It is 1743, and fourteen-year-old Sophie is a princess of Anhalt-Zerbst in Prussia. Sophie's father is not royalty, and her cruel mother, Princess Johanna Elizabeth, is obsessed with improving her own status through her daughter's marriage. To that end, she is determined to do everything possible in order to get Sophie chosen by Empress Elizabeth of Russia to marry her nephew Peter, heir to the throne. Soon, Sophie and her mother must travel to Russia in order to meet Empress Elizabeth. Sophie is indeed chosen to be Peter's wife, but her life changes completely as a result. She must adopt a new language, religion, and even a new name, Catherine.

I've enjoyed reading The Royal Diaries books for many years, and I was sad to see this would be the final book in the series. However, I was glad to see it would be written by one of my favorite authors from the series, Kristiana Gregory. I enjoyed this book a lot, but I do wish it had been longer and had more detail. I would still recommend this book to all fans of the series. ( )

Now I feel silly; I never knew Catherine the Great, one of Russia's most famous Empresses, wasn't even Russian! Her situation is shocking: traveling from Zerbst to Russia and marrying a boy she fears hasn't the greatness to become Emperor while trying to please two domineering mother figures (Empress Elizabeth and her own mother) would be enough to break a good many girls. But Sophia - or Catherine after Elizabeth renames her - perseveres and as history later shows, flowers into one of the greatest monarchs in the Western world.

Gregory's focus is on the year Sophia is moved from her home in Prussia to the court of Elizabeth, and the many trials that face her. Sophia's mother becomes involved in a spying ring, and her betrothed Charles refuses to learn about the Russian people or even give up his child's toys and become a man. ( )

An account of Catherine's journey to Russia, to meet her future husband. Told from her view, she describes her unkind mother, her disappointing fiance, and her fears concerning court life in Russia. A great series for young girls!

One feature of the Royal Diaries series is once the story is finished, the author includes a section which is only facts: pictures/portraits of the main characters, family trees, a "What life was like in (insert name) lived" to help the reader distinguish between what we know about the characters, what we assume from artifacts found, and what the author made up to help the story along. ( )

Set in Austria & Russia in 1743, this is the diary of Catherine the Great when she was a teenager and betrothed to her cousin who is heir to the throne of Russia. Princess Sophie has to leave her home (never to see her father and siblings) and travel with her ambitious mother to the cold of Moscow to be judged as a fit bride-to-be, and also to change her name and learn to be fluent in the difficult language of Russian. p.76 – 78Sophie’s mother is accused of spying on the Russian empress.