Salt to the Sea

This was a beautifully written book.

I honestly have no other way to describe it.

I'm still learning to love historical fiction, but I have found that I love the way Ruta Sepetys writes YA historical fiction novels. I read Out of the Easy a few years ago and was in awe of the vivid details she includes in her writing. I'm not going to lie, I was completely unaware of what Salt to the Sea was about. When I realized it was set during WWII, I was skeptical that I would make it past the first few chapters....but it was so much deeper than your typical war story.

This novel centers around 4 young adults; Florian, Joana, Emilia, and Alfred.

I'm just gonna say it right now, Alfred made me want to barf every single time I got to his POV. He's a narcissist, with an incredibly inflated ego. He honestly believes that he's a hero. It was just so uncomfortable reading his letters and hearing his thoughts. No thanks.

But, oh, how I love Florian and Joana.

Everything around them radiated hope. I know how strange that sounds. I mean they're literally trying to outrun a war, with little hope of survival. They both had incredible backstories; Florian as an art apprentice and Joana as a nurse. But what's even more amazing is their story with Emilia, a Polish, pregnant, 15 year old girl. Florian will always be her knight in civilian clothes. Joana will always be her stand-in mom.

I just cannot believe that this was based on the biggest maritime disaster to ever happen and I had never heard of it until I opened this book. The last 100 pages or so no longer takes place trekking to the docks. It takes place solely on a ship carrying nearly 10,000 people, most of which were civilian women and children. There are stories out there than need to be told and I firmly believe that this was one of them.

Looking for other books by Ruta Sepetys?

Out of the Easy