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halkid2's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Intensely emotional, this book is a deep dive into suffering and hardship during World War II, told through the stories of a handful of refugees -- all of whom wind up ultimately trying to evacuate aboard the ill-fated and overcrowded German transport ship, MV Wilhelm Gustloff. This is likely a ship you've never heard of. Like the Titanic and the Lusitania, the Gustloff also sunk - in the waning days of the war - when three Soviet torpedoes hit it on January 30, 1945. But despite the fact that many more people died in the Gustloff tragedy (as many as 9600 died of the 10,000+ military, injured, and civilians onboard), its story is much less widely known.
SALT TO THE SEA begins with a small group of strangers who come upon each other while slowly moving across the German countryside, fleeing encroaching Russian troops:
• Joana Vilkas - a young Lithuanian woman in her 20s brings much needed nursing skills to the group. While hoping to reunite with her mother, she is hiding substantial guilt.
• Florian Beck - a formerly loyal German who has spent years restoring stolen art, but now feels he has been duped by members of the Nazi command and is eager to take his revenge. A cautious man, he is distrustful of EVERYONE he meets.
• Emilia Stożek- a Polish teenager, with no identification papers, is already acquainted with invading Russian soldiers. She too is hiding a secret.
• Alfred Frick - a lowly-ranked German sailor assigned to the Gustloff, with a passionate attachment to the beliefs of Adolph Hitler. Readers get to know him primarily through letters to his girlfriend back home. For me, his contributions to the story are primarily his wild, officious, and grandiose delusions (aka delusions of grandeur).
There are other members of the group who play a more supporting role.
Author Ruta Sepetys constructs the book using 174(!) short (1-3 pages) chapters, each written from the point of view of one of the four leading characters. I was not a fan of the jumping around, even though the story remains largely chronological, just told from different viewpoints along the way. But the construction does not diminish the power of the novel and the authentic way it immerses you into a wide variety of horrors of war. But also the strength and resilience of human beings and their innate desire to connect with others. NOT an easy book to read; I found I needed to put it down at times to break the tension.
FYI, this is billed as a young adult novel, though it didn't strike me as simplified in any way. I recommend the book, particularly for highlighting such an interesting but little known story from the last year of World War II.
SALT TO THE SEA begins with a small group of strangers who come upon each other while slowly moving across the German countryside, fleeing encroaching Russian troops:
• Joana Vilkas - a young Lithuanian woman in her 20s brings much needed nursing skills to the group. While hoping to reunite with her mother, she is hiding substantial guilt.
• Florian Beck - a formerly loyal German who has spent years restoring stolen art, but now feels he has been duped by members of the Nazi command and is eager to take his revenge. A cautious man, he is distrustful of EVERYONE he meets.
• Emilia Stożek- a Polish teenager, with no identification papers, is already acquainted with invading Russian soldiers. She too is hiding a secret.
• Alfred Frick - a lowly-ranked German sailor assigned to the Gustloff, with a passionate attachment to the beliefs of Adolph Hitler. Readers get to know him primarily through letters to his girlfriend back home. For me, his contributions to the story are primarily his wild, officious, and grandiose delusions (aka delusions of grandeur).
There are other members of the group who play a more supporting role.
Author Ruta Sepetys constructs the book using 174(!) short (1-3 pages) chapters, each written from the point of view of one of the four leading characters. I was not a fan of the jumping around, even though the story remains largely chronological, just told from different viewpoints along the way. But the construction does not diminish the power of the novel and the authentic way it immerses you into a wide variety of horrors of war. But also the strength and resilience of human beings and their innate desire to connect with others. NOT an easy book to read; I found I needed to put it down at times to break the tension.
FYI, this is billed as a young adult novel, though it didn't strike me as simplified in any way. I recommend the book, particularly for highlighting such an interesting but little known story from the last year of World War II.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Death
Moderate: Rape
corriejn's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Gun violence, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape
mdavis26's review against another edition
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Rape, Violence, War, Antisemitism, Blood, Animal cruelty, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Pregnancy
avi_gardner's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Rape
katrinaburch's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Wow.... I don't know what to make of this book. The last quarter sped by (that's not to say that the first part of the book was slow, it wasn't, Sepetys is very good at that) but I have to say, I HATED the format. I did finally get used to it but it was really hard keeping track of who's who and what everyone's back story was. And to be honest, I wish Sepetys had fleshed those out more because they were what kept me going, what was everyone running from, I needed more!
It's sad, I've read a lot and studied a lot of World War 2 history and I've never heard of this disaster! So I'm glad Sepetys used it.
I'm also glad Alfred died... Holy moly, I've never had someone creep me out in a book so much before. Also, again, I wish that Emilia had survived and lived to help her baby grow up. I know the daughter had a happy ending and I'm happy the little boy survived (though I wish it would have told what happened to his family) but still. She suffered though so much (like so many).
It's sad, I've read a lot and studied a lot of World War 2 history and I've never heard of this disaster! So I'm glad Sepetys used it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Genocide, Murder, Rape, Vomit, Hate crime, Pregnancy, War, and Death
Minor: Antisemitism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, Gore, Violence, Child death, Blood, and Bullying
gymjam_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A stunning, emotional piece of fiction that follows four young characters during the war whose lives all intertwine onboard the Wilhelm Gustloff - the very real ship that has unfortunately been lost from history books. Extremely well written. If you enjoy war fiction, this should be a must read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: War and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abandonment, Antisemitism, Child death, and Rape
oceanwriter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Ruta Sepetys has become one of my favorite historical fiction authors. Her books stand out from others in the genre thanks to the lesser-known/talked about events she chooses to build her plots around.
