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Ruta Sepetys: Salt to the Sea

After reading The Fountains of Silence, I thought I would tackle another Sepetys novel. Most of my colleagues had said that they liked Salt to the Sea better than Fountains of Silence, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys follows several characters fleeing territories conquered by Nazi Germany and trying to get back to Germany itself at the very end of WWII. These characters all end up together and heading toward a ship, the Wilhelm Gustloff, that will take them across the Baltic Sea. The Gustloff is sunk by Allied forces, dropping thousands of people into the frozen water. Who will survive? Who won't make it?

I didn't enjoy this book as much as The Fountains of Silence, which I felt was a little unfortunate. After the high reviews that I'd read and the personal reviews of my friends, I was underwhelmed when I read it.

Here are some things I did like about the book: 
  • I did enjoy the history. I had never heard of this ship, even though it's a greater tragedy than the sinking of the Titanic or the Lusitania (that dragged the Americans into WWI). 
  • I loved the emphasis on the minorities in Germany and what was happening to them. We all know what was happening to the Jews, the Gypsies, and disabled individuals as part of the Final Solution, but we don't always look at what happened to other nationalities that were conquered in WWII.
  • I loved the characters and their diverse backgrounds. Alfred was a particularly fascinating character as his story starts to unfold. You want to like him initially, but as you get into his story and he reveals more through his letters to his lover, you realize that he is a despicable person.
Some things I didn't enjoy:
  • One of the first person characters dies. I cannot describe the level of betrayal and frustration at that part of the book.
  • This might be just because I've recently had a baby, but I hated the descriptions of what mothers were doing to get their children on or off a ship. I can understand the desperation, but I'm not sure I would ever throw my child and hope they made it. It was disturbing, to say the least. Also, after the ship sinks, Emilia describes going past the children in the water and thinks of her song "All the Little Duckies," and it was even more profoundly disturbing than just describing the drownings.
  • I didn't like how long it took Sepetys to get everyone to the ship, boarded, and moving. You knew something bad was going to happen, but she dragged everything out.
  • Some of the issues I had with The Fountains of Silence, I also had with this book. She doesn't fully tie up the ending and give readers closure. I hated the way this book ended. You don't fully know what happens to all of the characters, and the ending did not feel conclusive. I was so frustrated by the ending of this and Fountains, that I'm not sure I want to pick up another Sepetys novel, especially since that seems to be a consistent issue with her writing.
In all, I gave this book:
  • 2/5 Stars
  • PG/PG-13 for violence, some disturbing content, minimal discussion of rape, and sexual abuse.

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