I'm giving this 4 stars based on the depth of the research and materials presented. BUT -- unless you want a reaaaaally deep dive on Rasputin, this book is probably far more than the lay reader will be interested in.

I went into this knowing the highlights (mostly his infamous death). But I was curious to know more about his life and how he rose to a position of power. I got that, and WAY more - Orthodox church politics, Russian politics, the khlysty sect and other spiritual movements, and lots (and lots and LOTS) of other major and peripheral players in the Russian court. It was a lot to absorb, and I'm honestly not sure how much I'll retain long term. 

So while I do feel like I got what I was hoping for from this book, I fear there's a whole lot else that is just lost on me. If you're also casually curious about this topic there are probably more concise books that will cover the essentials. But if you're *really* curious and have 12+ hours to kill, it's not a bad listen.