you’re looking forward to a book, you build it up so much in your head that the real thing could never live up to your expectations. Anastasia Forever is not one of those books. It satisfied me 100%! It will make you gasp. It will make you want to scream. It will make you laugh and cry. Please, read this book!
I love this book so much I'm currently rereading it, even though I have literally 8 other new books I haven't touched yet. Love. This. Book. And you will too! So, what are you waiting for? Go buy it! Available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com and Waterstones, among other places. Go, my minions, go!
Another guest post coming up in a few days, so don't go anywhere!
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