A School Library Journal Best Book of 2013An ALA/YALSA Alex Award Winner 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 … days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.
Two and a half years after an unspeakable tragedy left her a shadow of the girl she once was, Nastya Kashnikov moves to a new town determined to keep her dark past hidden and hold everyone at a distance. But her plans only last so long before she finds herself inexplicably drawn to the one person as isolated as herself: Josh Bennett.
Josh’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. When your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space. Everyone except Nastya who won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. But as the undeniable pull between them intensifies, 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 mira-cle of second chances.
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this book is an excellent study of how one person copes with the loss of
one way of life as you build another reality.
the main character is devastated by a brutal encounter with a young boy.
she moves to another town and tries to survive with an entire new per-
sonality. she connects with another student who is also damaged by things
out of his control.
there are many nuances and undercurrents that are picked up when read
again.
highly recommend this book.
I am still under the shock of reading the last line …
O M G….
This is one of the most intense books I have ever read
My feelings are all over the place…
The last time I felt even remotly similar – eventhough due to a totally different reason – was when I read “JoJo Moyes” – “Me before you”
And this last line – I wish I could say truthfully
“HA – I knew it” – and looking back I SHOULD have known it – but honestly …
with all that was going on – that one totally got lost on the way –
until the moment it came back … WITH ALL FORCE and a DIRECT HIT ….
Did I say
O M G??
So well-written and such a beautiful story.
Quite the emotional rollercoaster and my heart broke for these damaged characters. The Sea of Tranquility was such a beautifully written story. There aren’t enough words to describe this book. It is a must read. Nastya and Josh were great characters because they coped with the shitty hand life dealt them by being with each other. They were a tragedy waiting to happen. I couldn’t look away. Loved. Loved. Loved this book.
The Sea of Tranquility was so much more than I expected from the description. Even being aware of how much it is adored by its readers, it was still more. It’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime stories that readers are constantly in search of. I would go so far as to say it’s a modern day classic; it’s a novel that is so much more than a book. It’s an investment in time and in the characters—all of whom are worthy of our curiosity, our empathy, and, ultimately our esteem.
It’s a book rife with symbolism. Symbolism where the mundane transcends the obvious: chairs and pennies and sawdust and ice cream and even running. Where not sharing your secrets doesn’t prevent someone from really knowing you. Where an “unacceptable” outward appearance won’t keep everyone away. Where everything doesn’t have to happen instantly or in haste to be fascinating. Where name meanings speak volumes, and where second chances are worth fighting for.
Katja Millay writes intricately complex characters, so multifaceted that they are many things—any thing but predictable. I would recommend this book to every reader, but I would stipulate that your state of mind is critical. Be prepared to devote yourself to it. Let it engross you. Keep your distractions to a minimum. This story is a journey best taken with consideration as your reading companion.
Originally reviewed 05/12/2013
Audible review:
Overall 5*
Performance 4.5*
Story *
Even better the 2nd time around!
I was really late to the party with this book, I mean really late. I didn’t read it until February 2018, and it probably would still be sitting on my shelf if it wasn’t for the group read we did in one of the groups I’m in on FB. It took one of the top spots in my favorite books of 2018, and here I am starting 2019 by revisting it, I loved it so much.
This book is just really special. The second time around I was able to appreciate some of the things that happened in the story a lot more than when I first read it. It was just a little more poignant knowing what I knew going into it. Especially those last 2 words…what a perfect ending to this book!
Although both narrators sounded a little older than I imagined, it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the audiobook at all- the story is just that good. And I really loved the emotion Kirby brought to Josh’s character there towards the end, I could feel the heartbreak.
Another wonderful debut! One of my favorite reads ever! Highly recommend this book! Wish the author would write another book soon! Love this book so much and the wonderful characters! LOVE IT so much!!
I could not put this book down, stayed up all night to finish and recommend to everyone!
4 1/2 stars. WOW. I ended up getting sucked in and really enjoying this more than I thought I would. The beginning was a bit slow and choppy and I almost gave up. But 1/3 for the way in it really captured my attention and held it to the end. Josh and Nastya had equally heartbreaking stories and their shattered pieces ended up fitting together perfectly. And that ending!!!! SO GOOD!
Nastya and Josh will lead you on an emotionally epic take that is unexpected, powerful, and brilliant. When you have experienced things outside of yourself the way Nastya has it seems like everything in life is either sharp or fuzzy. The girl that existed prior is gone, a fact that crushes everyone who loved that girl. Trying to find some ground in the aftermath she has built an image that creates a bubble for herself. It seemed to be working until him… Josh has lost everyone, one person at a time, till he’s left alone. The cloud of death that seems to follow him creates a force field around him that keeps everyone at arm’s length. There is something about Sunshine that intrigues, frustrates, and confuses him. From the moment she quietly enters in his life he knows that she has a unique pain. Sunshine and Josh will change the way you view love, loss, healing, forgiveness, pain, and hope. As they change each other, they will irrevocably change you.
