What I’m Reading: Salt to the Sea

I just finished up listening the audio book Salt to the Sea by  Ruta Sepetys.  I loved the author’s book Between Shades of Gray.  It was a really good book.  (You can read my review of that book here.)  I was excited to see this author had a new book.  I snapped this one up the second I saw it.

It’s sometimes hard to read a book by the same author especially if you really loved the first book.  There’s an expectation that this book too would be great.  So was it??
YES!!  Happily, yes it was great.  It’s actually a really good book to listen to as an audio book. There are four characters who tell the story each in their own voice.  I loved it.  At first it seems like the stories aren’t all connected but eventually they connect.  Some of the characters I had an initial like or dislike of at the start of the story.  As the story went on, my opinions changed.  It was good…  I also learned a little more about the history of WWII.  I liked that aspect as well.

Here’s what Amazon has to say, “World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, many with something to hide. Among them are Joana, Emilia, and Florian, whose paths converge en route to the ship that promises salvation, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Forced by circumstance to unite, the three find their strength, courage, and trust in each other tested with each step closer to safety.

Just when it seems freedom is within their grasp, tragedy strikes. Not country, nor culture, nor status matter as all ten thousand people—adults and children alike—aboard must fight for the same thing: survival.

Told in alternating points of view and perfect for fans of Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning All the Light We Cannot See, Erik Larson’s Dead Wake, and Elizabeth Wein’s Printz Honor Book Code Name Verity, this masterful work of historical fiction is inspired by the real-life tragedy that was the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff—the greatest maritime disaster in history. As she did in Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys unearths a shockingly little-known casualty of a gruesome war, and proves that humanity and love can prevail, even in the darkest of hours.”

I loved the author’s book Between Shades of Gray.  It too was a really good book.  You can read my review of that book here.

Amazon readers give the book 4.7 stars.  I would agree.  It was really good.