The Last Russian Doll — Books, Beauty, & Buys

By: Kristen Loesch
Published Year: 2023
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 406

Amazon Barnes & Noble

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): In a faraway kingdom, in a long-ago land...

...a young girl lived happily in Moscow with her family: a sister, a father, and an eccentric mother who liked to tell fairy tales and collect porcelain dolls.

One summer night, everything changed, and all that remained of that family were the girl and her mother.

Now, a decade later and studying at Oxford University, Rosie has an English name, a loving fiancé, and a promising future, but all she wants is to understand--and bury--the past. After her mother dies, Rosie returns to Russia, armed with little more than her mother’s strange folklore--and a single key.

What she uncovers is a devastating family history that spans the 1917 Revolution, the siege of Leningrad, Stalin’s purges, and beyond.

At the heart of this saga stands a young noblewoman, Tonya, as pretty as a porcelain doll, whose actions—and love for an idealistic man—will set off a sweeping story that reverberates across the century....

First Impressions

A few years ago I read The Bear and the Nightingale which deals with Russian folklore. I was sucked in and wished that there was more Russian historical fiction I could read. At the time, there wasn’t really anything so when I was offered this book for review I was very excited. It’s not my favorite cover but it’s not bad.

What I thought

Ugh this book.

This book is a combination of romance, historical fiction, mystery, and paranormal fantasy. There was way too much going on and it took until at least 50% for me to even get into the book.

Rosie, aka Raisa, decides to return to Russia after the death of her mother to try to find out who killed her father and sister 14 years prior. This story alternates with Tonya in 1917 during the Russian revolution who is in love with a Bolshevik.

The writing for this story dragged and there was so much going on that it was hard to connect to anyone. The first half of Tonya’s story was all a love story. Then it would jump back to Rosie who was in Russia trying to solve the mystery. I was annoyed because I was more intrigued by the mystery/present day but when it went back to the past it didn’t feel like we were learning anything to help move that storyline forward. And when we finally did get to the mystery being solved, it wasn’t?

The entire historical story is based around Tonya’s romance and I never connected with it. I didn’t understand why she kept putting herself in danger over and over again for the man she loved when it seemed like he wasn’t worth it. There also was a love story in the present day that felt like it came out of no where and was unnecessary.

Add in the random kind of sort of haunting that only appeared when it was convenient to move the story forward and you had a lazy story that was confusing and poorly written.