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October: The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
By Jenna · 7 posts · 145 views
By Jenna · 7 posts · 145 views
last updated Jan 20, 2017 08:21PM
What Members Thought
Simply put, Salt to the Sea was one of my favorite YA books of this year and certainly my top historical fiction read in quite some time!
I love Ruta Sepetys. Her writing has such a beautiful flow and voice to it. The story is tragic, and one I didn't know much about. Because I read Between Shades of Gray, I knew a little about the Russians who were sent to Siberia. This story traces those who were trying to leave Russia for Germany. They were freezing and starving, and their last hope was to board a ship for Germany. This book pulls together unlikely travelers trying to get to that ship. Each narrator has a different story, and i
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I loved Ruta Sepetys' newest book. I recommend taking some brief character notes at the beginning, as she introduces the reader to the 4 characters quickly, and cycles through them continuously. As I got more and more attached to them, my worry grew, as I knew they were all going to be involved in the greatest maritime tragedy in history. Each story was compelling. Though one character was increasingly unlikeable, he was still an interesting part of the interwoven stories. Highly recommend, and
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Now that I'm done: WOW!! What an amazing feat of research, enlisting so many, many people, including incredible Primary Source research, which I am a huge fan of. The story is vividly told in alternating short chapters, between 4 different and unforgettable young people: Emilia, Florian, Joana, and Alfred. This tragic WWII story was heart-wrenching, and so hard for me to read. I've been picking at it for almost 5 months, and never wanted to stop reading entirely but needed many long breaks to ge
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I, among many other readers, had never heard of the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff in the Baltic Sea at the end of WWII. More than nine thousand perished when the ship was torpedoed by a Russian sub. Each chapter is narrated by a different character, which seems to slow the pace of the story at the beginning. But the vivid description of the sinking was hair raising. The author tells these events dispassionately, which makes the horror even worse.
A beautiful, haunting, sad and fascinating historical novel about the world's worst maritime disaster. Also a book about refugees and unlikely friendships, about cruelty and kindness in unexpected places. Not a book to just give to a reader fascinated by the Titanic and other ship sinking stories, unless you preface it by letting them know that there's so much more that happens before you ever even get to the ship! Full, richly detailed setting of wartime German Prussia, with memorable character
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Oh, how this pains me. I wanted to love this book. I waited and waited for this one, and I am so flippin' disappointed. I wanted to learn more about the Wilhelm Gustloff. I really didn't. I wanted to connect with the characters like I did with Between Shades. I really, really didn't. I wanted to cry when this book was over. I only did because it was so far from what I was hoping for :(
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Bumped up to 4 stars for Author's excellent research that shines a light on a little known WWII nautical tragedy - the death of 9000 civilians upon the sinking of the ship Wilhelm Gustloff.
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Brilliantly written historical fiction. Strong characters. Great imagery.
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Nov 25, 2015
Denise
marked it as to-read
Dec 21, 2015
J.j.
marked it as to-read
Dec 30, 2015
Julie
marked it as to-read
May 03, 2016
Kristy
marked it as to-read
