Review: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

I didn't hear about this book until last month. But when I did, I knew I had to read it. Because everyone made it sound so amazing. And so I pre-ordered it. And now I have finally read it. Sigh. I must say that I liked this book a whole lot. The writing was gorgeous. The story was so amazing and heartbreaking.

I'm not sure what I wish to say about this book. I loved it. But I also didn't love it the most, and so I am giving it four stars. I adored the characters so much, and I loved the time period it was set it, I just. I didn't cry. It didn't make me feel all that sad. Which was disappointing. But it did make me feel other things.

This is a historical young adult book. Based on a true event that happened with the ship sinking. Shudders. I had never heard of this ship before. Sigh. Which is just all kinds of heartbreaking. Not everything in this book is based on real events, though, and most of it does not take place on the ship. It is a story told from four different people. There is Emilia whom is just fifteen years old and pregnant. Oh. Her story was simply the most heartbreaking. Yet a bit hopeful too, maybe. I simply adored reading about her. She was so strong. And kind. And my heart was breaking for her at all times. How mean. There was Joana, twenty one years old. She was a nurse and she was so kind and brave and I loved getting to know her. She was awesome.

Then there are the boys. First there is the very awesome Florian. I can't remember how old he was. But younger than Joana. And oh, he was amazing to read about. He has a secret. It was a bit boring, but I loved getting to know it even so. It was interesting. Sort of. I also loved how awesome he was with kids. It was cute. There is a small romance in this book. And it is between Florian and Joana. I loved reading about it. They are so cute. Not much happens, and I wanted a bit more, but I loved the little part it has.

And then there was Alfred. Oh my gosh. I cannot deal with this boy. I hated his chapters. I hated him. I can't stand how much I hated him. He kept writing letters in his head to a girl back home. Except she wasn't his girl. And he seemed like an awful stalker. He was mean to "lesser" people. He was very, very pro-Hitler. And it bothered me a lot. I did not like Alfred at all. He was awful. And stupid. Yet he did not think so. Ahh. How he bothered me. Thankfully, his chapters were not long at all, hih. Happy about that.

I'm not sure how to talk about the plot in this book. It takes place in 1945. The war is happening. They are all fleeing, because Russia is coming closer. And oh, those soldiers seemed so awful. I found it a bit.. funny.. that it seemed like all they wanted were watches and to rape girls. Shudders. So much awful happened during the war. And I simply love reading books about it. But only young adult ones, and there aren't a lot of those. I'm so glad I found this book. I'm so glad it was written. It was real and a bit brutal.

There are also other characters in this one. A little boy. He was pretty cute to read about. There is an older man that takes care of him, and I loved reading about him too. He was interesting. I loved how he knew everything about shoes. It was awesome. Then there was Eva, this huge woman. I didn't like her much. But I hope she made it. She was on another ship. There was also this blind girl, and oh. I liked reading about her a lot too. She was kind. And I found it interesting how she was able to sense so much.

I'm not going to say much more about this book. Because I just cannot. I liked it so much. The historical parts were amazing. I loved getting to know all of the characters and their stories. I loved how they became friends; well, not Alfred. But Florian and Emilia got to be such great friends and I loved it lots. When the ship was hit with the torpedoes, it hurt my heart. It was a bit sad to read about. So many people died. It was awful. So many froze to death or just crashed into things. Ack. Interesting, though.

Salt to the Sea is such a fantastic book. The writing is stunning. The characters are all so real to read about. The time period is horrifying and so interesting. This story was incredible. And I'm so glad that I read this book right now. The ending is good, but that one dead caught me by surprise. I didn't think it would happen. And yeah. That was a bit heartbreaking. Sniffs. But well written. I think you should all read this book. It is not a book to just skip past. It is stunning. And you must all read it. Right away.

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