Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

23 reviews

mformato's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Definitely one of the better YA books I've read in a while, which gives me hope that I haven't been completely turned off from the medium. Though it still had parts I wasn't a huge fan of.

I enjoyed that each character had their own distinct voice but I hated that they all withheld information from the reader. I understand that building up to a big reveal helps create tension but it felt unnecessary for all of them except Emilia. She was definitely the one with the most intriguing arc and I wish we had more depth with her.

I found myself skipping over most of Alfred's imaginary letters cause I just couldn't stand him and it really added nothing to the story. Even his big secret was muddied by his disillusion and not that monumental.

I adored the relationship between Klaus and the Shoe Poet; such a wholesome and tragic bond of two people in a time of war and I almost wish there was a novella from the Shoe Poet's perspective starting from right before he joined the group to how events played out in the novel.

Joana and Florian felt like generic YA characters to me. Not the worst, not the best. Just okay.

Overall I would recommend this book to others who enjoy YA and/or historical fiction. I am impressed with the amount of research Septeys does for her books; she truly cares about creating a historically accurate story with her own voice and I am definitely interested in more of her work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, War, Grief, Racism, Genocide, Medical content, and Sexual assault

itshrewsbury's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Probably one if the best historical fiction books I’ve read, and about a fairly unknown but heartbreaking tragedy. 

13+

TW/CW: war, death, racism/anti-semitism, rape

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Rape and Death

smartens's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Racism, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Homophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, and War

emmaopaline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Rape

julieclair's review against another edition

adventurous informative reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Un-put-downable historical fiction, about the evacuation of German citizens as the Russians invaded German-occupied East Prussia towards the end of World War II. Told from 4 points of view, in short alternating chapters. Rich character development, fascinating story line, and heart-wrenching, realistic details about the horrors encountered by the refugees trying to flee. Human goodness and human cruelty, courage and cowardice, are all displayed. Well researched. This one will stay with me a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Grief, Medical content, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape

cammiem8's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

While it took a while to get into and I really dislike multiple POVs, the third act had me on the edge of my seat and before I knew it, I’d read 150 pages and finished it before bed. I respect the author for experimenting with form, but I much prefer the writing style of Between Shades of Gray. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, Religious bigotry, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Death, Child death, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Grief, and Antisemitism

Minor: Homophobia, Torture, and Vomit

Depicts WW2 and Nazism realistically, so expect all the violence and bigotry that goes along with that.

A main character reveals that her pregnancy is the result of a rape by Soviet soldiers, a woman she lived with allowed the rape to happen.

misssophiawilliams's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Murder, Gore, Medical content, Racism, Rape, Violence, Ableism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, and War

shybookstagramer's review

4.0

 It's crazy what you do and don't learn from the history books. I had no idea that this event occurred during WWII. I'm so disappointed that we were never taught about this, but we know about the sinking of the Titanic. This shipwreck and all the others that occurred on January 30, 1945 caused so many many deaths.

I thought this book was beautifully written and brought this tragic tale to my attention. I like how the story was told from 4 completely different perspectives so that readers can see how this tragedy affected so many different types of people. I felt for the characters. I thought they were all unique and well-written. I grew very attached to them and became so invested.

There were some moments where I didn't necessarily want some of the descriptions that I got, but they did show the horrible things that occurred.

This is a very heavy read but I think it's important that people read it because we need to learn about events like this that are never talked about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, Pregnancy, Racism, Ableism, Violence, Death, and War

Moderate: Rape, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Sexual assault

scarletleaf's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Racism, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

francisca_pitterle's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Child death

Moderate: Racism