In my second last library haul definitely hinted at having already read the Salt and the Sea immediately after picking it up from the library. Guys, that’s pretty darn quick for me; which proves JUST HOW FREAKIN’ AWESOME THIS BOOK IS!
Looking back, I seriously can’t believe that I had yet to hear of this book in our bookish society before! So help me out, pick this bad boy up, and start talking! But how ’bout you do so after this review 😉
Salt to the Sea, By Ruta Sepetys
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.
Firstly, let’s get to the good stuff. Like that cover. Gah! It’s beautiful. I adore the details with the waves and the gorgeous stormy clouds. The foreshadowing is so real here, and that too is something I adore.
The plot in this book was incredible:
The Salt to the Sea is a story told through four main characters. The story starts out with all of them fleeing for their lives in separate settings, however as time passes they all grow together, and the story changes from four different stories to one singular. This had to have been my favorite part of the book; seeing the characters come together.
There are three main protagonists:
Joana: The medic. Sweet, caring, and strong. I absolutely loved Joana, but I found the connection to be lacking between the two of us.
Emilia: The Polish girl. She’s not suppose to be alive, but with a massive amount of courage and strength she is. I couldn’t get my feeling straight when it came to this girl. In some ways I related to her, but then in other ways she became the younger sibling I cared for. Never the less Emilia quickly became my character.
Florian: The German. I debated between this title and “the hottie.” Both are very accurate. I really loved Florian. He was strong and tough, but he was also in tune with his emotional side. Watching him balance these two characteristics was excruciating and added to the intensity and suspense of the novel.
There was one last POV that we witnessed in this book. Alfred. Oh boy, Alfred…
This is the reason that I rated this book 4.5 stars.
Alfred: The Hitler worshiper. The idiot. The self centered ass. There are so many words I could also use. I absolutely hated Alfred. He was the antagonist, that point was clear. But otherwise, he offered nothing to the story. He was literally pointless. All he did was write letters to his love (Gah. The poor woman), and talk about how incredible he was. Modest much? After witnessing only four of these excruciating chapters I reached the point where I just skipped his chapters altogether. Yep, he didn’t even merit a skim; it was that bad.
Purpose:
The purpose of the books is described as a way of bringing to light one of the “single greatest tragedy in maritime history,” and I really did enjoy that. While the characters are all fictional, the situations dealt with were very much a reality within world war two, and knowing this brings about so many emotions while reading this book. While I don’t usually reach for this such genre, I’m glad I made this exception, and here I am to urge you all to do the same 😉
Whether a regular reader of historical fiction or not, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU.
So please, get your butts to the bookstore so we can fangirl,
see you there,
Fiction Is My Reality 