Customer Reviews

The Diamond Secret (Once Upon a Time)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you liked the animated movie, "Anastasia", then you'll like this book as well.

Ivan and Sergei are in search of the grand duchess Anastasia, so they can gain the reward that was offered for her return. In comes Nadya. Orphaned as a young girl with no recollection of her past, Nadya works as a waitress in a tavern after the asylum she was staying at was shut down. Ivan, who witnessed the death of the Romanov family, felt something familiar about this girl and knew he wanted her to play the role of Anastasia, despite her less than genteel appearance. So they worked and hitched their way towards France, dodging police and a scarred-face man.

There are a lot of similarities to the movie. However, the book doesn't have the magical factor and bats and the main characters are much younger. Despite the similarities, this book was very well written in its own right. I found Nadya to be a charming girl. She was cute and absolutely funny with all the little pranks she played on Ivan. Despite her rough upbringing, Nadya didn't let adversity get her down. Instead, she developed a strength and humor that was admirable. Ivan was an okay hero, with a huge chip on shoulder. Like most soldiers, he was idealistic but soon disillusioned with what he thought would be a brighter future for his country. During their travels, Ivan and Nadya started to develop feelings for each other. And of course, Ivan being Ivan, did his best to downplay his growing feelings. He was a frustrating character but one can't help but feel some empathy for. Sergei was more of a fatherly figure throughout the story. He mostly dispensed advice and helped move the story along. The ending worked out happily with all loose ends tied up.

The chapters were short and to the point. There were enough humor, drama and action that made the story readable. The characters were likable and endearing. Definitely another keeper from the `Once Upon a Time' series.

I'm a big fan of retellings, especially if they're done right and the author brings something new to the table so to speak. And for that reason I can highly recommend all the books in the "Once Upon a Time" series from Simon Pulse. What I'm not a fan of is the new cover art. The older books have some of the most beautiful cover art and now they're being published with covers that remind me more of photographic "harlequin" romance novel covers. Yuck! So try not to judge these wonderful books by their cheesy covers....

I picked up this story, determined to enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the movie, Anastasia. But the way it is written is very stilted and choppy, with no transitions. The reason why Nadya (Anastasia) decides to join Ivan and Sergei was not convincing - why would a girl with amnesia suddenly decide to trust two people she has never met before, one whom she doesn't even have a good first impression of!

The plot also was very jumpy - one minute they're on a train to Moscow, the next, they're already in Germany with anecdotal descriptions of how Ivan and Nadya suddenly don't dislike each other anymore - musical sequence, anyone?
The whole book was not convincing. It was as if the author assumed that all her readers had already watched the animated movie and did not feel the need to write a fully fleshed out story. Every major plot point seemed like the author simply took the easy way out - oh, the characters have spent enough time on the road, how to get them to civilization? Ah, they're camped out on a friend's land in Germany, who by chance, owes his life to Sergei!

And the villian... The villian was absolutely lame. A word I never use, but in this sense, fits perfectly.

An incredibly fast read, but terribly disappointing writing.

Another entry in the Once Upon a Time series, TDS tells the story of Anastasia Romanov. As such, this isn't so much a retelling as a "what if," specifically, what if she escaped, knocked her head during the escape and developed amnesia, and was picked up by two guys looking to convince Anastasia's grandmother that this girl is Anastasia (they don't really believe she actually is Anastasia) in order to collect the reward money offered by her grandmother.

Wait, does this story sound familiar? If you've seen the completely unrelated animated movie Anastasia, then you already know this story. Not much is added and, as such, this story reads like a good novelization of that movie. Only it's not. It's supposed to be an original story. This just borders so close to plagiarism that I had a bad taste in my mouth all through reading the story. If it weren't for that, then I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot more as it was written well enough (Nadya could have used some work) and the story is a nice one.

I love me a good alternate history story and fairytale retellings but this one? Not so much.

The first thing that jumped out to me was the writing. It was clunky, stiff, with poor to awkward word choices. The dialogue seemed unnatural and didn't flow at all. It felt too "modern" to be honest to fit in with the time period, not to mention there were instances where I had to raise my eyebrow in amusement because some of the things the character said were so childish, I couldn't help but go "pfft".

I couldn't connect with any of the characters. Especially the main girl, Nadya, who's supposed to be Anastasia. Her voice, thoughts, speech, and actions were very immature and rather dense. Even if she was a teen, I wouldn't expect the grand duchess of Russia to be a ditzy woman, memory or not. Not to mention the interactions between the two main characters were so unrealistic! One minute they hate each other, sniping at one another, then the next they're having a jolly good time as friends, back to sniping, and then oops one fall into a ditch later they're all in love? What-the-heck?

