Review Wednesday: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

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+

Buy on Amazon 

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 

Goodreads Rating: 4.39

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

Ruta Sepetys's Website:
http://www.rutasepetys.com

Other Recommendations:

Between the Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys
Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek

Anticipation Friday: Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Goodreads Description
passage, n.
i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.
ii. A journey by water; a voyage.
iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are play­ing, treacherous forces threaten to sep­arate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever

Preorder it on Amazon

Other info
Expected Date of Publication: January 5, 2016
Stand-Alone or Series/Companion: Series- Passenger #1
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Why Am I Anticipating This Book?

There so many things that has caused me to anticipate this book. It takes many things I love in life and put it in one book.
Based on the description, it immediately caught my eye. The very beginning gives a few definitions to the word passage, which are totally separate from each other. I am excited how Bracken is going to incorporate all 3 of those definitions. I also know how to play violin (played for over 10 years), and I have an appreciation for anyone who can learn an instrument, especially the violin, because it is very hard to master it. I also love to travel, especially by the sea. I have also tall shipped sailed on a "pirate ship" and I want to do it again. Who doesn't love adventure?!
Based on the cover, I just love it. I have lived in a city all my life so it feels very homey. The ship that is a reflection makes me think that is somewhat like a dream, which I think is cool. I also like how the city is in a glass bottle because it probably has some symbolism to it. Plus, everyone associates a tall ship to one in the movies or in a glass bottle.
Based on rumors, I heard from (the author) that there is no love triangle, which is great because I am not a fan of love triangles.