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A review by corinnekeener
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
3.0
This book mostly gets three stars for having been about a tragic historical incident that I had no idea ever happened and for being moderately thrilling to read.
Otherwise, the characterization wasn't particularly strong. Told from four points of view, if it weren't obvious that each character was talking about a different background and different concerns, you'd never know they were four distinct voices. Each had the exact same cadence. A big concern would be voiced and then a short little sentence would follow it up. Like this. Over and over again. There would be chapters in which each character would say something thematic in exactly the same way as the other characters, "Fear is a hunter," "Shame is a hunter," etc. but they didn't make much sense except to drive home their motivations in a way that seemed artsy? I don't know, it didn't work for me.
The romance plot made me literally, physically roll my eyes several times. ("What was I going to do? Try not to kiss her."- While there are dead people strewn all about, lol). Maybe at 28 years old I've finally outgrown the young adult genre.
The historical elements were pretty great though. I had no idea the history of the WV Wilhelm Gustloff, nor had I ever heard of the Amber Room. Both are very interesting, though not exactly thoroughly realized, but I guess I have some new things to research. All in all a quick, exciting read. We'll see how memorable it manages to be.
Otherwise, the characterization wasn't particularly strong. Told from four points of view, if it weren't obvious that each character was talking about a different background and different concerns, you'd never know they were four distinct voices. Each had the exact same cadence. A big concern would be voiced and then a short little sentence would follow it up. Like this. Over and over again. There would be chapters in which each character would say something thematic in exactly the same way as the other characters, "Fear is a hunter," "Shame is a hunter," etc. but they didn't make much sense except to drive home their motivations in a way that seemed artsy? I don't know, it didn't work for me.
The romance plot made me literally, physically roll my eyes several times. ("What was I going to do? Try not to kiss her."- While there are dead people strewn all about, lol). Maybe at 28 years old I've finally outgrown the young adult genre.
The historical elements were pretty great though. I had no idea the history of the WV Wilhelm Gustloff, nor had I ever heard of the Amber Room. Both are very interesting, though not exactly thoroughly realized, but I guess I have some new things to research. All in all a quick, exciting read. We'll see how memorable it manages to be.