kiley_allen's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
leahegood's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. Still processing my thoughts about this book, but if I had to describe it in one word, I'd say evocative.
Several peers whose book tastes are frequently similar to mine were giving this book rave reviews, so, of course, I had to give it a try. I can't say I fell in love as deeply as they did, but this is definitely a work of fiction to be appreciated.
Salt to the Sea is everything historical fiction should be. There is gravity and depth of emotion without dramatizing or glorifying history. It sheds light on aspects of history that hover on the brink of being lost to memory. It shows people just like us who struggle, endure, show courage, make mistakes, love and care and fear.
This is a book that deals with hard subjects. Invading armies taking advantage of the women and children left defensel by war. Babies and children that cannot be saved.
While I didn't fully connect to the writing style and recommend the book with the above warning, I think this is one of the most powerful historical fictions I've encountered.
Several peers whose book tastes are frequently similar to mine were giving this book rave reviews, so, of course, I had to give it a try. I can't say I fell in love as deeply as they did, but this is definitely a work of fiction to be appreciated.
Salt to the Sea is everything historical fiction should be. There is gravity and depth of emotion without dramatizing or glorifying history. It sheds light on aspects of history that hover on the brink of being lost to memory. It shows people just like us who struggle, endure, show courage, make mistakes, love and care and fear.
This is a book that deals with hard subjects. Invading armies taking advantage of the women and children left defensel by war. Babies and children that cannot be saved.
While I didn't fully connect to the writing style and recommend the book with the above warning, I think this is one of the most powerful historical fictions I've encountered.
clairemariarose's review against another edition
5.0
*tyra banks meme* all the light we cannot see, but make it YA
kaitp617's review against another edition
5.0
WOW. Just wow.
This book was so beautiful, so heart-wrenching, so interesting, so informative, so simple yet difficult to read. I'm not much of a historical fiction gal but I do love stories set in war and wow, this was just amazing. You can tell how much research effort Ruta Sepetys put in to make these stories as authentic as possible. You can tell how many hours she spent making sure her characters felt REAL.
I loved this book. I don't know if I could read it again, because of how heartbreaking it is (not a spoiler, literally just the topic of the book is sad) but it's absolutely a 5-star read. I thought the characters were well-fleshed and Sepetys did a wonderful job portraying the tragedies of war through eyes of teenagers. I can't recommend this enough. It made me happy, sad, excited, scared, all of the emotions. Also, I loved the development of the side characters as well. It was just GREAT! (P.S. I totally love Florian.)
This book was so beautiful, so heart-wrenching, so interesting, so informative, so simple yet difficult to read. I'm not much of a historical fiction gal but I do love stories set in war and wow, this was just amazing. You can tell how much research effort Ruta Sepetys put in to make these stories as authentic as possible. You can tell how many hours she spent making sure her characters felt REAL.
I loved this book. I don't know if I could read it again, because of how heartbreaking it is (not a spoiler, literally just the topic of the book is sad) but it's absolutely a 5-star read. I thought the characters were well-fleshed and Sepetys did a wonderful job portraying the tragedies of war through eyes of teenagers. I can't recommend this enough. It made me happy, sad, excited, scared, all of the emotions. Also, I loved the development of the side characters as well. It was just GREAT! (P.S. I totally love Florian.)
rianamartin's review against another edition
5.0
i didn't want this book to end. it feels personal! i am deeply affected with everything that's happened in the book. i fell in love. and it's breaking my heart. why am i reading sad books on a go.
when i first heard about the book's name salt to the sea, it felt new, it felt different, i thought i wouldn't like it. how very wrong i was. i love it. my second historical fiction and i absolutely love this book. it's so heart-wrenchingly beautiful ❤️
@bandita thank you so much for suggesting that we buddy read it. if not for you i never would have heard about it.
florian and joana, how i love them both. florian, i want florian!! as i read about him , he sounded so beautiful and yes hot! and joana, such a beautiful soul she is! kind, caring! and i miss the shoe poet and ah! dear emilia! how very brave she is.
i hate that awful sailor, alfred. and yeah i hated eva too.
.
i googled about the incidents, about hitler and stalin. before this book, i didn't have any opinion about hitler or stalin, they were just part of my history lessons from school, but now, after reading about the casualties of the war, the casualties of their personal agendas, i feel sick in my heart. i really really hate them. how rotten can a soul be to kill people, be it an enemy, human beings killing human beings is so horrible and young girls raped. it's all very horrible to hear or read.
if its making me this sick just reading about it, how very terrible it must've been for the people who lived during those horrific times.