Joana, Florian, and Emelia narrate their journeys learning up to their departure on the fated Wilhelm Gustloff. In contrast to them is Alfred, a Nazi assigned to the ship. While Alfred’s section of the book is largely focuses on his career and his ‘promised’ future, Joana, Emelia, and Florian’s stories focus on their pasts and hopes of escape.
Despite the extremely short chapters, I found the story was slow to build. Toward the last third, it picked up immensely. The sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff is the worst disaster in maritime history with a death toll nearing 10,000. Ruta Sepetys does a wonderful job of capturing the tragedy. Although the book is about fictional characters, the reader still gets a sense of the individuals who suffered through it.
Compared to The Fountains of Silence and I Must Betray You, it took a significantly longer time for me to get wholly into the plot given how quickly the four POVs jumped around. The lead-in and backstories took up most of the pages. The wait was well worth it even though it's a heartbreaking read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and War
Moderate: Antisemitism, Rape, Medical content, and Pregnancy
lostintheplot's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Rape and Medical content
Minor: Death of parent
romy_elizabeth13's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Okay okay okay. So much to say here. This book absolutely wrecked me. But I loved it.
So at first I was like “this is boring and I don’t like it”. I will admit it has a slow start. However, once you get into it, it becomes one of the most amazing books ever. It has an incredible storyline, amazing cast of characters (well, most of them) and is generally very well written.
This book is narrated by four people:
Joana, a nurse girl who is incredibly caring and persistently pushes through everything. She was probably my favourite character. I also loved seeing her through Florian’s perspective, it was so interesting. She was incredibly relatable and I really did love her. She was also kind of a badass so we love that. I really admired how despite everything she had been through, she never found a reason to be selfish or do anything that was morally wrong even though it might benefit her.
Florian, who is sort of running away ish. It’s kind of complicated but anyway. He was amazing. The second he appeared on the page, I was thinking “hey, you’re gonna be one of those guys who pretends to be all tough and doesn’t care but in reality you do care very much and are so sweet”. I was right. He was so loveable and I really respected how he helped everyone and really came to love everyone. He was also very great at looking after Emilia who saw him as a really brave person and soon came to trust him with her life. There’s so much to say about Florian. I did love him.
Emilia, a girl of fifteen. She struggled with so much and I genuinely felt so sad when I thought of everything she went through. However I absolutely loved her with my whole heart and just admired how brave she was. She really was so persistent and passionate about who she loved. I also found it heartbreaking how her innocence was almost taken from her.
And finally, my least favourite character, Alfred. Oh my gosh, he was the worst — aside from being racist, sexist, homophobic, cruel, completely vile and self centred, he was also so creepy. He generally disgusted me. But oh well. he dies
The general idea is that all these people start off being completely lost and not knowing what do do, war has completely wrecked their lives. But they all eventually cross paths and (aside from Alfred) all build strong relationships with each other. They need to get on a boat called the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship which could hopefully get them to freedom and safety. However, unfortunately it is never that simple and the ending of this book was tragic. It was also kind of happy. It was one of those sad/happy endings. I generally loved this book so much and would really recommend it. It also had some great side characters (except Eva, I didn’t like her). It was so compelling and I enjoyed it so much.
So at first I was like “this is boring and I don’t like it”. I will admit it has a slow start. However, once you get into it, it becomes one of the most amazing books ever. It has an incredible storyline, amazing cast of characters (well, most of them) and is generally very well written.
This book is narrated by four people:
Joana, a nurse girl who is incredibly caring and persistently pushes through everything. She was probably my favourite character. I also loved seeing her through Florian’s perspective, it was so interesting. She was incredibly relatable and I really did love her. She was also kind of a badass so we love that. I really admired how despite everything she had been through, she never found a reason to be selfish or do anything that was morally wrong even though it might benefit her.
Florian, who is sort of running away ish. It’s kind of complicated but anyway. He was amazing. The second he appeared on the page, I was thinking “hey, you’re gonna be one of those guys who pretends to be all tough and doesn’t care but in reality you do care very much and are so sweet”. I was right. He was so loveable and I really respected how he helped everyone and really came to love everyone. He was also very great at looking after Emilia who saw him as a really brave person and soon came to trust him with her life. There’s so much to say about Florian. I did love him.
Emilia, a girl of fifteen. She struggled with so much and I genuinely felt so sad when I thought of everything she went through. However I absolutely loved her with my whole heart and just admired how brave she was. She really was so persistent and passionate about who she loved. I also found it heartbreaking how her innocence was almost taken from her.
And finally, my least favourite character, Alfred. Oh my gosh, he was the worst — aside from being racist, sexist, homophobic, cruel, completely vile and self centred, he was also so creepy. He generally disgusted me. But oh well.
The general idea is that all these people start off being completely lost and not knowing what do do, war has completely wrecked their lives. But they all eventually cross paths and (aside from Alfred) all build strong relationships with each other. They need to get on a boat called the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship which could hopefully get them to freedom and safety. However, unfortunately it is never that simple and the ending of this book was tragic. It was also kind of happy. It was one of those sad/happy endings. I generally loved this book so much and would really recommend it. It also had some great side characters (except Eva, I didn’t like her). It was so compelling and I enjoyed it so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Vomit, Racism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, War, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Racial slurs and Misogyny
froukjemelenhorst's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Just… deeply okay
Het is oprecht knap om een oorlogsboek te schrijven waarbij ik bijna niets voel voor elk personage 😭
Het is oprecht knap om een oorlogsboek te schrijven waarbij ik bijna niets voel voor elk personage 😭
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia
Minor: Sexual harassment and Vomit