Emotionally damaged teenagers (Nastya and Josh) find love, hope and healing.
Sweet, touching, poignant, emotional, raw, sarcastic, witty, vulnerable, intense, riveting, honest. I cannot say enough good things about this book. The story and writing were mesmerizing. Yes, the pace was a bit slow at times but I never felt impatient because the characters were obviously in a lot of pain and needed to take things slowly. I usually find myself racing through books so that I can read the next one but this raw, emotionally-charged story forced me to slow down and luxuriate in the joy of reading. And what a beautiful, real, and hopeful story it is!
Every once in a while, a book sneaks up on you and steals your heart. “The Sea of Tranquility” is one of those unexpected finds that makes you love being a reader, and leaves you wishing you’d had the intelligence and creativity to dream up the story yourself first.
The Sea of Tranquility is beautifully written and sets a slow, careful pace as it follows the main character Nastya’s transition to a new life, from a clearly tragic past. The beauty and cleverness of the story comes from the gentle unfolding of her story, and the complicated relationships she navigates along the way. Instead of being slapped in the face with the “tragedy” up front, it unfolds delicately during the duration of the book–like watching the petals of a flower unfurl, worth the slow wait to see it in full bloom–until you get to the heart of the bud, the raw insides that are so delicate and life affirming; until everything comes to a head at the end of the book, and leaves your insides knotted, twisted, and feeling the intense pain and loss of this young girl.
Millay is a master at character development, and each character, though beautifully flawed, will never leave your heart. Even after finishing TSoT, I still find myself going back and rereading highlighted passages, for their sheer beauty and genius. Millay does a beautiful job of capturing the YA voice and characters without making them into caricatures, or underestimating them. She gives them a leap of faith with how much their hearts can hold, wrap their hands and hearts around, the love they can express and that they fear, the pain they can bear before they shatter…all with a healthy dose of snarky humor that cuts through the dark pain they embrace like a well worn sweater, buried so deeply in the fabric, it’s now a part of their very being. Here are just a few quotes from the book to showcase the wit, the depth, the creativity, the poetic nature, the pain, the sheer genius that Millay created with her words:
“So that’s what it was like every week. I’d sit in a circle and a bunch of people who’d been through as much shit as I had would look at me like I snuck into the club without paying the cover. And I’d feel like screaming and telling them that I had paid it the same as everyone else in the room, I just didn’t feel like waiving around my receipt.”
“I hate my left hand. I hate to look at it. I hate that it stutters and trembles and reminds me that my identity is gone. But I look at it anyway, because it also reminds me that I’m going to find the boy who took everything from me. I’m going to kill the boy who killed me, and when I kill him, I’m going to do it with my left hand.”
“He tears apart faces and puts them back together whole, like I would a piece of music. I could play it a hundred ways, imbue it with a different emotion every time and try to find the truth of it. He does that with faces, except he’s not putting the truth in, he’s drawing it out. He’s looking for the truth in me. I wonder if he’ll find it, and if he does, maybe he can show me where it is again.”
“There, on the underside of the seat, is an engraving of the sun. I know at that moment what he’s given me and it’s not a chair. It’s an invitation a welcome, the knowledge that I am accepted here. He hasn’t given me a place to sit. He’s given me a place to belong.”
“I’d ask you, you know. If I was allowed. I’d ask you a thousand times until you’d tell me. But you won’t let me ask.”
“It takes me three notes to recognize the Haydn sonata he’s put on. It’s the one I know by heart. he one I practiced a thousand times to play for my audition that day at school. The one that became the theme song for my murder instead. That’s what we’re listening to over Sunday dinner. The soundtrack to my death.”
“It shouldn’t be possible to be this close to another person. To let them crawl inside you.”
“People who go around advertising their birthdays are douchebags. It’s a fact. You can look it up on Wikipedia.”
And last, but not least, and certainly swoon-worthy:
“I’m not sure how long we sit in Josh’s truck, holding hands, surrounded by darkness and unspoken regrets. But it’s long enough to know that there are no stories or secrets in the word worth holding onto more than his hand.”
If you read no other book this year, this is the one you MUST pick up. It’s worth every penny, every second, every ounce of your heart that you’ll surrender while lost in Millay’s Sea of Tranquility.
This is the only book I have read by this author, but it hooked me from the very first page. I love twisted angsty love stories and this one fed my craving, perfectly. This is an unusual story that pulls you into the life of the protagonist. A great read!
Read this when it first came out. Still a favorite.