Tatiana and Alexander (The Bronze Horseman, 2)

A story of enduring love and hope amidst the bleakest of circumstances. It moved me to tears and consumed me completely. There isn't a more beautiful love story than that of Tatiana and Alexander."In Alexander's life there was one thread that could not be broken by death, by distance, by time, by ward. Could not be broken. As long as I am in the world, she said with her breath and her body, as long as I am, you are permanent soldier."Once again. Big, fat, ugly tears. This story has gripped me so completely, heart and soul. I am not a huge crier, although I'm definitely an emotional reader, but these books have turned me into a crying mess, so deeply connected to the characters that the line between reality and fiction blurs. The horrifying experiences they go through, the painful longing for each other and all those times when they felt like giving up hope, it totally gutted me, tore my heart open and had me shedding tears. This book was just as amazing as the first, but a bit different because much of the book, they spent apart. The story unfolds through alternating past and present POVs, both through Tatiana's and Alexander's eyes. It's done seamlessly and in a way that offers a deeper understanding of everything that's transpired and of what they are each going through individually. It's incredibly powerful and eye-opening.In this book, we learn so much more about Alexander's past, his parents and his experiences as a child moving into the Soviet Union. His grit, prowess and intelligence is apparent early on as he endures constant change and tribulations from a young age, carrying the burdens of his parent's choices. Understanding his past helped me better understand the man Alexander was now."Don't worry, Dad. I'll make you proud. I'll be ungreedy and unselfish, unprideful and unvengeful. I'll be as hard a man as they come.""I don't want you to be a hard man, Alexander. I want you to be a good man... A better man than me."And now, Alexander is a prisoner, accused of treason, forced to live an existence without Tatiana, where he is constantly beaten down mentally and physically. Reading about Alexander's journey here and what happens to him after is distressing and horrifying. I felt his pain, as he worked so hard to survive, to have courage, to remain stolid in his beliefs and in his love for Tatiana."He dreamed of Tatiana, and when he woke up, he thought of Tatiana. Dreams and reality were mingled. Alexander didn't know where the nightmare ended and real life began."But naturally, as days turned into weeks and months turned into years, his once unwavering hope began to falter as insecurities began to take over. Would he make it out alive? Would he be the man he was? Would he see Tatiana again? Would she be waiting for him as she had promised?"There was no escape, not from the thoughts, not from the fear, not from the throbbing. Not from the realization that it had been many months, many years, and how long would one faithful wife wait for her dead husband? Even his Tatiana, the brightest star in the sky. How long could she wait before she moved on?"Meanwhile, Tatiana endures, establishing a half-life for herself and her child, caught between the responsibilities of her present and her past, including her undying love for Alexander. She's unable to let go of him, despite not knowing whether he's alive or dead, her heart just doesn't function without its soul mate."I will make you insane, her memory screamed at her near the winter window sill as Tatiana smelled the brine of eternity. On the outside you will walk and smile as if indeed you are a normal woman, but on the inside you will twists and burn on the stake, I will never free you, you will never be free."The longing, the yearning, the unabated desire they feel for each other is ardent and alive despite their circumstances. It is absolutely painful to read. Their sadness consumed me and it was during many of these times that I felt crushed by their story. Life just didn't seem to give them a break. But again, this is the most amazing love story ever, and it was so inspiring to see how deeply, how completely they loved each other. It was more than a feeling though, they were simply not complete without the other."Do you hear the stellar winds, carrying from the heavens a whisper, straight from antiquity... into eternity...""What are they whispering?""Tatiana... Tatiana... Ta...tiana...""Will you remember that? Anywhere you are, if you can look up and find Perseus in the sky, find that smile, and hear the galactic wind whisper your name, you'll know that it's me, calling for you... calling you back to Lazarevo."This story is one of survival, hope and love. They must both survive their situations to be with each other again, as hope wavers, vacillating between the fortifying dream of seeing each other again and the looming threat of death and consuming hopelessness. Their enduring love is everything. Thoughts of Larezevo and benches and ice cream and white dresses with red roses... it's everything they grasp to keep going, keep loving, keep hope alive. There is truly no other series like this one, even as I write this review, with a lump in my throat, I marvel at the way the brilliant writing and this story of true love has affected me so much. It's beautiful. It's perfection. And it's absolutely unforgettable."Shura, I'm yours. You may not like it today, you may not want it tonight, you may wish for it all to be different now, but it remains, and I remain as always, only yours. Nothing can change that. Not your wrath, your fists, your body, or your death."

