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grammar_police's review against another edition
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? Yes
4.75
Beautifully written, deep, and emotional. A spectacular story about the most devastating shipwreck in history.
Content Warnings
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
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Grief, War, Abandonment, Death, Pregnancy, Vomit, Blood, Child death, and Confinement
erebus53's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-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
3.25
I had difficulty writing a review for this book because I got to the end of it and realised that it was a historical fiction piece based around a real life maritime incident. As such that shook me up a bit and it was a little hard to get my feelings about it clear. It was yet another case of reading something for book club without having looked it up first. I think that's a pretty valuable experience because it means you see things with fresh eyes, but sometimes you don't want to reread it with the knowledge of the outcome. I don't have the tenacity to reread this.
The book was slow. It was the first time that I have ever noted the similarity between the stories of apocalyptic zombie survival, and those of refugees. There is a lot of cross country wandering.. hoping you are going in the right direction, not knowing if anyone you run into is going to be friend or foe, not knowing if you will find food or shelter, and coming up with a Plan to hold a ragtag bunch of travelers, of different ages and backgrounds, together long enough that they might get someplace safe.
This is the second story I have read recently with a blind girl in a world war. It was hard to read this book and not be occasionally reminded of "All The Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr. This is also because in both stories there is a viewpoint of a German soldier as counterpoint to what is going on with those fleeing. The depiction of the main German character is interestingly unsympathetic, as he turns out to be a jumped up coward, universally disliked by his fellows, and radiating hot waves of obsessive, sociopathic Incel Energy. I'm sure this jab is a lot more meta, than useful for building the story, but he is certainly a part of this book that I won't forget in a hurry.
The story was ..ok. I didn't dislike it, but it's not something that would bob to the top of my recommendations list.
The book was slow. It was the first time that I have ever noted the similarity between the stories of apocalyptic zombie survival, and those of refugees. There is a lot of cross country wandering.. hoping you are going in the right direction, not knowing if anyone you run into is going to be friend or foe, not knowing if you will find food or shelter, and coming up with a Plan to hold a ragtag bunch of travelers, of different ages and backgrounds, together long enough that they might get someplace safe.
This is the second story I have read recently with a blind girl in a world war. It was hard to read this book and not be occasionally reminded of "All The Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr. This is also because in both stories there is a viewpoint of a German soldier as counterpoint to what is going on with those fleeing. The depiction of the main German character is interestingly unsympathetic, as he turns out to be a jumped up coward, universally disliked by his fellows, and radiating hot waves of obsessive, sociopathic Incel Energy. I'm sure this jab is a lot more meta, than useful for building the story, but he is certainly a part of this book that I won't forget in a hurry.
The story was ..ok. I didn't dislike it, but it's not something that would bob to the top of my recommendations list.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Blood, Bullying, Sexual violence, Hate crime, and Animal cruelty
mailuss's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
fast-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Pregnancy, and War
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
emmiewrites_'s review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy, Child death, War, Violence, and Sexual violence
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
aphrochilds's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- 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? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit
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
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