The plot of this story was a good idea (albeit heavily borrowed from the movie), but it lacked in execution. There were moments and scenes that were better than the rest, the whole bit with the necklace and the hidden diamond was a positive for me, and the grandmother's snarky character, but overall I did not like this story. The ending too was pretty unsatisfying. She just finds her grandma, throws an immature tantrum about how she can't live without this man after finding out he's going to leave for America, and then wooosh she rushes off to meet him and they sail away forever? Uh, what? She obviously has no consideration for the other characters' feelings does she?

I absolutely love the cover though! The gown and her hairstyle is absolutely gorgeous, not to mention it's a scene from the book. I always like it when book covers have relevance to the actual story. So, it saves itself from getting a lower grade because of this. Not sure if I'd read any of the other novels in this "Once Upon a Time" series, but I may find myself erring on the hopeful side again because the covers are just too pretty. (Yes, I'm a sucker for aesthetics.)

I picked up the book looking for just a quick light, slightly stupid read to give me something to do. I have read plenty of books that I put in the category of "bad but fun to read anyway" this book, sadly, didnt fall under that category. The writing (no offense suzanne weyn) is pretty terrible. There is absolutely no flow and the action and romance seems forced. The way she writes is slightly annoying; its a bit like how children books are written -as in for 5 year olds- but yet the material of this book seems to be a little more for the ages of 11-15. I think the story was slightly interesting (even if it wasn't original) but the writing really just killed it. For instance she tries to make the main character seem light-hearted, sweet, and child-like but her writing makes the supposedly 19 year old girl sound very annoying and like she truly is insane with her drastic mood swings from laughing at a campfire to randomly sobbing about how terrible it is that people would want to hurt Anastasia if she is indeed alive. If you're really truly bored and in search of light read then feel free to pick this book up but just to warn you you'll probably end up wondering why you just wasted your money as well as however-many hours of your life you spent reading it

this is a story that I love I have always found the tale about anastasia appealing but this story while good really does not have much new to tell. if you have seen the cartoon or the ingrid bergman movie anastasia then you will find this book almost a carbon copy there are a few things that did make me enjoy the book a little bit. I will not list them here for spoiling a key moment in the book!! so be warned there is not much difference in this book from other retellings but key moments make the book readable!

I have to start this review by saying, I love this book series and always have to snatch up the latest offering when it's released. But lately, I've been displeased with what's been published - it feels like the authors are getting kind of sloppy and borrowing too heavily from other material.

"The Diamond Secret" is a retelling of the Anastasia Romanov story. Actually, an exploration of the historical mystery is a better description, because the Anastasia story isn't a fairy tale. Which makes me wonder why this was allowed to be "retold" in the first place.

Nadya is a poor tavern waitress, an orphan with no memory of who she is or her previous life. When two men, Ivan (a former Russian soldier) and Sergei (a jolly former aristocrat) come to her tavern and proclaim that she's the long-lost heir to the Russian throne, she embarks with them on a journey to find her royal grandmother and, ultimately, her heritage. But a sinister man from her past seems to be after her... and Nadya wonders, could she really be the missing grand duchess Anastasia?

Does this plot sound familiar? It should. In many ways "The Diamond Secret" is a direct rip-off from the animated film, "Anastasia". With some minor tweaks to place and background (for example, a tavern, not an orphanage like in the movie), the characters are mostly just like in the film. There's even a romance between the aloof younger mastermind of the plan (Ivan/Dmitri in the movie), the kindly sidekick who used to be an aristocrat (Sergei/Vlad) and a sinister man after Anastasia (Rasputin's assistant in the book, Rasputin himself in the movie). And of course, we know the truth about Nadya, since she has this bad guy formerly connected to the royals after her, and the man she's in love with had some sort of connection to her in the past - just like in the movie!

Don't get me wrong, it's still a good read. But since there's no connection that I can tell between this book and the movie (it's not like it was one of those movie tie-in books), it just feels like a cheap rip-off of an already established story. I love the "Once Upon a Time" series for its originality, and this was NOT original at all. I also thought one of the hallmarks of the series was the introduction of magic somehow, and "The Diamond Secret" had none. It was just a straightforward "missing heir comes to light" story, with no fantastical elements and a somewhat rushed feeling at the end as the author scrambled to tie up loose plot points (such as the bad guy gets sort of taken care of with no solid explanations as to his behavior). I also had a little trouble believing a 17-year-old would still feel such a connection to a doll at that age. It felt like the author forgot sometimes how old she made her main character.

