Title: Salt to the Sea
Author: Ruta Sepetys
1st Date of Publication: February 2, 2016
ISBN: 9780399160301
# of Pages: 393
Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction
Age Rating: 13+
Book Description:
Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets.
Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war.
As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.
Yet not all promises can be kept.
Inspired by the single greatest tragedy in maritime history, bestselling and award-winning author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) lifts the veil on a shockingly little-known casualty of World War II. An illuminating and life-affirming tale of heart and hope.
Setting: 1945 in Prussia
Point of View: 1st person- Alfred Frick, Florian Beck, Emilia, and Joana
My Rating: 4.50
Part of the Book that Caught My Attention: Both
View on the Cover: Why are there so many life preservers? It seems very sad and somewhat morbid through all the blues and grays involved.
View on Title: What or who is the salt to the sea? And why salt? Are they tears? The sea is already salty.
Pros:
- I have read Sepetys's first two novels and I thought this was the best one by far. This is an actual event that happened but both the Nazis and the Russian hid their loss/win because the war was pretty much over and it was accepted. The research put into this event really shows through the reactions of the fictional characters.
- What I loved most was that the book was split into four alternating characters in first person. Changing characters and their ideas is a very difficult task especially if it's more than two, but Sepetys truly pulls off this arduous task.
- The chapters were also very short, which made the novel read so quickly.
- The characters were great and very diverse.
- Emilia is Polish and has to keep her identity hidden but she is also pregnant which means her life is double life or death.
- Joana is Lithuanian and she is a skilled nurse and feels the need to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
- Alfred Frick is Prussian and fairly loyal throughout the novel to gain favor with authorities, which shows how some military officers really were during World War II.
- Florian Beck is German and a traitor to his country, but that's because he follows his heart and does what he thinks is right.
- Of course almost every young adult book, or even adult, has romance. But the romance does not take over the novel and simply enhances the novel to represent more on how high the stakes really are for all four characters.
- The ending was not what most people would expect. It is not completely happy. There is a lot of turmoil that goes on even to the very end.
Cons:
- It was at first hard to follow the characters because there are four characters you have to get to know and be familiar with. This is the only issue I had with it but that's something that everyone will have an issue with at first.
Critics' Reviews:
"Sepetys excels in shining light on lost chapters of history, and this visceral novel proves a memorable testament to strength and resilience in the face of war and cruelty." —Publishers Weekly
"This haunting gem of a novel begs to be remembered, and in turn, it tries to remember the thousands of real people its fictional characters represent. What it asks of us is that their memories, and their stories, not be abandoned to the sea." —Booklist
"Artfully told and sensitively crafted, Sepetys’s exploration of this little-known piece of history will leave readers weeping." —School Library Journal
"The inevitability of the ending (including the loss of several characters) doesn't change its poignancy, and the short chapters and slowly revealed back stories for each character guarantee the pages keep turning. Heartbreaking, historical, and a little bit hopeful." —Kirkus
"This book includes all the reasons why teens read: for knowledge, for romance, for amazing and irritating characters. This novel will break readers’ hearts and then put them back together a little more whole." —VOYA
"Sepetys’s...scene-setting is impeccable; the penetrating cold of the journey is palpable, and she excels at conveying the scope of the losses while giving them a human face....[T]his elegiac tale succeeds with impressive research, affecting characters, and keen, often unsettling insights into humans’ counterposed tendencies toward evil and nobility. Readers will be left to discuss which impulse triumphs here." —The Horn Book
Other Recommendations:
Between the Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys
Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek
Goodreads Description
