Title: The Sea of Tranquility by Katja
Millay
Published:
November 13th, 2012 by Atria Books
Source:
Purchased
Format: Audio book
narrated by Candace Thaxton and Kirby Heyborne
Genre:
Contemporary romance
Group age:
Young adult | New adult
Grade rate: A+
I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.
Former piano prodigy Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone learning about her past and to make the boy who took everything from her—her identity, her spirit, her will to live—pay.
Josh Bennett’s story is no secret: every person he loves has been taken from his life until, at seventeen years old, there is no one left. Now all he wants is be left alone and people allow it because when your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space.
Everyone except Nastya, the mysterious new girl at school who starts showing up and won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. But the more he gets to know her, the more of an enigma she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he will ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding—or if he even wants to.
The Sea of Tranquility is a rich, intense, and brilliantly imagined story about a lonely boy, an emotionally fragile girl, and the miracle of second chances.
My Review
How shall I
explain the utter heartbreaking depth of this book? How can I make you understand the remarkable
writing? How can I make you see the awesomeness of The Sea of Tranquility? I’m not sure how, but I’m going to try.
The Sea of Tranquility is the story of
two broken people and second chances.
Josh and Nastya are both broken in different ways. Josh by the unexplainable death of his family
and Nastya by a tragic and traumatic event.
They both need mending, they need to make difficult changes, they need
help, and in a way, acceptance.
Nastya has been irrevocably
changed by an undeserved attack. In
the aftermath, she doesn’t know how to heal, how to deal with what happens, she
loses her identify and goals for the future, so she decides to stop
talking. It is a conscious and difficult
to maintain decision that huts a lot of people, principally her family. Nastya’s sense of self-worth is very low and
she dresses up very sexy in order to alienate any possible friends. Thankfully, a few people are able to see past
her façade and become close (or as close as she allows them to be) to her. Although, she hints a lot about what happened,
she doesn’t really talks about it or wants to put words to her feelings. She does everything possible to sabotage any
happiness that might come her way. One
thing did appreciate about Nastya is that she was a baker, like I am ;)
Josh is lost. He has suffered through many deaths in his
short life and because of it and because of the angry way he behaved when the
first ones happen, everyone leaves him alone.
Even though he thinks he likes to be left alone, he is so very
lonely. Just a handful of people care
about him and he likes it that way. Josh
is an artisan that creates beautiful things with wood; that’s his outlet and
his passion. That is, until Nastya becomes his friend, and later so much more.
Josh, I’m so glad
that you were able to see past Nastya’s lies and her ‘costume’, past her
silence and hear her scream for help. I’m
glad you were able to see the Sunshine
behind the clouds and let it warm you in the process.
The characterization is miraculous. I found myself invested in these
characters. Not only on Nastya and Josh,
but also in the loyal and misguided Drew.
In Drew’s family, and Nastya’s own.
The writing is
some of the best I’ve ever seen. So
good, fluid, illustrative, full of feelings, hurt, anger, self-loathing, and so
much more. It’s an absolute priceless gem. It is part mystery, as we get small snippets
of information at a time. Please read the quotes below and then form your own
opinion. The story is told from Josh and
Nastya’s point to views, which I loved.
The characters have so much depth that I adored being in their
heads. The plot is simple and masterfully crafted. It is done in a way that the reader knows
much more than the rest of the characters, but still hearing the whole tale is
heart wrenching. I’m pleased that we had a resolution, not a pink with
ribbons ending, but a resolution nonetheless. Please don’t be upset if you cry (I do it all
the time!)
A note about the
narrators of the audio book: It was awesome. Since the story is told by Josh and Nastya’s
point of view and there are two narrators, the book made more sense. The acting
was really good, I almost wish that I could see them while they were reading to
witness the anguish that I’m sure I would have seen.
As you can tell
form my glowing review and from the reviews that you are sure to find, The Sea of Tranquility is one of the
best books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. The combination of the amazing writing and
style, awesome characterization, and the plot, makes this a must read.
A few quotes for you:
“It’s about the dream of second
chances,” he says finally. He hasn’t raised his eyes from the paper on his desk
and I feel him looking at me without looking when he uses his grandfather’s
words. “The narrator doesn’t respect the beauty of life and the world around
her, so it crushes her into the ground and once she’s dead, she realizes
everything she took for granted and didn’t see right in front of her while she
was alive. She’s begging for another chance to live again so she can appreciate
it this time.”
“And does she get that chance?” she
asks Josh while I desperately focus on the poster of literary terms on the wall
and wait for absolution. When it comes, I barely hear it.
“She does.”
“There's a reverence in the way he
kisses me that frightens me, because it's the most wonderful thing I've ever
felt.”
“I'm not sure how long we sit in
Josh's truck, holding hands, surrounded by darkness and unspoken regrets. But
it's long enough to know that there are no stories or secrets in the world
worth holding onto more than his hand.”
“I wished that my hand would work
again," I tell him when he climbs in after me. it was my first wish and
the only one that mattered.
"I wished my mother was here
tonight, which is stupid, because it's an impossible wish." He shrugs and
turns to me, drowning the smile that cracks me every time.
"It's not stupid to want to
see her again."
"It wasn't so much that I
wanted to see her again,” he says, looking at me with the depth of more than
seventeen years in his eyes. "I wanted her to see you.”
"He hasn't given me a place to
sit. He's given me a place to belong."
About the cover:
The cover is pretty good, it has the silhouette of a couple looking at
each other and in between there is spilled cup with melting ice cream. I’m sure
there is some symbolism to it, I just can’t see it.
