Review: Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble

Dreaming Anastasia
Joy Preble
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
September 1, 2009
Young Adult
ISBN-10: 1402218176

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 the debut novel by Joy Preble and a very entertaining one! The story is told in Anne's, Ethan's and Anastasia's points of view and that gives the reader a better opportunity to understand what's going on and why. Anne has been having the same dream for years now and in it, she's Anastasia, who is Tsar Nicholas' youngest daughter, and she is trapped in a crazy witch's hut. Needless to say, she's understandably freaked out about that and when Ethan shows and starts stalking her, it doesn't help matters one bit.

But Ethan is not just a creepy stalker, he's part of a Brotherhood whose main goal is save Anastasia and he needs Anne to do this. But it's not as simple as it sounds because there's someone who doesn't want Anastasia to be freed and he'll do anything to stop Ethan and Anne.

While I really like Ethan and Anne, I have to say that Tess, Anne's best friend, was absolutely my favorite character. She had Anne's back and was there to help her with anything. She was also terribly funny and easily my favorite!

Dreaming Anastasia was very enjoyable to read. The plot was definitely what first attracted to this book, it's based on Russian folklore and I think that's hugely original. In a genre that's fill with vampires and faeries and werewolves, getting a witch who's called Baba Yaba and has huge hands that sweep down from the sky and grab you is really refreshing! Especially because said witch lives in a hut that has chicken legs (No joke) which move around an enchanted forest to keep from being found. And let's not forget the bleached skulls planted around said hut because it's not like the chicken legs and crazy witch would keep any sane person away!

Dreaming Anastasia is a very entertaining and original story with good characters and I really enjoyed reading this book.