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readbytirta's review
3.0
This is the first time for me to read an american YA book which set in my own country :))
It's very interesting to find all those Indonesian phrases in this book among all other english words.
Most of them are accurate; eventhough some things came out funny (for example, I will miss you is supposed to be 'Saya akan rindu Anda', not 'Saya akan rinda Anda') and that it's way too brave for Sienna & Deni to fly out from Yogya to Aceh using a credit card -without parental permission, that is- Sea is a good book. I love how Heidi describes some of our cultures and habits that sometimes can be 'weird' for Western people (like using our left hand for sanitary or how in a pesantren the boys and the girls are separated) and she got it right.
Moreover, I love the ending of this book. Realistic and sweet.
It's very interesting to find all those Indonesian phrases in this book among all other english words.
Most of them are accurate; eventhough some things came out funny (for example, I will miss you is supposed to be 'Saya akan rindu Anda', not 'Saya akan rinda Anda') and that it's way too brave for Sienna & Deni to fly out from Yogya to Aceh using a credit card -without parental permission, that is- Sea is a good book. I love how Heidi describes some of our cultures and habits that sometimes can be 'weird' for Western people (like using our left hand for sanitary or how in a pesantren the boys and the girls are separated) and she got it right.
Moreover, I love the ending of this book. Realistic and sweet.
aprilbooksandwine's review
5.0
Imagine, if you will, a book that will melt your heart simultaneously reminding you of a 1940s black and white film, despite it being set in the present. Are you picturing? Picture an exotic location, such as say, Indonesian. Now, add in a large smattering of romance and you have Sea by Heidi R. Kling.
Read the rest of my review here
Read the rest of my review here
foreveryoungadult's review
Graded By: Jenny
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 7
Talky Talk: Right On
Bonus Factors: Indonesia, Mysterious Loner Dude, Diversity
Relationship Status: Summer Love
Read the full book report here.
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 7
Talky Talk: Right On
Bonus Factors: Indonesia, Mysterious Loner Dude, Diversity
Relationship Status: Summer Love
Read the full book report here.
overflowingshelf's review
5.0
Wow. What a stunning debut from author Heidi R. Kling. I heard about Sea during the Fall of 2009 and have been anxiously awaiting its release day, and it lived up to my expectation. Sea was beautifully written, full of emotions, and deeply touching.
Sea expertly deals with loss, love and life, all in one book. While reading Sea, I constantly found myself thinking what I would do in the characters situations and wondering what a struggle it is for some people to make it day to day.
What I really enjoyed about Sea was the characters. All the characters, everyone from Sienna, to Deni, to Spider, were so real and well written. Each character was there own distinct person who had their own issues that they had to deal with throughout the book. For me, I loved Sienna. Her emotions were so real, I felt I could truly connect with her. When Sienna experienced sadness, I felt sad; when she felt joy, I was happy. I love when a book can make you connect with a character on a personal level and in Sea, that is truly what happened.
What I truly loved about this book was its setting and the topics it dealt with. Heidi truly recreates what it would be like living in Indonesia after the 2006 tsunami. You truly get a feel for Indonesian cultures and traditions thru Sea. Reading this book made me want to hop on a plane and go visit this country to see the beauty for myself. While reading this book, I also realized how catastrophic the tsunami in Indonesia was in 2006 and the struggles and loss that the people had to go through and it deeply saddened me. After reading this, I wished I could have gone back in time to help with the relief efforts in that country to less the pain of characters such as Deni.
Sea is one of those books that I know will stay in my mind forever. The powerful messages of loss, love and hope are messages that are crucial to living. As Sea reminds us we must Dare to Love and Dare to Live.
Sea expertly deals with loss, love and life, all in one book. While reading Sea, I constantly found myself thinking what I would do in the characters situations and wondering what a struggle it is for some people to make it day to day.
What I really enjoyed about Sea was the characters. All the characters, everyone from Sienna, to Deni, to Spider, were so real and well written. Each character was there own distinct person who had their own issues that they had to deal with throughout the book. For me, I loved Sienna. Her emotions were so real, I felt I could truly connect with her. When Sienna experienced sadness, I felt sad; when she felt joy, I was happy. I love when a book can make you connect with a character on a personal level and in Sea, that is truly what happened.
What I truly loved about this book was its setting and the topics it dealt with. Heidi truly recreates what it would be like living in Indonesia after the 2006 tsunami. You truly get a feel for Indonesian cultures and traditions thru Sea. Reading this book made me want to hop on a plane and go visit this country to see the beauty for myself. While reading this book, I also realized how catastrophic the tsunami in Indonesia was in 2006 and the struggles and loss that the people had to go through and it deeply saddened me. After reading this, I wished I could have gone back in time to help with the relief efforts in that country to less the pain of characters such as Deni.
