ARC Review: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Salt to the Sea
By Ruta Sepetys
Publisher: Philomel Books
Format: Print ARC
Source: YALLFest
Publication Date: February 2, 2016

To Sum It Up: In 1945, Joana, Florian, and Emilia are among the thousands trying to flee East Prussia as Soviet troops close in. All three have suffered so much loss during the war and are heavily burdened with secrets, but hope may be within reach if they can secure places on board the German ship, the Wilhelm Gustloff. The trek to the Gustloff is rife with danger, but it may be the trio’s only chance of surviving.

Review: Buzz for Salt to the Sea had already been building before I went to YALLFest last November, so when I spotted the ARCs that were available at the event, I was ecstatic. I like to think that I only gasped slightly, but I’m pretty sure that the reality was closer to a very audible squeal.

Alas, I still haven’t read Ruta Sepetys’s much acclaimed Between Shades of Gray (Ally has, though!), but her excellent 1950’s New Orleans-set Out of the Easy compelled me to pick up Salt to the Sea without hesitation. I tend to read historical fiction with medieval, Regency, or Victorian settings, but Sepetys’s skill at recreating the time period for Out of the Easy impressed me so much, I believe that she could write about any historical era. Out of the Easy also drew me in with its richly drawn characters, which is key to holding my attention whenever I read fiction that doesn’t have a paranormal/fantasy/dystopian element to it.

And so I went into reading Salt to the Sea feeling confident that I would be completely gripped by its story even though ordinarily, I’m not particularly drawn to World War II historical fiction. But therein lies the magic of Sepetys’s prose: her storytelling fully immerses you in the time and place she’s writing about. The chaos and destruction that war brings are made all too real here. You can’t help but feel for three of the main characters—Joana, Florian, and Emilia. Their lives have been shattered, their families have been torn apart, and their chances of escaping the absolute hell they’re living appear very slim throughout the novel. The three are essentially caught between the Nazis on one side and the rapidly advancing Soviet troops on the other, and every step the trio takes toward possible escape aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff could be their last. Fear, danger, and desperation pervade the pages, yet there are also a few stolen moments of hope to counterbalance the bleakness a bit.

The multiple POV narration works extremely well here, and the convergence of the story lines is both seamless and for the most part, quick. There’s compassionate Joana, who fled her native Lithuania four years ago and whose medical training has made her the de facto nurse of the group she’s traveling with; Florian, originally from East Prussia and a former restoration apprentice who’s seen firsthand the extent of the Nazis’ theft of Europe’s art treasures; Emilia, a fifteen-year-old Polish girl whose well-intentioned father sent her to live with friends in East Prussia where he’d hoped she would be safe but instead she’s been through unimaginable horror; and Alfred, a German sailor who firmly holds to Nazi ideology and who has delusions of becoming a great war hero. Sepetys develops her secondary characters just as much as her primary ones, too. The elderly gentleman whom the rest of Joana’s group calls “the shoe poet” because he used to be a cobbler and has a knack for making deep, philosophical observations is particularly endearing. There’s also little Klaus, found only with an address on a piece of paper pinned to the front of his coat. The shoe poet becomes like a grandfather to the boy, and their relationship is one of the most touching aspects of the book.

Salt to the Sea is an incredibly powerful, moving story, the type that you’ll still be thinking about long after you’ve read it. It will also absolutely break your heart, but it’s a story that needs to be read—and remembered.

All in All: This is a stellar work of historical fiction. The print ARC has an afterword on the actual events that inspired the novel (my guess is that the finished book will, too), and though not long, it, too, was an interesting read. Salt to the Sea is a compelling book from cover to cover, and I definitely need to read Between Shades of Gray soon.

Review: Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Out of the Easy
By Ruta Sepetys
Publisher: Philomel Books

To Sum It Up:

From an early age, Josie Moraine learned to fend for herself. Her mother is a prostitute in a New Orleans brothel and cares only about herself. Josie has a job in a bookstore—and a job cleaning up in the mornings at the brothel—and hopes that one day, her savings will amount to enough for her to have a different kind of life. One chance encounter puts a college education far away from New Orleans within her reach, while another pulls her deeper and deeper into a murder investigation. Josie has a difficult choice to make: escape, or let New Orleans continue to keep its hold on her.

Review:

I love the cover of Out of the Easy, and it plus all the praise I’d seen for Ruta Sepetys’s writing landed this on my TBR list. Out of the Easy is very much a character driven novel; I don’t always have the best luck with those, but for the most part, Sepetys’s characters carry the novel well. They’re also aided by the fantastic work she does in bringing the New Orleans of 1950 to life on the page.

I was fascinated by the book’s portrayal of the city and how Sepetys juxtaposed its upscale face with its seamier one. The majority of New Orleans that is seen through the eyes of Josie, the protagonist, is the latter. The respectable locals know who and what her mother is—a prostitute—and their sneers trail Josie when she walks by. Thanks to her mother, Louise, Josie has grown up among what might be considered questionable company, but in fact several of these people have cared for Josie more than her mother has. Josie’s dealings with a member of high society who’s thoroughly vile underscore how appearances aren’t everything with these characters.

