Florian was tricked by his Nazi employer, and is now escaping Germany.
Joana was forced to flee from her country, and is now escaping Germany.
Emilia had to leave, after her father was killed, and is now escaping Germany.
Alfred is a Nazi sailor, on the ship thats going to get them out of there.
Four people, one amazing story. The tale of the Wilhelm Gustloff.
I think that salt to the sea migbt be my new favourite book! The plot was outstanding, and a great way to tell everyone about the greatest maritime disaster of all time. I couldn't put it down, enraptured in the story. I loved the way every single character was written, although I cannot say that I loved every single character. Whilst the characters of Florian, Joana and Emilia were really nice, Alfred was not. He agreed with Hitler in everything he did, and had even written a (Rather rubbish) song about the enemies of the Nazis. I found myself skipping out most of the bits narrated by Alfred, not just because he was horrible, but becasue they were also mostly letters written in his head to the love of his life.
The main thing I loved of the book was all the twists and turns. You never quite knew what was going to happen next. One second they could be fine, the next second they could be plunged into extreme danger. Another thing I liked was the theme of art in the second world war. The book actually taught me some new facts about the war that I didn't know, such as that the Wilhelm Gusloff even existed, or that Hitler stole many great works of art, mostly from Poland, in the war.
Now, I am a sucker for a good cover, and Salt to the Sea was no different. Featuring a barbed wire fence seemingly turning into birds, it really did represent the book, and what it was about.
Salt to the Sea was shortlisted for the carnegie award, which is going to be announced next Monday. Having read all of the books but one I really hope that it wins. Good Luck to Ruta Sepetys!
I am going to give it a 9.5/10
and an age rating of 12+
No comments:
Post a Comment