Sea is one of those books that I know will stay in my mind forever. The powerful messages of loss, love and hope are messages that are crucial to living. As Sea reminds us we must Dare to Love and Dare to Live.
lifeinfiction's review
First of all, the writing is simply excellent. Ms. Kling certainly has a talent for creating amazing characters and for fleshing out a story to make it real and alive. Of course, my favorite characters are Sea and Deni, who make a great couple, despite their differences. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how Sea grew as a person thanks to Deni and the events surrounding the tsunami. She overcame her fears and in the end, was a totally different person than in the beginning. Sea is a wonderful narrator and I found myself laughing and crying along with her. Sea isn't the only character who grows and changes, however. Almost every character has their own personal struggles to overcome, which makes them extremely well-rounded and helps take the story to the next level.
I can only think of one thing that I didn't like about the novel and that was the character of Spider. I wish we had seen more of him and learned more about his friendship with Sea. He is the only character I felt fell a little flat.
Sea is that it is truly a beautiful and powerful novel. I love the backstory of how Ms. Kling started writing it and the novel ended up improving my perspective of the world. I know bad things happen, that disaster strikes more than once and does so personally and globally, but Sea helped me become more aware of the world and everything that's going on.
Sea is an emotional, but enlightening story that needs to be read by EVERYONE. It will resonate with those who have either lost a loved one or experienced a natural disaster. But even those who haven't will still find Sea amazingly splendid and it'll hopefully open people's eyes to the disasters the world is facing. Not only will readers fall in love with the characters and story, they will also end up learning a lot.
I can only think of one thing that I didn't like about the novel and that was the character of Spider. I wish we had seen more of him and learned more about his friendship with Sea. He is the only character I felt fell a little flat.
Sea is that it is truly a beautiful and powerful novel. I love the backstory of how Ms. Kling started writing it and the novel ended up improving my perspective of the world. I know bad things happen, that disaster strikes more than once and does so personally and globally, but Sea helped me become more aware of the world and everything that's going on.
Sea is an emotional, but enlightening story that needs to be read by EVERYONE. It will resonate with those who have either lost a loved one or experienced a natural disaster. But even those who haven't will still find Sea amazingly splendid and it'll hopefully open people's eyes to the disasters the world is facing. Not only will readers fall in love with the characters and story, they will also end up learning a lot.
lizpatanders's review
5.0
Between the fanatical reviews posted by several bloggers and Sea’s gorgeous cover, I had to have this book for myself. Even though I knew a large part of the plot was about tsunami relief, part of my brain expected this book to have lots of idyllic romantic scenes where the characters work through their emotional baggage while sitting on a beach. I have no idea where my brain got this idea, but Sea turned out to be much different, yet absolutely beautiful nonetheless.
Sea is a story that had me “Awwing” on one page, angry the next and even feeling a little queasy a few pages later. I didn’t particularly like Sienna or her traveling companions at first, but I began to like Sienna more throughout her time in Indonesia, and my feelings about her completely changed by the end of the book. She felt a lot of anger towards Vera and occasionally her father, which I loved, because if I’d been in her shoes, I’d have felt the same way. As for the love interests of this story, while I found Deni sweet and romantic, by the end I found myself very appreciative of Spider’s role in the story.
Kling is not shy about depicting cultural differences or the devastation caused by the tsunami. I wasn’t honestly sure how I would feel about Sea until I reached the end, however. I kept wondering how everything would tie together, would the reader feeling as though he or she had been deprived of a proper ending. To be honest, it was one small paragraph that made me fall in love with this book. One beautifully expressed, heartbreaking yet apt paragraph. That was when I realized that this is not just a book for victims of tsunami, or someone who has lost his or her parents. This is a book for anyone who has ever had to overcome loss, or anyone who has felt trapped within the confines of a broken heart, stuck in a state of static, yet unable to move forward.
I will not forget Sea or Sienna’s emotional journey any time soon. The last few chapters of this book had me in tears, but also left me thinking about what’s important when it comes to living life. Don’t less this book pass you by.
Sea is a story that had me “Awwing” on one page, angry the next and even feeling a little queasy a few pages later. I didn’t particularly like Sienna or her traveling companions at first, but I began to like Sienna more throughout her time in Indonesia, and my feelings about her completely changed by the end of the book. She felt a lot of anger towards Vera and occasionally her father, which I loved, because if I’d been in her shoes, I’d have felt the same way. As for the love interests of this story, while I found Deni sweet and romantic, by the end I found myself very appreciative of Spider’s role in the story.
