Salt to the Sea
By Ruta SepetysPublished: Philomel Books, 2016
Pages: 391
Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Amazon, Goodreads
Guilt is a hunter.
Fate is a hunter.
Shame is a hunter.
Fear is a hunter.
During World War II, four young people of different homelands and backgrounds are in Nazi Germany fighting for their lives while struggling to hold on to their secrets. Salt to the Sea starts out promising then fails to deliver.
OK, so plot is really interesting to me, and I thought it clever how Sepetys divided the narration among the four main characters. However, I found the writing dull and uninspired. I feel like the novel could have been a really good book if the writing were more mature and engaging.
The characters were a hit and miss. My favorite character is Emilia; she's only 15 but has an old soul and displays act of courage that the average person would never even think of doing. I especially enjoyed the flash backs to her childhood, I could really picture her clearly. Alfred is a well-written villain. Reading the mental letters he writes to his childhood crush about his days and then reading what actually happens helps place him as a sociopath, including the actions witnessed by others, such as kicking the dog. Yet, I didn't care for Joana or Florian because I didn't feel like they were flushed out; I couldn't get a feel for them.
Overall, Salt to the Sea is the kind of book you'd read while super bored and you had nothing better to do. I enjoyed the historical context and thought the plot and story structure were interesting but it just didn't live up to my expectations.
RATING (out of five puppies):
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