Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have read quite a few stories from WWII but I had never heard the tragic story of the Wilhelm Gustloff. I found this book to be fast paced and interesting, but the constant switching from one character to another's point of view made the story feel choppy at times. The characters were well developed and I enjoyed the relationship that began between Florian the 'Prussian Spy' and Joana the nurse. I especially enjoyed the Shoe Poet character. The story explored a horrific time when some terrible atrocities were committed on both sides of the war. One particular line in the story illustrated this so well, "No one wanted to fall into the hands of the enemy. But it was growing harder to distinguish who the enemy was." The struggles and hardships that each of the characters had faced drew the reader in and created tension and the ending felt genuine, unlike many stories where the author feels the need to tie everything together neatly. Although the writing was not my favorite, I found this story compelling and would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

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