Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

8 reviews

rebeccaisabelle's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative sad 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

3.5

The reading pace was quite fast for this book. I got to learn about periods of history I didn't know before such as

the sinking of the Willem Gustoff. I also loved the relationship between Florian and Joana. However, overall, I found that the book was sad. Characters I didn't expect to pass away, passed away, those such as Ingrid, the shoe poet, Alfred, and Emilia. Emilia's death was the saddest of them all because I really thought she'd make it but I guess that just points to the fact that many people died in that catastrophe. I'm glad that Joana, Florian and Klaus got a happy ending though. I would have liked to hear more about where Eva ended up or if Florian and Joana ever found their respective families.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Murder, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Genocide, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Blood, Physical abuse, Grief, Body horror, Racism, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Rape

penguin96's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Religious bigotry, War, Racism, and Death

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).

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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

kat_rowlen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Haunting and heartbreaking 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Animal death, Grief, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Violence, and War

Moderate: Rape, Animal cruelty, Religious bigotry, Deportation, and Medical trauma

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

kalin_grace's review against another edition

challenging sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, War, Violence, and Vomit