Salt to the Sea - Ruta Sepetys

Goodreads summary:

Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets.

Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war.

As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.

Yet not all promises can be kept.

Inspired by the single greatest tragedy in maritime history, bestselling and award-winning author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) lifts the veil on a shockingly little-known casualty of World War II. An illuminating and life-affirming tale of heart and hope.



My review:

5/5

I LOVED IT SO MUCH!

Ruta Sepetys did it again: she managed to write a punching novel that made me experience all kinds of emotions, and it was done in a beautiful way. I am now officially convinced that she's one of my favourite authors.

Since I didn't know much about this particular novel before reading it, I wasn't expecting it to be written in multiple narrators. If I had known that it would be that way, I might have dreaded it, not knowing if it would be well done or not. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised, especially when I discovered the variety of narrators, who all offer a different point of view on the same story. From the beginning, I loved Florian, Joana and Emilia - not so much Alfred, but that was to be expected. I couldn't decide who was my favourite, because they all seem so real and complex that I liked them even more after reading every single one of their chapters. Florian is brave, strong and clever, even though all he wants is to be left alone to let that facade fall away. Seeing him through different point of views, I started noticing his kindness, his protectiveness and his will to live and to forget about the war that's going on. Joana is strong and lives to help others, but every second brings her closer to a breakdown, because she wishes she could see her family and feel safe and home again. She's an inspiring character, with all her hopes and her determination. Emilia really touched my heart. Her life hasn't been easy, not only because she's a Polish. Her self-defense reactions are heartbreaking, and we get to see more and more of them as the story progresses. I still can't believe everything that happened to her, even though I know she'd only one of the hundreds and hundreds of people who suffered from such a hard life.

I loved all the historical aspects of this story, as horrifying as some of them were. I've always loved history, particularly around WWI and WWII, so I couldn't get enough of all the details in this story. Instead of focusing on details everyone had heard of, Sepetys chose to show a dark side of history that most people haven't heard much about. I think that this is a fantastic idea, because so many atrocities happened during WWII that we have chosen to focus on a few of them instead of learning about all of them.

One thing I have to say about this story is that it's heartbreaking. I listened to its audiobook, but I often closed my eyes while I was listening to it, just to try and block out some of the awful things happening. I had to remind myself that as gruesome as some of the details were, they, along with much worse events, truly happened, so I can't just ignore them. One moment that truly made me break down was the All the Little Duckies moment towards the end, which you'll get if you've read the book. Emilia's calming song was always sad to hear about, because she usually thought about it when she was distressed, but that moment was the worst.

Overall, I thought that this novel was absolutely fantastic. It's beautifully written, it's clever, it's heartwrenching and it's raw. I absolutely recommend it, along with the rest of Ruta Sepetys's novels. She's definitely one of my favourite authors by now.

By the way, I'm sorry for the mistakes that might be in there - I wrote this on my phone since I'm on vacation, so I didn't have Wifi either.

P.S. I Like You - Kasie West

Goodreads summary:

Signed, sealed, delivered…

While spacing out in chemistry class, Lily scribbles some of her favorite song lyrics onto her desk. The next day, she finds that someone has continued the lyrics on the desk and added a message to her. Intrigue!

Soon, Lily and her anonymous pen pal are exchanging full-on letters—sharing secrets, recommending bands, and opening up to each other. Lily realizes she’s kind of falling for this letter writer. Only, who is he? As Lily attempts to unravel the mystery and juggle school, friends, crushes, and her crazy family, she discovers that matters of the heart can’t always be spelled out…


My review:

3/5

This is the first of Kasie West's books that disappoints me, but that doesn't mean that I didn't like it at all.

I liked the characters, although they did annoy me a little bit at some point. I did like Lily's passion for music, which is always interesting to read about. However, I feel like the book doesn't really make its characters open up to the readers. I didn't feel like the book was truly finished when I got to the last page, because I wasn't as close to the characters as I usually am by that point. I think that getting to know them more would have allowed me to understand them more, which would probably have made them a bit less annoying to me. Since I don't feel like I know the characters all that well, this novel hasn't made that much of an impression on me, unlike Kasie West's other novels.

While the plot wasn't all that original, many details about the story were. Lily's big family, her different tastes in music and the jealousy between her and her best friend make this story different from other YAs I've read, even though it wasn't enough to make it exceptional. The romance is predictable, like in most YAs, but since I didn't feel that close to the characters, it didn't make me swoon or even feel a bit giddy.

As a big fan of Kasie West's, I still recommend this novel, because it's not bad, just not enough for me. I will still buy all of her future books, because I truly believe that she's a fantastic writer.

I Was Here - Gayle Forman

Goodreads summary:

Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss.


My review:

4.5/5

So, so, so, so good!!

While I didn't really like If I Stay, I Was Here hit me hard. It made me experience such a wide variety of emotions that I didn't even know I could feel and I loved it.

