Book Review: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Synopsis (from Goodreads):  

 

Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets.

Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war.

As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.

Yet not all promises can be kept.

Inspired by the single greatest tragedy in maritime history, bestselling and award-winning author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) lifts the veil on a shockingly little-known casualty of World War II. An illuminating and life-affirming tale of heart and hope.

My Thoughts:

This is the second book that Ms. Sepetys has written about World War II.  What I really appreciate about both Salt to the Sea and Shades of Gray are that they are about a part of the war that many of us don't learn much about.  We all know the atrocities committed by Hitler against the Jewish people and those he found "inferior."  I don't feel that many people learn a lot of Stalin and the struggles of the Lithuanians.  In fact, until I read Shades of Gray, I knew nothing about any of that.  I have to appreciate a story that teaches us about another aspect of the war.  I think we can all stand to learn more history.  

Salt to the Sea takes us back to World War II and the tragic sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German ship that was overfilled with refugees fleeing the country.  The Wilhelm Gustloff was a real ship that was actually sunk but until this book, I had never heard of it. 

 

The book is told from alternating views (Joana, Florian, Emilia and Alfred) and starts with a group of refugees fleeing from the Russian soldiers that are invading Germany and Poland.  They are traveling to Gotenhafen, on the coast of the Baltic Sea.  The group includes Joana, Eva, a blind girl (whose name is completely slipping my mind at the moment), the Shoe Poet and the Wandering Boy. This group meets up with a German soldier, Florian, and a Polish girl, Emilia.  

 

Joana is a Lithuanian nurse and feels an incredible need to help people.  She is also carrying a very guilty conscious and a sad secret.  Eva is a giant of a woman who speaks her mind in a "sorry, not sorry" kind of way.  The shoe poet was one of my favorite characters.  He was an older gentleman who was a shoemaker and did his very best to keep everyone's spirits up.  He was the sunshine in that group.  The Wandering Boy (Klaus) was a child that was fleeing with his grandmother until the morning when his grandmother simply didn't wake up.  

 

Florian is a German who was working with Gauleiter Erich Koch.  He was unwittingly aiding the Germans in their theft of priceless art.  Florian was gifted with being able to copy any document almost to perfection, a gift that comes in very handy for him.  After finding out that he has been deceived, Florian is on the run with a secret of his own.

 

Emilia was sent by her father to a farm for safety.  Little did he know that his daughter was not at all safe and she ends up running away from the farm with a heavy burden.  She meets Florian when Florian saves her from a Russian soldier.  Florian is also wounded and the two are lucky to meet up with Joana's group.

 

The story is also told from Alfred's point of view.  Alfred is a character that I hated with every single fiber of my being.  He was your typical Nazi.  He felt that the "superior" race was the only race that should be alive.  The funny thing about Alfred is that he is so far from "superior" that it's amazing that he even got into the German Army.  He is weak and sick, not to mention quite crazy (or maybe just brainwashed).  He made up letters in his head to a girl and tells her about how important he is when in reality he is a nobody in the army.

Once they get to the Wilhelm Gustloff, the group is loaded on board the ship along with 10,000 other crew and refugees.  The ship's capacity was only1,880.  Russian torpedoes sink the ship hours after it left the coast and resulted in over 9,000 deaths. 

The short chapters, alternating views and constant activity made this book hard to put down.  I was able to read it very quickly, connect with most of the characters and was heartbroken at the end.  The only thing I wish was that the conclusion of the story was a little....more.  You find out what happens to the majority of the characters (except Eva...I wanted to know if Eva made it) but you don't really find out if Florian found his sister or Joana found her mother.  I would have liked a little more in depth explanation as to how they got to where they were but that is my only complaint about the book. 

I think this is a fascinating story about a part of history that many people have never even heard about.  I think it's a book everyone should read, to be honest.  I definitely recommend it!

Teaser Tuesday: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.






Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser is from Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys.  I just started this book so I'm not very far into it but I really like it.  

I leaned over and put my mouth to his ear.  It was barely a whisper. 

 "I'm a murderer."

From Salt to the Sea pg. 47.

Book Review: Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

*I received this book from Around the World ARC Tours for review**

Synopsis (from Goodreads):  It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street.

Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.

My Thoughts:  Ruta Sepetys' Shades of Gray was an unbelievably amazing book!  I wasn't sure how any book would stand up to it but she has done it again.  The thing I like most about Sepetys is that she writes about things no one else writes about.  We have all read about Hitler during WWII but in Shades of Gray Sepetys wrote about Stalin.  In Out of the Easy she writes about prostitutes and brothels.  But it is done is a classy and historical way. 

Josie is 17 and lives in New Orleans.  She is the daughter of a prostitute and everyone knows it.  However, since Josie was 12, she has been taking care of herself and living above the bookstore that she works at.  She both loves and hates her mother for numerous (good) reasons.

Josie life changes when a man comes into the bookstore from out of state.  He doesn't know Josie's history and just assumes she attends college.  The small assumption gives Josie hope that maybe she can attend college.  However, when the man is found dead and it turns out to be murder, Josie finds out she is in over her head.

I loved Josie!  She was strong, independent and ambitious.  She has had a tough life but she is making it work for her.  She is loyal to those who are her friends and help her out.  She is even loyal to her mother.  I just loved her strength and how much hope she had.  I loved how she made things in life work for her and made the best out of the worst.  She absolutely did not want to follow in her mother's footsteps and even when things got extremely bad, she resisted (just barely). 

Willie was the madame that Josie's mom worked for.  Willie was strong and appeared to be mean and brusque on the outside but you could tell Josie held a special spot in Willie's heart.  Willie had Josie clean the brothel in the morning hours but always made sure Josie was out of the house before the "guests" came to visit.  While Willie wanted Josie to have a better life than her mother, Willie didn't want Josie to leave New Orleans.

Cokie is Willie's driver.  He was awesome!  He looked after Josie as well as Willie did and he loved her like a daughter.  He wanted Josie to succeed and he did everything in his power to help Josie get into the prestigious college that she wanted to get into.  I just loved Cokie and wanted the best for him.

Jesse and Patrick are the love interests but there is no serious love triangle.  There is a small one, don't get me wrong but it hardly takes up any of the story.  Jesse is a quite guy from the "wrong side of the tracks".  He is very good looking and a great mechanic.  Patrick is the book store owner's son and works with Josie.  Josie and Patrick have known each other for a long time and Josie feels comfortable with Patrick.  Patrick was sweet  as well and I liked how Josie and Patrick interacted.

I loved the girls at the brothel!  Dora was hysterical and Sadie was so sweet and caring.  Sweetie was also...well, sweet.  All the girls, except Evangeline, loved Josie and took care of her as best they could. 

I hated Josie's mother!  Oh, I wanted to wring her neck.  She was selfish, self-centered, dumb...I mean, I could go on and on!  Sepetys did a great job in created a villain in Josie's mother.  I felt no sympathy for her at all.  Cincinnati, her mob boyfriend, and her deserved each other. 

This book was amazing!  Sepetys captured New Orleans in all it's glory.  I have never been there but I want to go so badly and this book made me want to go even more.  She captured my attention from page one and kept it throughout the book.  I hated to see it end and cannot wait for more from Sepetys!  She is quickly becoming a favorite for me!