So much of the book hinges on Josie’s story, and meeting her as a child at the beginning of the book made me a little wary of how I was going to like her later as a seventeen-year-old young woman. Based on her sassy conversation with Willie, the madam of Louise’s brothel, I thought Josie might turn out to be an I’m-Too-Smart-for-You type of character, but she didn’t. She was quite complicated, which was a good thing, but the street smarts that made her pretty cool sometimes conflicted with her decisions. I was particularly frustrated with Josie when she found herself in a heap of trouble trying to mop up her mother’s mess. All right, Josie kept mum because she didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of her, but I thought she should have realized that she did have people, like Willie, whom she could tell anything to.

Willie was definitely my favorite character and stole the show, in my opinion. She may be a brothel madam, but she’s also one incredibly shrewd businesswoman. At the end of the day, her money is as good as that of any other business person in New Orleans. Willie taught Josie how to use a gun, and it’s also Willie who looks out for Josie in a way that Louise never has. And you just don’t mess with Willie Woodley. I’d equally fear incurring her wrath as I would that of the city’s gangsters.

I slightly preferred the murder mystery plotline over the one revolving around Josie’s efforts to gain admission to Smith College. Again, I saw the reasoning behind her actions, but I didn’t necessarily agree with them. Josie wants out of New Orleans and, for once in her life, not to be judged because of her mother. I get that. Yet she’d also be among some of the very sort of social elite who’ve put her down. This is totally a hang-up on my part, though, because I think more along the lines of, if I’m not good enough for your little club, well, forget you, too. I did enjoy reading Out of the Easy; whether you like the characters or would like to see Willie use some of them for target practice, they certainly leave an impression.

All in All:

I will definitely be reading more of Ruta Sepetys’s books in the future. I don’t always go for character studies, but this one was quite well done.

Review: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Between Shades of Gray
By Ruta Sepetys
Publisher: Philomel Books

To Sum It Up: The year is 1941, and fifteen-year-old Lina Vilkas’s most pressing concerns are writing back to her beloved cousin and applying to famed art programs. This all changes when the Soviet secret police storm into her home in Lithuania, evicting Lina and her family. The Soviets are deporting Lithuanians to Siberia, Lina’s family included, except for her father. He is separated from his family and is to be sent to a horrible Soviet prison. Lina, her mother, and her younger brother, Jonas, are left at the mercy of the Soviet soldiers. They are treated like animals: starved, overworked, and abused. Using her art, Lina strives to hold onto hope; she sends secret messages to her father in prison, uses her happy memories to keep herself sane, and does her best to keep her family and friends alive. Lina’s struggle for survival is not just for herself but for her family and friends as well.

Review: Sadness. Beautiful, mesmerizing sadness. Between Shades of Gray is one of the saddest books I have ever read. And when I say sad, I mean it in the good, depressing-but-captivating sort of way. The book, I felt, was very deep. In history class, you learn about the Soviets during the WWII era, and you learn about the monstrous Joseph Stalin, but I don’t think people really understand the extent of his atrocities. Between Shades of Gray sheds some much needed light on this subject.

I’m finding it very difficult to capture my feelings for this book. The book itself was really, really good. It’s one of those books where you can easily read the entire thing in a single day. The story is told from the perspective of a teenage girl named Lina. Lina and her family are so strong that you can’t help but admire them. Throughout the book, you are left with the question, “Why them?” Only certain Lithuanians were targeted, and the Vilkas family, for some unknown reason, was one of them. They seemed like a normal, happy, law-abiding family. They didn’t want any trouble, but they got it all the same. But then again, all the Lithuanians “deported” didn’t deserve the wrath they got from the Soviets. So for the entirety of the novel, readers are left with the simple question: “Why?”

When Lina, her mother, and younger brother are deported, they come across a small group of trusted friends. These people stick together for as long as they can and try to lighten each others’ suffering. This really touched me, and I relied on those friends as a constant in this emotional book. I was surprised to see a romantic aspect in the book. For me, it seemed to lighten the gloomy subject just a tad and gave me something to root for.

Before this review comes to an end, I feel like I should mention Nikolai Kretzsky. Kretzsky is a Soviet soldier in the book, and I can’t say that I like him, but I can’t say that I dislike him either. He’s truly one of those gray characters. Out of all the characters in the book, Kretzsky seemed to stick with me the most. I won’t tell you why; you’ll just have to go and read the book.

Overall, I absolutely enjoyed this book. I feel that I’m not conveying the greatness of Between Shades of Gray in my words. I urge everyone to pick up this book and read it. It’s understandable if you don’t like tearjerkers. I know I don’t, but this book is different. It just feels so real that I think that more people should know the story of Lina and her friends and family.

All in All: I don’t really know what to say. Between Shades of Gray leaves me at a loss for words. And that, my friends, is no easy task. This book was just that good. I can wholeheartedly say that I loved it!