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.
3.5 Stars The Sea of Tranquility is slow to begin, Nastya comes across as an aggressive, self destructive girl who has allowed herself to become a victim through a horrible random attack. She doesn't want to be noticed, but her attire alone screams that she needs help and wants attention. The only friends she seems to be able to make are with males, which seems slightly strange, considering what she had been through.
Overall, it was well written, and not one of the normal light, fluffy teen reads. My only issue was that I couldn't connect with any of the characters. They came across as cliches, the brooding boy, the broken girl, the man whore and the token gay friend. Josh's character should be the one who is disgruntled and angry, he can't change his circumstances, but allows himself to slowly heal. Nastya, although traumatic and horrific, is self destructive and buries herself within this facade. We see glimpses of the girl she once was, but it's frustrating and I couldn't connect to her character at all.
Another book that really needed an epilogue to feel complete.
