Title: The Sea of Tranquility
Author: Katja Millay
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary,
Synopsis:
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.
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 Rating:
5 Less than Tranquil Stars
Favorite Quotes:
"He's the kind of
good-looking that transforms once self-respecting females into useless puddles
of dumbass."
"A matching set, I
think. Panty-Combusting Ken comes
complete with Piqued Princess Barbie: unachievable measurements, designer purse
and annoyed scowl included!"
"He smiles, and I
can't deny that he knows he's good-looking.
If self-adoration were cologne, he would be the boy you couldn't stand
next to without choking."
"I
doubt taking in a sullen, bitter, teenage girl with more issues than National
Geographic is at the center of the vision board for a single woman in her early
thirties."
My Review:
While
I loved it - this book nearly wrecked me!
All the while I was reading it, I had no clue what was coming next or
how it would end. Our main characters
are both damaged goods, and though young and in high school - old beyond their
years from trauma or grief. We learn
Nastya's story slowly in dribs and drabs, as she is the most damaged, full of
secrets, and not talking. I mean,
really, she is not talking, as she is selectively mute. We learn Josh's story early on and know that
he is shut down and alone at the age of 17, as his family is dead. He started losing them at the tender age of
eight, one at a time, by accident or illness.
He is now the only one left and living on his own. Our Nastya and Josh don't want to be
connected to anyone or anything, and although they want to resist their
connection and say they don't want a relationship - they do find each other
comfortable and each silently conclude that what they have is better than being
alone.
All
the characters in the book were interesting, well fleshed out, and full of
quirks, emotional depth, unique talents, personal pain, and smart mouths. I loved and delighted in each and every one
of them! Yet I found I was anxious while
reading the story. I had a hard time
putting my trusty tablet down and suffered several book hangovers with the
accompanying sluggish and irritable days.
Near midnight while merely 15 pages from the end - I took a ragged
breath and had to stop - I actually had to force myself to quickly shut down my
tablet for the night while the story was still incomplete. I was near despair, as it seemed too far from
wrapping up into a happy ending for that to be possible, and I was afraid to
finish it for fear of being totally devastated.
No spoilers here, but I will say I was relieved by the ending, although
I still wanted more… but then I always do when reading a good book. I was stunned to learn that this is the
author's first novel - as it was perfection, flawless, and had me in
knots. I hope she is working on
something new, I want more… I am greedy like that ;)
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