Dreaming Anastasia was a mess to get through. Normal everyday girl faced with destiny, a hyper over talkative materialistic best friend, and a stalker boy--the best makings of any YA romance, right? 
 Anne has been having strange dreams lately. She's someone else, somewhere else, and it's starting to get on her nerves. Does she tell anyone or do anything about these repetitive dreams? No way. In fact, she ignores them because she saw this really handsome stranger with piercing blue eyes and he's all she can think about. And he happens to show up in her school the next day--destiny! 
 This whole book is a coincidence. Everything happens conveniently. There's no struggle, no discoveries. Anne's fate starts to affect the whole city later in the book and no one seems to care that roads are splitting, that giant hands are swooping from the sky, and that magic seems to have appeared from nowhere. Nah, it's all everyday stuff. 
 Ethan is a terrible character. Okay, it's enjoyable that he doesn't have all the answers--for once we have a 100 year old character who knows literally nothing. That's good. But the stalking? The corralling? The way Anne just says to him "Sure, I trust you!" after a paragraph of "I don't know him, he's weird, I really should NOT run off with him... but wow he's hot." She was SO close to spinning the YA trope on its head! 
 So Anastasia is being held by Baba Yaga thanks to some ancient magic by the villain Victor. She was kidnapped by Baba Yaga while the Romanov family was slaughtered around her and is now, one hundred years later, looking for an escape. Anne, a descendant of Anastasia (did the name tip you off?), is that escape. 
 Anne ends up with magical powers that she doesn't use. She puts zero research into Anastasia's life or if there's a way she can communicate through her dreams with the princess. She doesn't ask Ethan many questions, even though he was there when the Romanovs were killed. Anne worries more about her cell phone than attempts on her life. Victor's constant hounding doesn't seem to bother her at all. 
 All of the answers just fall pleasantly into her lap when she needs them. 
 Through a magical lacquer box that her mother conveniently finds, Anne finds Baba Yaga's forest where Anastasia is hidden. There she fights Baba Yaga to save the young princess--oh wait, no she doesn't. They just waltz out the door while Baba Yaga waits to chase. Victor follows them, and you might think he makes one last stand to kill Anne so he can keep his immortality (I guess that was his motive; it's not really explained), but you would be wrong! Victor, (view spoiler)[being Anastasia's half-brother (hide spoiler)], decides to sacrifice himself so Anastasia doesn't have to go back to being Baba Yaga's prisoner. The princess is finally free and able to take her throne back, wow, that's so cool! How will the world react to a political figure thought dead a hundred years ago? 
 (view spoiler)[Wait, no, Anastasia decides she wants to die. Anne saved her for literally nothing. (hide spoiler)] 
 The entire plot built up to this point. Ethan was intent on rescuing Anastasia so she could take her throne, so he could go back to aging (thank goodness he stopped at eighteen!) and finally bone Anne--oops, uh, "get to know her better." Anne was ready to help Anastasia any way she could and suddenly the princess drops the bomb. 
 Does this review seem out of focus and all over the place? 
 There you go. That's Dreaming Anastasia. You're welcome.