Kling is not shy about depicting cultural differences or the devastation caused by the tsunami. I wasn’t honestly sure how I would feel about Sea until I reached the end, however. I kept wondering how everything would tie together, would the reader feeling as though he or she had been deprived of a proper ending. To be honest, it was one small paragraph that made me fall in love with this book. One beautifully expressed, heartbreaking yet apt paragraph. That was when I realized that this is not just a book for victims of tsunami, or someone who has lost his or her parents. This is a book for anyone who has ever had to overcome loss, or anyone who has felt trapped within the confines of a broken heart, stuck in a state of static, yet unable to move forward.
I will not forget Sea or Sienna’s emotional journey any time soon. The last few chapters of this book had me in tears, but also left me thinking about what’s important when it comes to living life. Don’t less this book pass you by.
ii_xiv's review
4.0
What I think Kling has done here is draw in young adult readers with two long-time favorite devices: romance and tragedy. These two familiar things will draw young readers toward the other side of the ocean, into the kind of rich cultural and humanitarian fiction that is often absent from the genre. I can't wait to share it with more of my student readers!
nicoleasaurus's review
4.0
Okay so I loved loved loved this book but I think the reason I gave it four stars only was because of the ending, to be honest. I liked the ending in a way, but my non-liking of the ending won by a hair over my liking the ending. I dunno I just thought that Deni and Sienna {I love both of their names btw} are so cute and idk. But overall I really liked it(:
I can't wait to read another one of Heidi's books and I liked how she changed the ending up from the typical ending of a book like this in a way xD
I can't wait to read another one of Heidi's books and I liked how she changed the ending up from the typical ending of a book like this in a way xD
greenbeanteenqueen's review
5.0
Love, Love, Love it! I love books with romance, but sometimes the romance genre feels oversaturated with paranormal or new girl falls for hot guy who finally notices her storylines. Sea stands out among these romances and is a breath of fresh air. In Sea, you'll find a wonderfully lovely story about a normal girl-and this girl actually travels the world and helps people! Sure, she's reluctant to at first, but what I loved about Sienna is that she goes for it-she joins Team Hope and travels to Indonesia and steps out of her comfort zone. She made me want to jump on a plane and find a Team Hope of my own.
What really made Sea stand out for me though was that the unique storyline could have gotten very preachy about helping others, joining service projects and doing good. But it never does-this is more Sienna and Deni's story about finding and helping each other-and it just happens to be in a more exotic setting with a unique premise. This is much more than a contemporary love story-it's a story about two people thrown into hard situations and making it through and the healing that can come after tragedy. Even if you typcially shy away from books with romance, give this one a try-I think you'll be surprised!
I do wish we could have gotten more information on the orphange and Deni's concerns about the owner, but I do that stayed true to the fact that Team Hope was only there for two weeks-they couldn't change everything. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I have to say that I loved the ending-it was just right and I really loved how everything came full circle. Sometimes when an author tries to pull of an ending like the one in Sea, I want to throw the book across the room because it just doesn't work. But Ms. Kling makes it work and it left me happy and there was no book throwing-she pulled it off perfectly!
I stayed up late reading Sea because it was a book I couldn't put down. It starts out innocently enough and I thought "I'll just read one chapter"-but this one pulled me in and once I started reading, I couldn't stop. Sea ranks at the top of my debut book list for 2010 and should be added to everyone's must read list.
What really made Sea stand out for me though was that the unique storyline could have gotten very preachy about helping others, joining service projects and doing good. But it never does-this is more Sienna and Deni's story about finding and helping each other-and it just happens to be in a more exotic setting with a unique premise. This is much more than a contemporary love story-it's a story about two people thrown into hard situations and making it through and the healing that can come after tragedy. Even if you typcially shy away from books with romance, give this one a try-I think you'll be surprised!
I do wish we could have gotten more information on the orphange and Deni's concerns about the owner, but I do that stayed true to the fact that Team Hope was only there for two weeks-they couldn't change everything. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I have to say that I loved the ending-it was just right and I really loved how everything came full circle. Sometimes when an author tries to pull of an ending like the one in Sea, I want to throw the book across the room because it just doesn't work. But Ms. Kling makes it work and it left me happy and there was no book throwing-she pulled it off perfectly!
I stayed up late reading Sea because it was a book I couldn't put down. It starts out innocently enough and I thought "I'll just read one chapter"-but this one pulled me in and once I started reading, I couldn't stop. Sea ranks at the top of my debut book list for 2010 and should be added to everyone's must read list.
moroccanadian's review
4.0
Probably more of a 3.5, but I read it on holidays and am feeling generous today.
Interesting plot with some golden moments, but there were a few things about this book that bugged me a little. But all in all, it was a nice little beach read.
Interesting plot with some golden moments, but there were a few things about this book that bugged me a little. But all in all, it was a nice little beach read.