Oh my God. If I could give this book a thousand, a million stars, I would. So, people of Goodreads, you should do something about that. Sometimes, 5 stars are not enough. You guys can’t imagine how much I loved and adored this book. I was expecting something and got something different, and I say this in the best possible way. I realized this more and more the further I got into the book.BRILLIANT!!!!Just.Freaking.Brilliant!Tatiana and Alexander is the second book of The Bronze Horseman series, so, if you haven’t read the first book, you might want to reconsider reading this review.Tatiana Metanova had escaped the Soviet Union. She had survived the blockade. She had survived losing her family. She survived through the hunger, the desperation. She survived losing the last bit of hope, that one thing that kept her heart beating. Alexander. Or at least, that’s what everyone kept telling her. You need to move on. You need to move on. You need to move on. Tatiana believed she needed to move on too, but how could she? When part of her had stayed in Morozovo. How could she, when her heart couldn’t truly believe what her mind kept telling her. Alexander is dead. But, what about Orbeli? Tatiana is now in New York, working at Ellis Island, taking care of her beautiful baby boy, Anthony. He’s the one that’s keeping her alive. And hope.“We walk alone through this world, but if we’re lucky, we have a moment of belonging to something, to someone, that sustains us through a lifetime of loneliness.”Alexander was still where he was left behind. And then, he wasn’t. He barely escaped death by the hands of the Soviets, but he didn’t escape the war, the accusations, the constant threats. He became a prisoner of the Soviet Union and no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t get out. But, if Tatiana got out, he would too. Eventually. Someday. Hopefully.This book, oh my God, this book. If I thought The Bronze Horseman was good, this was well beyond that. I loved it even more. In this book, we have more of both Tatiana’s and Alexander’s POVs. We get more Alexander. We get more Tania. We get Anthony and his iceee kweeem. This is truly Tatiana’s and Alexander’s story. They have been separated by everything in their lives. They each have ghosts to face, some of them they have to fight to stay back; while some other they have to do whatever they can to hold on to. Years pass and they both keep surviving.This is, in fact, a love story, the continuation of it actually… but it’s a story about how two people who love each other deeply, find their way back to the other. This is about how they fight and they trust and they hope, they’ll get back to the other. Problems come and keep coming, and sometimes you wonder… when is enough, enough? Will they make it? Will this get any easier? You’ll have to draw your own conclusion, but I’m pretty sure about mine.Tania, Tania, Tania. What a crazy girl. She’s the craziest of them all and the one who has more courage. She is one of the toughest girls. She’s smart and she understands and she feels so deeply, she doesn’t just love, she adores. She doesn’t just live, she breathes, tastes, sees, experiences life. She doesn’t just trust, she believes with all her heart that she’ll find a way, that she can do whatever her mind is set to do. And she does it. The way she sees and understands life, is something special, her vision is one of a kind. In this book, you see her struggle. Yes, in this book, she’s surviving, barely living but you still see her strength. You’ll never doubt she’ll do whatever she needs to do, whatever there is to do, to save him. To save the one who save her. To be with the one she loves most.Alexander. How can someone not love him? It is impossible. The way he thinks, the way he feels. It’s always too much. So much love, it hurts. So much passion and devotion, it breaks your heart and fixes it. In this book, we get a lot of time to get to know him. To see him and feel him, his pain, his love, in such a way that you’ll have no other choice but to understand his reasons of his desperation to survive. His real story is fascinating, everything that he is, it’s because of everything he’s been through since he was a boy. He grew up too much, too fast. Everything he knew was taken away from him too many times to count, and he had to do with what he had. He learned to be on his own, to be his own man, to believe in whatever he wanted.“Live as if you have faith,” she said, “and faith shall be given to you.”He’s tough, he’s passionate, he’s sweet, he’s romantic, he’s volatile, he’s intense. He is too much. But he is Shura.“Remember Orbeli.”Orbeli. Orbeli. Orbeli. Remember to never forget. Remember to wait. Remember to live. Remember to be happy. Remember to love. Remember that the one who loves you, will come back. That’s what it means to me.All I’ve said doesn’t even come close to explain how much I loved this book, because even though yes, it is a love story, it involves a lot of other factors, characters, situations, that makes the story even more interesting. There’s love, there’s betrayal, there’s kindness, there’s romance, there’s desperation. This is the kind of book you can’t put down, not even for a second. It’s the kind of book you devour because you need to know.

