Book Synopsis:
While the Titanic and Lusitania are both well-documented disasters, the single greatest tragedy in maritime history is the little-known January 30, 1945 sinking in the Baltic Sea by a Soviet submarine of the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German cruise liner that was supposed to ferry wartime personnel and refugees to safety from the advancing Red Army. The ship was overcrowded with more than 10,500 passengers — the intended capacity was approximately 1,800 — and more than 9,000 people, including 5,000 children, lost their lives.
Sepetys (writer of 'Between Shades of Gray') crafts four fictionalized but historically accurate voices to convey the real-life tragedy. Joana, a Lithuanian with nursing experience; Florian, a Prussian soldier fleeing the Nazis with stolen treasure; and Emilia, a Polish girl close to the end of her pregnancy, converge on their escape journeys as Russian troops advance; each will eventually meet Albert, a Nazi peon with delusions of grandeur, assigned to the Gustloff decks.
My Review:
5/5 stars. This was a beautiful and heart-wrenching novel about a little known tragedy that I had never heard of before reading this story. It was a super fast-paced and intense story that hooked me right away and kept me invested the whole way. It was full of twists and turns. The ending was bittersweet but authentic. I have another Ruta Sepetys book on my list, and after reading this one I can’t wait to read another by her.
Right from the start of this book, I was hooked. All of the mysterious and vague language about the characters' pasts kept me engaged, wanting to keep reading to figure out what it meant. There were some good big reveals, like Emilia's pregnancy.
I quickly got attached to most of the characters. Except Alfred. He's awful. I don't fully know why his POV was included. He had no redeemable qualities and I didn't root for him. I hated how self-important he was. However, the fact that I despised him is a sign of how great of a book it is. He's well-written to be unlikable.
This is multiple-POVs book where the characters' paths converge, which I tend to really enjoy. I noticed in this story, though, that three of the four characters come together super early on, so there wasn't as much of the satisfaction when everything fell into place. That didn't matter much for this story, though, because it was much more about internal dialogue and growth. The three characters still added something to the story, and it never felt like any of them were there just to have another perspective.
I pretty much read the second half of this book in two sittings. Once they were actually on the ship and it started going down, it was so intense and I didn't see how it could end well for the characters. The action-packed ending was when the supper short chapters really helped the story. It added to the fear and desperation of the scene.
There was a tiny romance plot line in this story, but it wasn't central to overall plot. I though it was cute and well-developed, though, despite being small. Florian and Joanna had good chemistry.
Another thing I loved was the author's prose. This was my first Rita Sepetys book, but it won't be my last. I loved the way she wrote, it felt so natural to read it. Sometimes, a book's prose/writing style can be a huge distraction in my reading experience, but this one was great.
This book centers around the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff ship. I had never heard of it before, so I'm glad this book shed some light on it. At the end of the book, the author shares more details about the tragedy. It had almost ten times more casualties than the Titanic, yet, sadly, no one ever talks about it. I like that I learned about it through this story.
Content Guide:
Language: Very mild and infrequent. I only noted one instance of h-- and one instance of d--
Sexual content: A 15 year old is raped and becomes pregnant, there's a pretty detailed and painful birth scene, there are a few kisses
Violence/gore: Death, both of children and adults, wounds and injuries but not described in detail, drowning
Drugs/alcohol: None
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