The Diamond Secret

Great book! Reminded me a lot of a more down to earth rendition of the Anastasia animated movie. I love retellings and all the books in this series, but this has been my favorite so far!

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 thought this book was great. Although, I don't know why everybody else didn't like it... The book was too short, I didn't really like the way the author ended it. But overall, a nice, quick read!

I love retellings of fairy tales and very much enjoyed this one. It is not far off from other versions of Anastasia but still a good one. The writer doesn't put a lot of fluff in which is enjoyable from time to time. The chapters are short which lead for easy places to stop reading. So far I have not been disappointed with any of the once upon a time series.

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....