I loved Cody, the main character. Unlike Mia, who I couldn't really relate to in If I Stay, Cody was a very relatable character for me. I could feel some of her anger, guilt and grief and it made the story much more important to me. Since I have a best friend that I can't imagine living without, having lived most of my life with her by my side, I could imagine a tiny bit of what Cody must feel after her best friend committed suicide, which sounds simply terrible. Her reactions are completely understandable to me, even if I didn't approve all of them. I liked how realistic and not totally likeable she could be, which made me like her even more.

Her friendship with Meg is also very realistic, from the beginning to the end. I could see why they became friends and why they fell apart, which is something that happens often when friends grow up. I'm already terrified to go through something like that with my own best friend, so reading about someone who grew apart from her best friend and then lost her forever scared me even more. It's easy to see why Cody would feel so guilty after Meg's suicide and why she would want to find out what pushed her to do it, but I admired her determination through her quest. Cody's relationship with Meg's parents is a part of the book that I loved, because it's heartbreaking and touching.

Finally, Ben and Cody's relationship was a rollercoaster, but I loved it. I wasn't sure if I approved of Cody's actions, but as the story progressed, I could see things falling into place.

I definitely recommend this book. Whether you liked If I Stay or not, I think you would like this book.

Zenith (The Androma Saga #1) - Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings

Goodreads summary:

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

There is darkness sweeping across the stars.

Most know Androma Racella as the Bloody Baroness: a powerful mercenary whose reign of terror stretches across the Mirabel Galaxy. To those aboard her fearsome glass starship the Maurader, she’s just Andi, their captain and protector.

When a routine mission goes awry, the all-girl crew’s resilience is tested as they find themselves in a most unfamiliar place: at the mercy of a sadistic bounty hunter connected to Andi’s past and a harrowing betrayal.

Meanwhile, on the far side of the galaxy, a ruthless ruler waits in the shadows of the planet Xen Ptera, biding her time to exact revenge for the destruction of her people. The final pieces of her deadly plan are about to fall into place, unleashing a plot that will tear Mirabel in two.

Andi and her crew embark on a dangerous, soul-testing journey that could restore order to their ship—or just as easily start a war that will devour worlds. As the Marauder hurtles towards the unknown, and Mirabel hangs in the balance, the only thing certain is that in a galaxy run on lies and illusion, no one can be trusted.

From internet sensation Sasha Alsberg and author Lindsay Cummings comes a new serialized space opera, full of action, fantastical intrigue, and steamy star-crossed romance. ​

For fans of popular sci-fi books and fantasy books for teens such as Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, Wool by Hugh Howey, Truthwitch by Susan Dennard, and A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.


My review:

3.5/5

I love Sasha Alsberg's channel, ABookUtopia, so I had to read her first novel, written in collaboration with Lindsay Cummings. I was a bit surprised by the length of it, even though I was aware that it was only part of a novel, but I wasn't disappointed at all.

I'm afraid that I can't say much about the novel right now, because I would have to read the entire novel, instead of parts of it, to have a real opinion about it. However, I can say that I liked what I read so far. I liked the writing, and the plot seemed quite interesting, even if it's just blooming at this point. Even though it's done in short parts, I feel like this one could have been a bit longer, because it would have been easier to understand the story and the characters if there had been a bit more explanations.

I'm excited to read the other parts of Zenith, because I really want to find out more about this interesting world and its characters. Also, this part ends on a sort of cliffhanger, so I can't wait to continue reading!

The Cinderella Pact - Sarah Strohmeyer

Goodreads summary:

In this funny and big-hearted story by the author of The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives, three best friends make a pact to transform themselves into the glamorous women they've always wanted to be.

Nola Devlin has a secret identity. By day she is an overweight, frumpy, and overlooked editor at Sass! (the "celebrity magazine with an edge!"), but by night she slips behind her keyboard and into her alter-ego: Belinda Apple. Belinda is thin, gorgeous, British and the author of a trendy advice column- she is, in effect, the latest Carrie Bradshaw. Not even Nola's two best friends or her self-absorbed sister (who worships Belinda as the "sister she never had") know her secret.
When "Belinda" jots off a column about how easy it is to lose weight, Nola is shocked when her best friends take her own lies to heart and urge her to follow Belinda's weight loss program. Since Nola can't reveal herself as the real Belinda Apple, she bites the bullet and joins her friends in making the "Cinderella Pact"- a last ditch attempt to lose weight (again!) and transform their lives for good.

But as the pounds come off, things don't turn out the way the three friends expect. Their journey of self-discovery leads to the return of an old love and the unmasking of new problems. Meanwhile, Nola finds herself torn between two different men as she stomps out fires caused by her deception as Belinda Apple and falls in love with the man who just might be her prince - or the rat in coachman's clothing.


