Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Published: November 13, 2012 by Atria Books
Length: 448 pages
Source: NetGalley
Amazon | Goodreads
“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.
Josh Bennett’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. Now all he wants is be left alone and people allow it because when your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space.
Everyone except Nastya, the mysterious new girl at school who starts showing up and 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 an enigma 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.”
I’m speechless.
Okay.
If you’re up for some tragedy story, life-changing book, go grab it right now. If not, still pick it up. Sorry for not giving you any choices. Just by looking at the cover and reading the title, I knew something was up. I didn’t even read the freakin summary. I knew that my hands would be glued to my phone, my eyes hypnotized to the screen even though I hate hate hate reading books through my phone. My first impression of The Sea of Tranquility was that I would be reading between the lines. Even the title makes me think! What the heck does The Sea of Tranquility even mean? I feel like there is a meaning behind the whole story. It isn’t just a story to entertain readers. Also, I think people will either love it or be annoyed by the characters or the pacing or both.
The book is written in 1st person point of view and switches back and forth between our 2 main characters Nastya and Josh. They both had an ugly past that the readers will get to know more throughout the novel. They’re both mysterious, witty, and kick-ass which I really really really liked about their character! Although sometimes I didn’t understand why Nastya acted the way she acted. I don’t understand why she just randomly went inside and chilled inside Josh’s garage? o.O I like how Josh calls Nastya “Sunshine”. It’s really cute!
Overall the characters were all just plain awesome and realistic. I feel like I was with them the whole time I was reading the book. I felt all kinds of emotions while reading it, and I definitely recommend it! The pacing was good; it wasn’t too slow or too fast. The problem I only had really was again why Nastya acted that way sometimes. I didn’t understand her choices sometimes. The story is unpredictable, and you’ll keep asking questions to yourself. The thing that really made this book a page turner was that it kept me wondering how Josh and Nastya would end up together in the end and who really is Nastya.
