A heart wrenching book taken from a true tragedy during World War II. I admire how Ruta can depict the situation and horror during the war with her words. Most parts gave me the shivers and goosebumps. It's a really good book to be read for those who like history fiction.

The point of view were taken from four different people with different characteristics yet it wouldn't confuse you to read it. Every chapter flows just like a river and very enjoyable to read. A page-turner book, beautiful yet tragic.

Yet another masterful work by Ruta Sepetys. I think this one was the hardest one for me to read, solely because of the amount of child death that takes place. It is a powerful book about the largest maritime disaster in history, the attack upon and sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff. This story is told from four points of view; three refugees and one German sailor. The different points of view were very interesting in order to understand the history of the characters, as well as their struggles. I loved this book, and it left me thinking about it for hours after I finished it. 

Another distressing read from Sepetys. Meticulously researched. Didn't have quite the same emotional connection for me as Between Shades but still a very engaging listen that had me spiralling on the tube. One of those books you have to make sure you're in the right headspace for as it gets pretty graphic about the horrors of war.

An excellent story told from four perspectives of one of the most horrific events in history. 

Beautifully written, deep, and emotional. A spectacular story about the most devastating shipwreck in history.

Okay okay okay. So much to say here. This book absolutely wrecked me. But I loved it.

So at first I was like “this is boring and I don’t like it”. I will admit it has a slow start. However, once you get into it, it becomes one of the most amazing books ever. It has an incredible storyline, amazing cast of characters (well, most of them) and is generally very well written. 

This book is narrated by four people: 
Joana, a nurse girl who is incredibly caring and persistently pushes through everything. She was probably my favourite character. I also loved seeing her through Florian’s perspective, it was so interesting. She was incredibly relatable and I really did love her. She was also kind of a badass so we love that. I really admired how despite everything she had been through, she never found a reason to be selfish or do anything that was morally wrong even though it might benefit her.

Florian, who is sort of running away ish. It’s kind of complicated but anyway. He was amazing. The second he appeared on the page, I was thinking “hey, you’re gonna be one of those guys who pretends to be all tough and doesn’t care but in reality you do care very much and are so sweet”. I was right. He was so loveable and I really respected how he helped everyone and really came to love everyone. He was also very great at looking after Emilia who saw him as a really brave person and soon came to trust him with her life. There’s so much to say about Florian. I did love him. 

Emilia, a girl of fifteen. She struggled with so much and I genuinely felt so sad when I thought of everything she went through. However I absolutely loved her with my whole heart and just admired how brave she was. She really was so persistent and passionate about who she loved. I also found it heartbreaking how her innocence was almost taken from her. 

And finally, my least favourite character, Alfred. Oh my gosh, he was the worst — aside from being racist, sexist, homophobic, cruel, completely vile and self centred, he was also so creepy. He generally disgusted me. But oh well.

he dies

 

The general idea is that all  these people start off being completely lost and not knowing what do do, war has completely wrecked their lives. But they all eventually cross paths and (aside from Alfred) all build strong relationships with each other. They need to get on a boat called the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship which could hopefully get them to freedom and safety. However, unfortunately it is never that simple and the ending of this book was tragic. It was also kind of happy. It was one of those sad/happy endings. I generally loved this book so much and would really recommend it. It also had some great side characters (except Eva, I didn’t like her). It was so compelling and I enjoyed it so much.