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.
All Josh Bennett wants is to be left alone, and everyone allows it because they all know his story: each person he loved was taken from his life until at seventeen years old there was no one left. When your name is synonymous with death, people tend to give you your space.
Everyone except Nastya, a new girl in town who 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 a mystery 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. For fans of Perks of Being a Wallflower.
I am absolutely blown away by this book and by the fact that it is the author's first. I had a full-blown book-hangover after finishing this book. You know, when you just can't stop thinking about a book. You keep mulling over every detail in your mind. You keep revisiting your favorite scenes. You find it impossible to even consider starting another book right away because you are just not ready to move on. That was my experience with this book. It's difficult to write a real review because it's hard to detail what I liked, and there wasn't anything that I didn't like.
This book is a character driven story centering on Nastya and Josh. Nastya is a damaged girl who has pretty much shut herself out from the rest of the world. She doesn't talk - ever - to anyone since a horrific event from her past. Josh is a lonely boy whose entire family has been taken from him in one tragedy after another. The book is told in first-person and alternates chapters between Nastya's and Josh's points of view. This was a brilliant choice on the part of the author because it really lets the reader into their minds and we get a great sense of their true feelings and motivations. It makes the reader feel much more intimately connected to each character. These characters feel like real people, not like characters from a book. The supporting cast is fleshed out well, also. From Drew to his mom and all of the rest of them, they all felt like living, breathing people.
For me, a good book is one with a great plot that compels me to read more, interesting characters that I can connect with and has great pacing. A truly great book is one that has all of those things and can also make me really feel something beyond just entertainment. This is a truly great book. I went through the entire gamut of emotion: despair, anger, elation, happiness, sadness, anguish, contentment. I was completely filled with emotion and then wrung out until I was empty - over and over again. I felt completely drained at the end - in the best way. There aren't many authors that can evoke that kind of a response from me.
I don't really know what else to say. A well-written book with amazing characters and a story that builds slowly and then punches you in the gut with emotion. I don't want to say more because I don't want to spoil anything for you. This is truly one book that you should just go experience for yourself.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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3 December, 2012:
Finished reading
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3 December, 2012:
Reviewed