✴Darling, honey ... you not going to lose me ...you won't die, soldier ... whenever you're done, Alexander, I will be here, waiting for us✴- Tania in der Fortsetzung zu the Bronze Horseman 🖤Noch einmal muss ich mich wohl in höchster Form entschuldigen, dass ich diese Reihe so lange nicht gesehen und vor allem nicht gelesen habe. Denn diese könnte meinem absoluten Lieblingsbuch gehörige Konkurrenz machen.Tatiana & Alexander, der zweite Teil ... für mein Empfinden sogar noch besser und noch heftiger als sein Vorgänger. Welche schönen Worte soll ich für diese Rezension nur nutzen?Ich habe mich ja schon vom ersten Augenblick an in Alexander verliebt. In dieser Fortsetzung lernen wir ihn noch besser kennen. Seine Vergangenheit, seinen Werdegang, seine Karriere und Eltern. Der Weg seiner Familie von Amerika nach Russland. Und Alexanders Weg zu Tatiana. Seine Gedanken und Taten sind einmalig. Sie entsprechen teilweise wirklich denen eines Helden.An all das denkt er während er die Schrecken des Krieges erleben muss. Als Todgeweihter. Wortwörtlich. Der Gedanke an Tania hilft ihm zu überleben!Und Tania selbst? Sie muss sich allein durchschlagen. Allein in New York, mit Alexanders Sohn. Ein Leben ohne ihren geliebten Ehemann. Sie sehnt sich nach ihm. Und was das Wunderbare an dieser mehr als schrecklichen Trennung ist? Das Bund der beiden Liebenden ist so stark, dass sie sich spüren können!?Ich bleibe dabei: Es war episch. Eine der besten Liebesgeschichten, die ich jemals lesen durfte. Und fühlen durfte. Jede Emotion, zu der ich fähig war, kam zum Vorschein.Paullina Simons ist eine wirklich begnadete Schriftstellerin. Mehr kann ich zu ihr nicht sagen. Eindrucksvolle Recherche. Jede Botschaft, die sie näherbringen wollte, kam an und hat sich in meinen Gedanken eingenistet.Unvergesslich. Fünf. Unendlich. Weite. Sterne.🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

You can't help falling in love with these two main characters. This author is a genius with her words. You feel like you're there, and experiencing all that happens to these two characters. She doesn't need to use vulgar language to make the sex scenes hot! You might need a cigarette after reading them, though. This book takes off where the first one leaves you. I was just as anxious to read the third one. Having read them all, I can say this is one of the best series I have ever read. A bit slow to start but it sure picked up.!

The second in the trilogy-👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Didn't know what to expect as a sequel, but oh my, Paullina did not disappoint! This book was just as overwhelming and emotionally evoking as the first. I absolutely loved it. Cannot wait to start the final instalment.

J'ai adorer le premier livre, j'ai commander toute la trilogie! Le premier je l'ai finit vite, on ne peut pas s'arrêter de lire!Ps: la couverture n'est pas du tout celle qui est annoncée. (Voir photo)