Last of Her Name

by Jessica Khoury

Sixteen years ago, rebellion swept the galaxy known as the Belt of Jewels. The Leonov royal family was murdered–down to their youngest child, Princess Anya–and the Union government seized power.

Stacia doesn’t think much about politics, spending her days rambling her father’s vineyard with her friends, Clio and Pol. But then a Union ship appears burning through the sky, bearing the leader of the Union, the Direktor Eminent himself, who declares that Stacia’s sleepy village is a den of empire loyalists. More shocking, he claims that Princess Anya Leonova is alive–and it’s Stacia!

As their home explodes into chaos, Pol smuggles Stacia to a hidden escape ship, leaving Clio in the hands of the Union. Stacia sets her heart on a single mission: she will find and rescue Clio, even with the whole galaxy on her trail.

• ISBN13: 9781338243369
• Publish Date: 26 February 2019
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Scholastic US
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[Steph L]

A fun space romp

This story is billed as inspired by Anastasia Romanov. While the main character is named Anya, and the villain of the story could be inspired by the Romanov’s the comparisons mostly end there. I loved this story it was a lot of fun, and the characters were compelling and flawed.

[cornerfolds]

Read more of my reviews at Cornerfolds.com!

Last of Her Name is a YA science fiction retelling of Anastasia and is so far up my alley that I HAD to get my hands on it! Luckily I did and I dived in as soon as I possibly could. This was my first ever Anastasia retelling, although there do seem to be a lot of them being published lately. I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, but I can definitely say it surprised me.

Stacia has lived in a small town on a small planet for her entire life with her parents and best friends Clio and Pol. Stacia loves spaceships and she's good at fixing them. When she and her friends spot a particularly impressive ship coming toward their town, they run at the chance to see it, but quickly find themselves in a very dangerous situation. This leads to Stacia finding out she's really Anya, the princess, which prompts her and Pol to go on the run. That's when things get really wild.

This book is non-stop action from the first chapter and, for maybe the first time, I don't think that's always a great thing. Last of Her Name is just a lot. There's a lot of world building, a lot of characters, and a lot of information thrown into a relatively short book. I'm not usually one for dragging things out, but I truly believe this could have worked better as a duology. Despite there being SO much going on, there's never much time to process, to get to know new characters or situations. Because of that, I never really felt able to fully connect with much in the story. New characters would be introduced and we're immediately expected to care about what happens to them without knowing them at all.

When it comes to characters, they were fine, for the most part. Stacia was fine. She was a pretty typical YA heroine who learned the truth about her past and was forced to deal with it. I did enjoy her growth as she came to accept her true nature. Pol, the Dimitri character in this retelling, was just... not it. I can't really put into words what I didn't like about him, but the romance didn't work for me. Probably my favorite part of this book was Riyan, a character who's introduced fairly early on and becomes a huge part of the plot. His abilities and the world he's from were so fascinating to me! He reminded me a bit of Spock, who I also love. Honestly, I'd read a book all about him and his sister.

As with Riyan's world, the rest of the world building was really fascinating! There were multiple unique planets and systems, and the prisms that powered the technology were a really interesting concept. That did get a little too weird for me as the book went on, but I can't say much more about it without spoilers. I thought the struggle between the Union and the Resistance was interesting, although the Big Bad was a little too over the top in his motivations.

Overall, this book was just okay. I expected a really fun sci-fi retelling and, while I did get it, it was just too much in too little space. I think I'd have loved this story a lot more if there had been more time to get to know the world and the people in it.

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

Gosh this was an adventure and a half! I have been sadly bummed by some of the other Anastasia-themed books I have read in the past, but this one finally hit the mark! So let us talk about it, yeah?

The Things I Liked:

• •Well, obviously the Anastasia bit! The other didn't really drag out the "reveal" of that part either, which I was so thankful for. In most of the retellings I have read, it's this big dramatic build up but... if you've told me it's an Anastasia retelling, I know she's the royal, somehow miraculously alive? That's the whole point! This one gets that out of the way almost immediately so we can move on with the story. Also, the other did a great job of building on that story, and pulling at the ol' heartstrings.



• •Space adventures! I came for the adventures in space, and I was absolutely not disappointed! There's a ton of high stakes action, and a huge system in which to explore. That said, it didn't feel too overwhelming or convoluted; it was a good blend.



• •I adored the friendships/relationships. There are a lot of really tight friendships in this book. I wasn't sure how they'd all work out at the end of the day, but it was a good journey finding out! Plus, Stacia had to grapple with her new identity, which obviously changed the way she saw her relationships with basically everyone. Good stuff.



• •This is hard to navigate because of spoilers but let me try. So the story makes some choices up front that I found... questionable. And had me trying to wrap my head around the "why" behind a lot of stuff. BUT. The author ties every last thing together so flawlessly, that you'll be so glad that you stuck with it. Everything will make sense, I promise!

The Things I Didn't: 

• •It did take some time for me to fully get into.  Look, this is a very minor gripe because like I said, the payoff was really worth it! But it's worth mentioning!



• •The ending was a little underwhelming? I am not going to get into it, but I would have liked a bit more? But it was still a legitimate ending, so fear not!

Bottom Line: A super fun adventure in space that blends Anastasia and sci-fi together in a fabulous way!