My review:

I have watched the movie adaptation of The Cinderella Pact about ten times over the past few years, so when I found out, only years after watching it for the first time, that there was a book, I knew I had to read it. As different as both versions can be, I think they're pretty much just as good, which doesn't happen often! Then again, the last time I watched the movie, I was probably 14, so maybe it's much worse than I remember it to be.

I already knew and loved (or hated) some of the characters from the movie, so I was happy to see that they were very similar to the ones in the book. Nola and her friends are amazing ladies and I was glad to see even more of their friendship when I read the book. I could understand their motives for getting healthier, because it's obvious how difficult their lives have become, not just because they can't get their favourite table at a restaurant. Seeing their journey through weight loss, especially Nola's, was very motivating. As I saw how much they struggled, I couldn't help but want to push myself more into everything I do.

The one point that I think is better in the movie than in the book is the romance. While I keep swooning whenever I watch the movie, the romance in the book just seems too quick and not deep enough. I couldn't see the chemistry between the characters and it only seemed like Nola "falling in love", instead of a love story. I was a bit disappointed, since it's one of my favourite parts of the movie. Also, Chip's character isn't very complex in the book, in my opinion, which didn't help the romance aspect.

Luckily, I found myself laughing just as much as I do whenever I watch the movie. Nola is a funny character to follow and her misfortunes made me laugh quite a bit. Because of that, it was the perfect summer book and I'm glad I finally picked it up.

I would recommend both the book and the movie, since they're both great!

What Lies Within - James Morris

Goodreads summary:

“You’re going to die”

Shelley Marano is an ordinary, unexceptional high school senior…until the day she receives a cryptic text message, and her world tilts sideways. Now she’s in real danger, although she doesn’t know who would want her dead, or why. As she starts to unravel the mystery, the truth about who she really is proves to be more frightening than she ever imagined. With the lives of her and her friends hanging in the balance, one thing is certain:

Nothing will ever be the same.

Packed with suspense, What Lies Within is a page-turning, plot-driven rollercoaster ride that fans of Stephen King, James Patterson and Rick Yancey will be sure to enjoy.


My review:

3.5/5

First of all, I need to say that I have excuses to make to the author, James Morris, because I received this book ages ago and I promised that I would read and review really quickly, which I didn't do (I had to say it, I feel really bad about it).

I truly should have picked this book up earlier, because it made me realize that I could truly enjoy thrillers. I'm kind of scared of everything, so I usually pick up the least scary novels I can find, which excludes thrillers, obviously. When I started reading this, I got so lost in the story that I even forgot to feel scared. It's also not the scariest thriller, which I think helped me.

I really liked Shelley, the main character. She was easy to relate to and she became more and more interesting as the story progressed. I also liked her best friend, Winston, even though I wasn't sure if I liked their friendship as much as I liked them separately.

As for the plot, I won't even mention it, because it's something that I wasn't expecting at all and that no one would expect, in my opinion, so I'd rather not spoil anyone. I was pleasantly surprised, even though I believe the book could have had more elements and been longer.

I recommend this novel to anyone, because it made me question myself a lot and I opened up to this genre.

Hearts, Fingers and Other Things to Cross (Broken Hearts and Revenge #3) - Katie Finn

Goodreads summary:

WEATHER ALERT: SEVERE STORMS AHEAD

Gemma and Hallie's world has come to a screeching halt. Their parents are engaged, which makes them step-sisters. Nothing in the world could possibly be worse for Gemma and Hallie--they won't let it happen. Even if it means putting their own feud aside to separate their parents.

Events quickly escalate as a hurricane rips through the Hamptons leaving everyone (including Gemma's two exes, her current crush, best friend, and her nemesis) bottled up in one house. One big, miserable group of exes and enemies together allow secrets to unfold and plans to be plotted. The calm before this storm definitely doesn't exist.

Katie Finn pulls out all the stops for this fast-paced, dramatic conclusion in the Broken Hearts and Revenge series, Hearts, Fingers, and Other Things to Cross.


My review:

3/5

As the last book in a YA series, I think that this book was good, but not exceptional.

As childish as they can be, I liked reuniting with the characters, which are all funny and interesting. I think that some of them finally grew up, which was a bit of a relief, because the previous book, as well as the first half of this one, made me roll my eyes in exasperation at some things that the characters were doing or saying. It was nice to see them grow up as the series progressed.

I'm really happy that this book has a resolution for most of the issues encountered during the previous books. Overall, I don't feel like anything new happened; instead, I feel like everything I was more or less expecting happened, which was not a bad feeling. Some people made peace, some confessions were said and some relationships started or ended, but there wasn't any big finale, which was a bit disappointing, but not surprising, considering everything that needed to happen in such a short amount of pages. It wasn't too predictable, but I feel like it would be even better for younger readers.

I'm satisfied with the end of this series, so I'd definitely recommend it to younger (or even older) readers.