Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

45 reviews

themichellegray's review against another edition

challenging sad medium-paced

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

3.0

A beautifully written yet heartbreaking historical fiction that captured a part of WW2 I'd never learned about before. While I appreciate this book, I simultaneously struggled with the pacing and sadly never became fully invested in any of the MC's due to the storytelling format. Despite my personal reading struggles, this story is so important and the author's note perfectly sums up why:

History divided us, but through reading we can be united in story, study, and remembrance. Books join us together as a global reading community, but more important, a global human community striving to learn from the past.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Death of parent, Death, Rape, Genocide, Ableism, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, War, Blood, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail

madeline_schmidt20's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Rape, Death, Violence, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, and Grief

Moderate: Child death

k_spence92's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Genocide, Child death, Violence, Antisemitism, Death, and War

nasab's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I bought this book because of a sale. I didn’t know much about it, but I liked the theme and the book cover, so I bought it.
I didn’t think I would love it this much! It reminded me of why I love historical fiction! The characters aren’t real, but the experience is! This is a story I’ll be thinking about for a long time. I’m just surprised that I’ve never heard of the Wilhelm Gustloff, despite it being the deadliest disaster in maritime history. I’m glad Ruta Sepetys is contributing to its recognition.
War is ugly. Some use it as an excuse for their horrible actions, but most people just want to live peacefully with their families and loved ones and don’t care about politics. It saddens me that innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire. Unfortunately, war isn’t something in the past; it’s still affecting many innocent people in Gaza right this moment. الله يرفع عنهم وينصرهم.
I can’t bring myself to talk about the plot and characters because I’m still processing it, and it’s making me so sad.
Joana the nurse. Florian the artist. Emilia the selfless. Heinz the shoe poet. Ingrid the blind. Klaus the wandering boy. Halinka the baby. Eva the sorry giant. And last and definitely least, Alfred the idiot.

It's silly, but I hoped the shoe poet would emerge from somewhere and be alive. Emilia as well was just too young, but I realize that many died who were much younger than her, and my heart breaks even more. Joana and Florian's romance was sweet, I'm glad they survived and raised the kids. Alfred is a lunatic and a bit exaggerated but represents those who obey such ruthless rulers and believe in them.

I'm feeling so many emotions right now that I can't put into words. It's a sign of a 5-star read.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Racism, Abandonment, Rape, War, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Blood, and Pregnancy

fluture's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A heart wrenching book taken from a true tragedy during World War II. I admire how Ruta can depict the situation and horror during the war with her words. Most parts gave me the shivers and goosebumps. It's a really good book to be read for those who like history fiction.

The point of view were taken from four different people with different characteristics yet it wouldn't confuse you to read it. Every chapter flows just like a river and very enjoyable to read. A page-turner book, beautiful yet tragic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, War, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Genocide, Hate crime, Infertility, Antisemitism, Child death, Gun violence, and Grief

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Stalking

alenert's review

challenging dark informative sad

4.0

Switched from digital to audio around ~30%. Audio was great and had a full cast for all of the POVs. I honestly didn’t know much about this going in, so I didn’t know it was about a ship sinking (clearly I didn’t read the synopsis), let alone that it was based on a real and relatively unknown (by the general public) historical event. Goal of informing people of lost history through fiction: achieved. Loved the characters and, though it goes without saying that this not a happy story, I’m glad I read this and learned some new history. Also the shoe poet has my heart <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Death, Child death, Xenophobia, and War

Moderate: Vomit

allisonbraun's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, War, Medical content, Genocide, Body horror, Pregnancy, and Death

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Antisemitism

izzyhallow's review

dark informative

3.0

Another distressing read from Sepetys. Meticulously researched. Didn't have quite the same emotional connection for me as Between Shades but still a very engaging listen that had me spiralling on the tube. One of those books you have to make sure you're in the right headspace for as it gets pretty graphic about the horrors of war.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Child abuse and Rape

taracloudclark's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

An excellent story told from four perspectives of one of the most horrific events in history. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Antisemitism, War, Blood, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Rape, Child abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Violence, Hate crime, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, and Racism

Minor: Animal cruelty

rebekaho24's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and War

Moderate: Antisemitism and Pregnancy

Minor: Rape