.
i realised that historical fiction might be my favourite genre. i've been avoiding it for quite some time now, i'm finally catching up on this amazing genre.
i want to read more books like this one. books that stay in our hearts forever. books that make us think and books that are deeply reflected in our thoughts.
when i first heard about the book's name salt to the sea, it felt new, it felt different, i thought i wouldn't like it. how very wrong i was. i love it. my second historical fiction and i absolutely love this book. it's so heart-wrenchingly beautiful ❤️
@bandita thank you so much for suggesting that we buddy read it. if not for you i never would have heard about it.
florian and joana, how i love them both. florian, i want florian!! as i read about him , he sounded so beautiful and yes hot! and joana, such a beautiful soul she is! kind, caring! and i miss the shoe poet and ah! dear emilia! how very brave she is.
i hate that awful sailor, alfred. and yeah i hated eva too.
.
i googled about the incidents, about hitler and stalin. before this book, i didn't have any opinion about hitler or stalin, they were just part of my history lessons from school, but now, after reading about the casualties of the war, the casualties of their personal agendas, i feel sick in my heart. i really really hate them. how rotten can a soul be to kill people, be it an enemy, human beings killing human beings is so horrible and young girls raped. it's all very horrible to hear or read.
if its making me this sick just reading about it, how very terrible it must've been for the people who lived during those horrific times.
.
i realised that historical fiction might be my favourite genre. i've been avoiding it for quite some time now, i'm finally catching up on this amazing genre.
i want to read more books like this one. books that stay in our hearts forever. books that make us think and books that are deeply reflected in our thoughts.
christinasgobletofbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I am always so impressed with this author! The writing was beautiful as always.
juliterario's review against another edition
4.0
- SIN SPOILERS -
ESTAS historias son mi perdición. Nunca me canso de ellas. Mi género literario favorito es la fantasía, aunque leo un poco de todo; pero siempre voy a adorar estas historias. La ficción histórica siempre será hermosa para mí. Y las historias que toman lugar durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial... esas que hablan sobre la humanidad en fragmentos diferentes... esas son las mejores. Las que nunca se repiten y no saben lo que son los clichés.
Me encantan.
Tenía miedo de leer "Salt to the Sea" ya que no es literatura juvenil. Leo de todo, si, pero leer libros adultos es algo que me asusta, ya que nunca sé si voy a conseguir que me atrapen o no. Esa incertidumbre es extraña. Y "Salt to the Sea" no era un libro del que hubiera escuchado mucho... así que estaba bastante perdida.
Esta es una obra maestra. Históricamente, es una belleza. A veces era tan increíble en ese sentido, pero a la vez era muy repetitiva en otros. A veces se refería a las cosas como si yo no supiera qué pasó en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, lo cual era bastante frustrante ya que estás explicaciones eran bastante tediosas y le sacaban algo a la calidad de la narración. Esos pequeños detalles le sacan 1 estrella a esta novela, pero no hace que me deje de parecer imperdible.
Los personajes, la escritura, la historia... Todo. Esta es una historia que se queda en mi corazoncito. La volveré a leer.
ESTAS historias son mi perdición. Nunca me canso de ellas. Mi género literario favorito es la fantasía, aunque leo un poco de todo; pero siempre voy a adorar estas historias. La ficción histórica siempre será hermosa para mí. Y las historias que toman lugar durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial... esas que hablan sobre la humanidad en fragmentos diferentes... esas son las mejores. Las que nunca se repiten y no saben lo que son los clichés.
Me encantan.
Tenía miedo de leer "Salt to the Sea" ya que no es literatura juvenil. Leo de todo, si, pero leer libros adultos es algo que me asusta, ya que nunca sé si voy a conseguir que me atrapen o no. Esa incertidumbre es extraña. Y "Salt to the Sea" no era un libro del que hubiera escuchado mucho... así que estaba bastante perdida.
Esta es una obra maestra. Históricamente, es una belleza. A veces era tan increíble en ese sentido, pero a la vez era muy repetitiva en otros. A veces se refería a las cosas como si yo no supiera qué pasó en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, lo cual era bastante frustrante ya que estás explicaciones eran bastante tediosas y le sacaban algo a la calidad de la narración. Esos pequeños detalles le sacan 1 estrella a esta novela, pero no hace que me deje de parecer imperdible.
Los personajes, la escritura, la historia... Todo. Esta es una historia que se queda en mi corazoncito. La volveré a leer.
momofwestnpop's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book, BUT, it fell short. Didn’t really flow well. The end kind of had no point. Storylines didn’t match up well. Eh!