Friday, July 19, 2013

Review: The Bronze Horseman (The Bronze Horseman Trilogy) by Paullina Simons

Blurb:
The golden skies, the translucent twilight, the white nights, all hold the promise of youth, of love, of eternal renewal. The war has not yet touched this city of fallen grandeur, or the lives of two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha Metanova, who share a single room in a cramped apartment with their brother and parents. Their world is turned upside down when Hitler's armies attack Russia and begin their unstoppable blitz to Leningrad.

Yet there is light in the darkness. Tatiana meets Alexander, a brave young officer in the Red Army. Strong and self-confident, yet guarding a mysterious and troubled past, he is drawn to Tatiana—and she to him. Starvation, desperation, and fear soon grip their city during the terrible winter of the merciless German siege. Tatiana and Alexander's impossible love threatens to tear the Metanova family apart and expose the dangerous secret Alexander so carefully protects—a secret as devastating as the war itself—as the lovers are swept up in the brutal tides that will change the world and their lives forever.

The most common thing I have encountered while reading this book are the questions about the historical setting. Let me start by saying that yes, the history of the book is an important factor because of the situations the characters are placed in, but it does not take away from the book. Yes, the book takes place during WWII, but it doesn’t have a historical feel. Generally historic romances are filled with all kind of cheesy language (which I am NOT a fan of, lol) but this one doesn’t. The characters are modernized to an extent and talk like we would today. The main focus of the book is the love story between the characters, not the historical events happening at the time the book takes place. The only events that are included in the book are ones that directly affect the characters. If you are looking for a true and beautiful love story, do not hesitate any longer on this one. I promise it will fill any book void you are currently experiencing. Don’t let the historical aspect scare you away.

Okay, now that is out of the way, let’s get on to the review.

I feel like such a horrible person!! I have had this book on my kindle for a good 6 months and have feared reading it because it takes place in WWII (of course now you know that doesn’t matter, lol) and because it is so flippin long!! I am used to soaring through books and being finished in a day or 2. Well, that was still kind of the case on this one. Yes, it is over 900 pages long…I read it in 4 days…and I work a full time job, I’m in the process of buying a house and I’m pregnant. If I can read it and I have all of that going on, fear no more! You know it was excellent.

This book will be a classic. I have no doubts in my mind. It is an epic love story and now that I have read it…I can’t imagine my life without it. I almost feel changed by the book. It makes me want to love harder and fighter harder and just live harder. Everything about it….it’s just intense! It made me look at things in a different light. I have read love stories before, but have never read one that opened up as many emotions as this one.

Alexander stood in front of her on the pavement. “I’m a soldier in the Red Army. I’m not a doctor in America. I’m not a scientist in Britain. I’m a soldier in the Soviet Union. I could die any minute a thousand different ways to Sunday. This might be the last minute we have together. Don’t you want to spend that minute with me?”

And you know what……she did.

This book made me laugh. It made me swoon. It made me angry and hell bent. It also made me cry. I do not cry. If I cry, something is seriously wrong. I feel like I have lived this book. I was totally and utterly consumed by every event and aspect. I myself feel I have lived in Russia during WWII. I can’t recall a single book that I have ever read that actually made me feel the things I felt with this book or experience the emotions that come along with it.

“Love is,” she repeated slowly, looking only at Dasha, “when he is hungry and you feed him. Love is knowing when he is hungry” 

There was never a dull moment with this one. No moments that I felt I just had to push through. I needed every single word that has been etched into my brain. I still need those words etched in my brain. The love is strong, the characters are intense and the two put together will send you on an extreme ride. I don’t think I can express enough how much this book means to me after completing it. I have now started book 2. Based on the reviews I have read for the trilogy, we do get a happily ever after, it will just be a long messed up road before we get there.

No stars. There is no proper way to rate this on our rating scale. Just know that this is EPIC and now holds the place of my favorite book of all time.

I have heard rumors of a movie in the works, so I had to do a little research.

This is what I was able to find on Paullina Simons site:

My devoted readers and friends,


I’m thrilled to tell you that our mutual dream of seeing The Bronze Horseman on the big screen is one step closer to reality.

ITA Productions, a British company, has optioned the rights to my book. The producer, Martyn Hall, and the director, Sash Andranikian, love Tatiana and Alexander, and want nothing more than to make it into an emotional visual spectacle of a film. Sash, from a long line of animators and movie-makers, is Russian-American like me. He has read all three TBH books, and tells me that he loves them all. Martyn says The Bronze Horseman is the only book that has made him cry. They are looking to go into pre-production by the end of 2013, and to begin shooting early in 2014. So perhaps by the end of 2014, with a healthy dose of luck, we might have our movie.

We are going to be working from a script I wrote, which is fantastic, though it does mean that I have to rewrite it, which inevitably means I have to cut it. As you all know from my books, brevity is hardly my strong suit. My editing process always results in my books becoming twenty percent longer, not thirty percent shorter, which is what Martyn would like.

The good news is, the producers are promising that I will be on set to revise and add scenes as needed during filming, so at least we are going to have participation and some small measure of control in the creation of this magical thing called The Bronze Horseman, a movie.

I welcome your comments, questions, concerns, and of course, casting suggestions.

No, the film will not be in Russian. (Like the book wasn’t!)

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