Book Review: "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was my first book I read for fun after a semester of reading purely school materials and I was not disappointed. This book is about a group fleeing to the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, a German cruise ship turned hospital and transport ship, taking German citizens and refugees to safety in the tragic historical event of Operation Hannibal. Ruta did an excellent job balancing the multiple characters point of view's in a way we as readers are not lacking vital information but also still having enough hidden from us to encourage further reading to discover answers. Joana Vilkas is a 21 year old girl from Lithuania. She is the cousin of Lina Vilkas, who is the main protagonist in Ruta's novel Between Shades of Gray. Florian Beck is a young Persian man who was an art restorer before fleeing. Emilia Stożek is a 15 year old Polish girl that was sent to farmland for safety but Russians came upon the farm and she fled. There was also three other minor characters in the group, another woman, an orphaned young boy, and an elderly shoe cobbler. The dynamic of having all but one character become a group early on and not interacting with the last character Alfred, a young German sailor, until the end kept a delightful suspense for what his role in the group would be. The final reveal of his backstory was shocking though believable given his character development. The pacing of his character development is done perfectly. I really enjoyed how his story line was a mix of what was happening as well as being told through his "letters". One problem I tend to have with young adult novels is the exaggerated love relationships between characters. Although that is an element in this story between Joana and Florian it takes a back seat and is tastefully done without taking the spotlight from the reality of the hardships these characters witness and endure through. This is a heartbreaking historical fiction connecting you to true events. Ruta did well to give you a taste of multiple stories you could have heard from the actual participants of this historical event as if they where right beside you. This novel reveals shocking truths about the lack of humanity some posses but also gives the enduring hope of survival in what seem to be someone's darkest times. Salt to the Sea received 19 national awards including #1 New York Times Bestseller, Winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards 2016, and Publishers Weekly Best Young Adult Books of 2016. It also won 3 international awards and 13 State awards. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and will seek other works by Ruta for my future reading list

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