Salt to the Sea

Spoiler Free 

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys is a World War Two historical fiction following a plethora of characters as they make their way across the country to board the Wilhelm Gustloff and flee the terrors of war. 

The book is read through multiple character perspectives each coming from a different background. I loved being able to get glimpses from everyone without there being an odd pause in the story. The characters were well developed and easy to fall in love with.

The story progression was wonderful! It didn’t happen in the blink of an eye but it wasn’t too slow either. The author put enough descriptions into the writing to make you feel as though you are traveling with the characters at times but not so much as to find it boring. This is the first book I have read by Ruta Sepetys and I loved the flow of her writing and the way she words things. She surrounds you with beautiful and disastrous images. 

Many people don’t know the the Wilhelm Gustloff was an actual ship that was attacked by Russian submarines and sunk in the Baltic Sea. This novel centers around this little known disaster and the brutal journey that millions of people took to reach it. 5/5 stars for this heartbreaking story, but it is definitely one of my favorites of the year so far. 

As always, thank you for reading my rambles and until next time,