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rebekaho24's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, and War
Moderate: Antisemitism and Pregnancy
Minor: Rape
grammar_police's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, War, Blood, Child death, Gore, Ableism, Death of parent, Death, Genocide, and Rape
Moderate: Pregnancy, Vomit, Murder, Suicide, Grief, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Cursing
greenlivingaudioworm's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Grief, War, Abandonment, Death, Pregnancy, Vomit, Blood, Child death, and Confinement
lilly_19's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Rape
mailuss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Child death, Pregnancy, and War
halkid2's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: War and Death
Moderate: Rape
corriejn's review
4.75
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
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
Graphic: Violence, War, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Rape
hookofabook's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Moderate: Death