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A review by callienicole
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
4.0
All I knew going into this book was that it was about the largest maritime disaster in history, at the tail end of World War 2. It took me a while to get invested in the characters, and then I was really invested, only to have a good number of them die (I don't think that's a spoiler - the book is about a ship sinking). I'm not usually a fan of books where a bunch of the people die, and I was reminded of why I don't usually read World War 2 fiction. I think it's important to remember that war, but I don't like to reflect on it for my leisure reading, because any book set during this time period can't help but be bleak and disturbing. I think I'm a little sensitive here.
Still, I can definitely see why this book is so praised left and right, and I actually enjoyed it very well, even though it's not my normal type of book. I really liked the characters by the end, and thought they were really well drawn.
The ending of this book haunted me, because dying by drowning in a cold sea at night is pretty much my worst nightmare. Still, I really liked the ending, and thought the author made it as good as it could really be.
I read it too long ago to give a proper content notes (I've forgotten specifics), so I'll just mention that there was some mild cussing, and a teenage pregnancy that resulted from rape. I loved though that the teen's baby was so well loved. She cares for her baby throughout the book, and when the baby is born, one character helps her through that emotional conflict by reminding her that this baby is part of HER and her heritage. It was a beautiful moment.
I listened to the audio of this book and it was excellent! Highly recommend reading in that format.
Still, I can definitely see why this book is so praised left and right, and I actually enjoyed it very well, even though it's not my normal type of book. I really liked the characters by the end, and thought they were really well drawn.
The ending of this book haunted me, because dying by drowning in a cold sea at night is pretty much my worst nightmare. Still, I really liked the ending, and thought the author made it as good as it could really be.
I read it too long ago to give a proper content notes (I've forgotten specifics), so I'll just mention that there was some mild cussing, and a teenage pregnancy that resulted from rape. I loved though that the teen's baby was so well loved. She cares for her baby throughout the book, and when the baby is born, one character helps her through that emotional conflict by reminding her that this baby is part of HER and her heritage. It was a beautiful moment.
I listened to the audio of this book and it was excellent! Highly recommend reading in that format.