Reading with AngelaRenea

I received this as an advanced reading copy from Clean Teen Publishing through NetGalley, so first of all I'd like to say a big thank you so much to them!

Did you love season one of Reign? Are you itching for a historical fiction about a younger historical figure? Allow me to introduce Queen of Someday.

I was initially drawn in by the beautiful cover of this book, and the interesting summary. This book follows the life of Catherine the Great before she was Catherine the Great, so obviously it's a historical fiction. Who is Catherine the Great you say? Well in this book, she is the young Sophie, who has been invited with her mother as a guest of the empress Elizabeth in Russia.

It sounds so cliche but I could not put this book down. I expected to take a week and read this book and it ended up taking me two days. Fast paced, and full of twists, I found myself one-more-chapter-ing all night until I realized that I had no more chapters. I already can not wait for the next book in this series (Stolen Empire). I actually know very little about historical Russia, Catherine the Great, or most of history for that matter, but even I found a few references that I understood. There is an author's note about historical accuracy and creative liberties, and I'm not sure how a history buff would feel, but with my casual knowledge level I enjoyed this book very much.

One of the things that I really enjoyed about this book was the way that the romance aspect played out. It did not feel rushed, or forced, but it was also not drawn out or exaggerated. Sophie's love life felt natural, and of course passionate! Something that I felt was not quite as natural feeling was Sophie's mother. I wasn't sure if I was just frustrated with her, or if it seemed like a skewed point of view.
I would have to say that my favorite part was the beautiful way the author gave the feeling of time drifting past our dear Sophie in the way that she went from a day to day description, to a faster week by week chapter. Well done!

This book comes out on October 7th 2014, and I will most definitely be getting my copy!

Review post on my blog