Catherine the Great is not a heart-stopping book, I did not laugh out loud or cry or feel very much of anything to be honest.  I did learn a bit about the 18th century life and this period in the history of Russia, Austria, Prussia, etc.
Mainly I felt ensconced in velvet pillows, brocade curtains, cobblestone castles and living life nestled under the thumb of a powerful queen.  Catherine had an interesting life, a meddling mother, a protective bubble, a role to play led by the rules and whims of others.
Excerpt from page 146:
Catherine was living the life of a royal Cinderella.  On summer days, she galloped over the meadowlands and shot ducks in the marshes along the Gulf of Finland.  Winter nights, she danced as the belle of court balls, exchanging whispered confidences and receiving romantic notes from attentive young men.  These moments were elements of her dream world.  The reality of her daily life was different:  it was filled with frustration, rebuff, and denial.
In reading the book I was struck by the constant illness.  The blood-letting and suffering one must endure in a world without Advil.  It seems people would take sick and wind up dead more often than not and it's hard to imagine that these days.
I am thoroughly impressed with the way Robert K. Massie is able to weave in Catherine's personal writings and other historical references seamlessly into the fabric of an exciting and detailed story.  Dull at times but certainly fun to read while waiting for the next season on Downton Abbey to begin.  I would certainly not have wanted to be the person involved in fact-checking the insane family tree connections though out the European royalty; I'd leave that up to the daughter of my Father's sister's husband's cousin.