Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys // Very underwhelming

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Genres: Historical Fiction
Pages: 391
Goodreads

Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets.
Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war.
As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.
Yet not all promises can be kept.
Inspired by the single greatest tragedy in maritime history, bestselling and award-winning author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) lifts the veil on a shockingly little-known casualty of World War II. An illuminating and life-affirming tale of heart and hope.

I found each character’s plot line to be very predictable. I knew what was going to happen well before the “big reveal”. It was disappointing. I appreciate what the author was trying to do – shed light on a maritime disaster that no one knows about, while also trying to represent the different walks of life that came together to flee the war.

It didn’t work for me. The plot just never pulled me in. 
Which I will in the categories below.

I never felt fully connected to any of the characters in this book. There were quite a few of them, and almost all had their own perspective. Those alternating perspectives ended up negatively impacting my relationship with the characters. Yeah, they all had a different background and some heartbreaking stories – but those backstories didn’t serve any real purpose to the plot and I never felt emotionally connected to them.

There was the young polish girl who tried to keep a secret through the first half of the book, that I figured out within 2 pages of her chapters. There was the young nurse, who of course is pretty and selfless. There is the young man, who has secrets of his own that can kill him. Then there is Alfred, who was just there to be a character we made fun of.

They all lacked depth. They all lacked individual voices. By the end, all the characters just blended together for me. 

As I said above, there were multiple perspectives and not only did that impact my connection to the characters but also to the pacing itself. Each chapter was only 2-3 pages long, which led to a very awkward pacing. Due to the lack of plot, the story was a tad slow, but the various perspectives led to quick jumps from scene to scene, day-to-day.

It wasn’t done in an effective way where I was able to follow exactly how long they had traveled. It all seemed to fly by in a choppy way. Even the ending, when the Wilhelm Gustloff sinks, it was so fast and anticlimactic. 

I just wanted much more out of the writing. I expected it to make me feel for the characters and their situations.

I wasn’t fond of this book. I appreciate the historical merit to it. I understand what the author was trying to do, but it fell flat. The characters lacked any depth or development. The writing was choppy and underwhelming. The plot was predictable, leaving the reveal of each characters secrets boring. If the story focused on one or two perspectives, I would have enjoyed this more. Instead, I felt like the author only skimmed the surface of what could have been a wonderful story.

Rating Report
Plot
Characters
Writing
World Building
Overall:	1.5 / 5