The Romanov Diary

by Celia Östergaard

A story of four teenagers trapped in time with only history as their company.

London, 2020.
Milo Wilson has never been an adventurer. When he goes to London with his friends Ella, Theo, and Ophelia, he expects a few days of casual touristing and fun. But a visit to the Royal Collection Trust museum changes everything. When Milo comes across an old diary, he is so enchanted that he cannot help but steal it. Later on, the diary takes revenge on him by taking Milo and his friends on a journey through time - to a place of betrayal and war, and to a family in great danger.

St. Petersburg, 1917.
Europe is in ruins as a result of the great war. A revolution has brought down the monarchy and the imperial family have been placed in house arrest; praying for a miracle. When one of the grand duchesses stumbles upon an odd-looking man in the palace, she hopes that freedom has finally come. Neither of them could ever suspect that they will have a role in an upcoming drama that Russia will never forget.

Genres: Historical Fiction

403 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2021

About the author

Celia Linn Serafia Östergaard was born and raised in Karlskrona, Sweden. She read her first book at the age of five and wrote her first short-story in English at ten. She has been collecting books since the age of twelve. Celia loves history just as much as she loves music, animals and spending time with her family. After three years of social studies with an international profile, she studies history and literature at Uppsala University.

Reviews

[Celia Östergaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

First review: Is one allowed to review their own book? Maybe not. But regardless of what the world might think, I am proud of what I've done. And more importantly, I have told a story of tragedy and love and history, and I help them to be remembered. Thank you to all who have already ordered, link in my profile <3

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Second review: Good God why did I have to break my own heart in such a brutal way by writing that epilogue and THAT chapter. Well, time to rewatch The Last Czars on Netflix and eat some ice cream I guess

[Bones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! I fell in love with the Romanovs through this book and I love the way it was written and how the author weaved history and fiction together so seamlessly!

[Åse Nygren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four British teenagers - Milo, Ella, Theo and Ophelia - find a diary that take them on a journey through time and space to the Russian revolution and a family in great danger. This young adult novel places us readers in the midst of the historical events and makes us experience it first-hand. From the Winter palace to the House of special purposes - a house with windows covered in white to keep the sun from coming in. We get to know the five Romanov children all while events unravel and we are taken on a journey through Russian all while the British teenagers struggle to find a way to change history. It is a story of betrayal, love (of course they fall in love!) and a fantastic way to experience history - even making history your own story. Without revealing the end - it is the great reward for the readers - you will at this point realize that the main protagonists are perhaps not the time travelers but history itself and a girl who manages to slip through the seems of history.

[Ella Nordström · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not the best with writing reviews- but here I go (for the simplicity and my shared language I with the author, this’ll be in Swedish).

Holy shit, jag älskade den där boken. När jag först började läsa boken var jag orolig att den skulle historiskt inkorrekt, så som extremt många böcker som är baserade på historiska händelser tenderar att vara (vilket som en person som älskar historia, irriterar mig något enormt). Men helt ärligt blev jag positivt överraskad!
Författarens talang balansera kärlek, vänskap och intriger, samtidigt som hon höll sig trogen till den faktiska historian in till de små detaljerna, är EXTREMT imponerande- och förtjänar en applåd för sig själv. Det enda som skulle kunna klassas som historiskt inkorrekt var Anastasias och Alexeis överlevnad, men i detta fall kan vi se över det- för hur tråkig skulle historian annars bli? Vi behövde de för att rädda våra hjärtan efter att de blivit krossade- inte en, men två gånger (r.i.p Ivan😔🪦).

Och med slutscenen, den är en helt annan klass för sig själv (när jag säger att jag satt och små-grät under min engelska-lektion menar jag det-)
And lets be honest- om ni fortsätter att hylla The Other Boleyn Girl av Phillipa Gregory, medans ni kritiserar Celia (som legit förklarade sig själv i efterorden), så kan vi inte vara vänner längre. Jag accepterar ingen kritik mot Celia😤

Boken för mig innehöll en massa gråt (kan vara jag som gråter lätt, men hush hush), tillfällen när jag kastade boken i vägen- men också tillfällen där mitt leende var så stort att min bror blev orolig.
Den underliggande romantiska tonen mellan Milo och Tatiana fick både mitt hjärta att slå fortare utav den rena sötheten mellan dom, men den fick även mig att ligga gråtande uppe på natten, när jag insåg att Tatiana antagligen dog arg på Milo, att hon inte viste hur mycket Milo älskade henne, och att Milo måste dö innan dom äntligen kan vara tillsammans igen-
(Celia, ifall du ser det här- snälla släpp en short-story från när Milo dör och dom äntligen återförenas. SNÄLLA, för mitt hjärtas skull)

Jag måste också erkänna att jag personligen känner mig extremt sedd. Som en tjej som heter Ella, älskar historia (speciellt antiken, viktiga historiska kvinnor, samt Henry VIII’s fruar), som även råkar vara queer, var det som att jag var mer i boken-
Det var en intressant upplevelse, to say the least- och jag tror att ni kan gissa vilken min favorit-karaktär var (ifall ni gissade Ella, tjejen som störde sina vänner med historia och som hade en Pride-pin på sin väska- gissade ni helt korrekt).

