Salt to the Sea

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Title: Salt to the Sea
Author: Ruta Sepetys
Publisher: Philomel Books, 400 pages
Publication Date: February 2, 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction

Let me start by saying I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!!!

Things that I loved:

• So. Beautifully. Written.
• As a work of historical fiction, this is based on a true story, one which I had never previously heard, and the actual true story was mind boggling.
• WWII--not something that I love, obviously, but some of the most impactful and moving stories have come from it. 
• The characters are each extremely interesting and although it takes you a minute to see where things are headed, once you get there---WOW. 
• This book calls attention to an important moment in history that has literally gone unheard of. If you want to enjoy the book for what it is, I suggest you read it without doing any research into the true story until after you've finished so as not to spoil the ending, but this is an important read that I imagine will be required at some point in the near future. 

Things that I didn't like: this category is unnecessary, actually! Literally can't think of one thing I didn't like. I read this book really fast (it was good!) so it took me a minute to be able to keep track of the characters, but that is no one's fault but my own. My one suggestion to readers would be to read the hardcopy (this is a preference thing, obviously, but with ebooks I find it difficult to remember/keep track of the chapters, and in this book each chapter changes perspective from character to character, and there were moments where I was a little lost. Again though, my fault/preference.). 

I don't want to ruin the whole experience by spilling the story, but to briefly summarize it, the book follows refugees of the war on their quest to safety. They fight the winter cold, they struggle through racial tensions, they run from those who intend to kill them. The war brings them together while simultaneously tearing them apart. This book is a beautiful marriage of stellar storytelling ability paired with a life-changing event in history. 

WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK? yes yes yes yes yes, to everyone, yes.

FIVE STARS. This is basically as close to perfect as I can remember reading.