The problem is, "The Diamond Secret" was good, and I loved the story. I've just seen it already, years ago. If you're new to the series, start with another book (Cameron Dokey seems to be the strongest author of the series - my favorite is "Beauty Sleep").

Nadya works in the kitchen for a tavern in the cold of Russia She doesn't remember anything from her past, but one day two men enter the tavern for lunch. They take one look at her and think she's perfect for their scam. They plan to take a girl and turn her into the Grand Duchess Anastasia, who's rumor to still be alive after the Russian Revolution. Her grandmother would give anything to have her back - and the men are out for the reward. Together they approach her and make her an offer - not telling her about the reward. Instead they confide that they're private detectives and she might belong to a family. Nadya longs to belong somewhere and with little hesitation, follows them. They make the journey to Germany, where they run across an old friend from the Russian aristocracy. He has no doubt of Nadya's true identity once he sees her dressed in the part. In fact, he's so convinced that he holds a ball in her honor announcing her to his other Russian friends. When the empress hears of this night, she sends a car for Anastasia from Paris. Now, Nadya must learn the truth about her family, if she really is royalty. She's scared to learn the truth and even more angry when she discovers her friends have lied to her. Will she ever find a family and a place to call home?

Anastasia stories intrigue me. The secret of the diamonds is both fascinating and an ingenious idea. I love the heart warming scenes between the empress and Nadya. The cover is gorgeous and it's a perfect tale for those wanting a romantic historical novel.

Nadya has no past - and no future. After being turned out of a Russian mental asylum with no family or money - or memory - to think of, she was picked up by Mrs. Zolokov, who worked at The Happy Comrades' Tavern. Now she's been there for some time, working as Mrs. Zolokov's tavern maid. She still cannot remember her past, nor does she want to. One day, two men show up at the tavern. Ivan is a cold-hearted, tired, runaway Bolshevik soldier; Sergei, a former count. After some questioning, they offer to take her along with them - to Paris. They tell her they are private investigators, looking for the long-lost granddaughter of a wealthy woman in Paris, and they believe they've found her in Nadya. Wanting to get away from Mrs. Zolokov and desiring a family who would take her in as their own, Nadya agrees to follow Ivan and Sergei to Paris to see if she is the long-lost granddaughter the old countess has been looking for.
But there are a few things Nadya doesn't know. For one, Ivan and Sergei are con men. They don't really think Nadya is the granddaughter they are looking for, only that she looks like her. This granddaughter is going to bring them a lot of money - for she is Anastasia Romonov, the last Grand Duchess of Russia. And as Ivan and Nadya begin falling in love, Ivan realizes he must make a choice - and learn to do the right thing, no matter how hard.


I was happy with this book, as much as I was disappointed. I enjoyed it for what it was (it only took me a few hours, too, which was a relief amongst the many classics I'm reading), but it had several flaws. A few of them are:

One - the characters were underdeveloped and immature. Nadya had a temper that flared up at the most random times, which cut off the flow of the story. Ivan, too, was a confusing character. You never really knew what he wanted and why.
Two - the love story was choppy and slightly unresolved. Ivan's feelings for Nadya are up in the air the whole time. In fact, their love story is so thrown together and choppy that I can't really say when they first started falling in love. In fact, his first affections for her, and vice versa, aren't even shown. And when they are finally together, there is no explanation of why they treated each other the way they did...
and that brings me to my third flaw - the form of the novel. I felt like a lot of it was seperate chapters that were merely thrown together when it was time to publish the book. There were hasty explanations for certain actions of the characters after the fact, when it would have been much more smooth and interesting to build up the reason beforehand. Her writing itself wasn't too bad; that, and the fact that I am extremely fascinated with Anastasia Romonov's story, kept me into the book. If it had been written badly and I hadn't cared about the characters, I would have put the book down early on. I did care about the characters, however, despite the many flaws in the way Suzanne Weyn built them (or rather threw them together). Ever since I first read about the Russian revolution, I've often wondered whether or not Anastasia managed to escape. In fact, I've hoped she did. Therefore, in this story, I wanted her to escape, find her grandmother, fall in love, and live a normal life.

And don't get me wrong. Like I said before, I enjoyed this book for what it was. It had it's moments, yes, and big flaws that almost anyone can recognize, but it was a good story, and made me smile, laugh, and feel for the characters. I would recommend it to someone looking for an easy and fun read. Because that's exactly what it was.