Så snälla läs den. Stötta en uppkommande författare, som lyckats skriva en fantastiskt bok, hållt sig trogen till historian, samt skrivit den på ETT ANNAT SPRÅK-
(Som en person som själv försöker att skriva en bok på engelska- det är inte lätt).

Författaren Celia Östergaard kan vara extremt stolt över sig själv- och jag tycker att vi alla kan hålla ett moment of appreciation (både för hennes bok, men även för hennes ✨fenomenala✨ musik i Spotify-spellistan.)

Ps, säg till ifall du släpper signerade kopior någon gång👁👄👁

Tack för mig😌✨

[mikayla!! · Rating 5 out of 5]

my oh my . this book had me on a roller coaster . i never ever realized how much i was into the Romanov Family now . i am broken with the real story and im also broken with this one . thank you Celia for writing this amazing book . and if you are reading this and wanting to read this please do .

[tova victoria bonander · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, I just want to thank Celia who wrote this book. I'm so proud and jealous of you and your knowledge of writing. A big shoutout to you queen and good luck with your writing in the future!

When I went in to read this book, I knew it would BREAK my heart into a thousand pieces… .. and I was right. The Romanov family is a family that lived about 100 years ago at a time when much was very troubled in Russia, and this wonderful family unfortunately suffered a terrible fate in 1918. Getting to follow the family through all their thoughts and events has been a roller coaster .

The book is written in a way that gives you as a reader such a good insight into every person's life and thoughts. You get to follow every single personality and get to know all the characters, which I think has been so important. Getting everyone's idea of ​​what happened to them was so good but also awful. To follow Milo, Theo, Ella and Ophelia back in time and be with them and experience Russia a hundred years back in time, is such a creative way to write a book. And it also made you as a reader constantly wonder what would happen to the four people from New York when it was all over.

My absolute favorite characters from the book are Theo, Maria and Tatiana. I think the relationship between Theo and Maria is so cute and I ADORE Theo. Everyone needs a Theo in their lives, PLZ I want to MARRY him.😫 I also love Tatiana and Maria's personalities so much, and I just want to give everyone in the family (and Theo hehe) a big hug.

The whole book is written in such a nice and beautiful way, and without lying, it is the most beautiful book I have ever read. I am not a person who annotate in my books, but if I had done that I would have written on every single page, because the whole book is like one big beautiful quote that I never wanted to end. I think the next time I re-read the book I will annotate to really remember every single important memory from that time and the book. And if I know myself, then I'm pretty sure it will not be long until I read the book again.

Finally, I would like to recommend this book to anyone who does not know anything about what happened in 1918 in Russia with this family. The tragic fate they received. They deserve to be remembered and loved.🪦

Rest in peace: Nicholas, Alexandra, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia & Alexei🤍

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no words for how much I love this book. It is literally perfection. If I could give it more than 5 stars I would. It is so extremely well written and beautifully made with everything. it really made me fall in love with the characters and everything! I went into it barely knowing anything (even though I really should bc it's literally history) and now I want to find more books to read about them! It is such an emotional rollercoaster reading this but I loved it! Heartbreaking but also beautiful. Thank you Celia for writing such a masterpiece.

[mar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excuse me?? This book? Wow, I loved it. It's just the way Celia manages to get between history and fiction so easily, and how you can really feel the characters feelings. You don't even need to be into or have a previous background knowledge about the Romanovs to like it. I'm not good at writing reviews, so there's not much more I can say, but this book was perfect.

[Alex Persson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So beautifully written, although there were a few typos.
This book made me feel so many feelings, I cried, I laughed, I smiled, I got angry
I think everyone should read this book.
Thank you Celia for writing this

[emmamat1lda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow Celia

I want to be like you when I grow up

[Anna K. S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good story, but at some points a bit unrealistic. would still overall recomend it though :)

[Angela Kuzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book so much! It is honestly my favorite book I’ve ever read. 🥰