The Sea of Tranquility – Katja Millay

The Sea of Tranquility – Katja MillayTitle: The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay
Publishing Info: November 13, 2012 by Simon & Schuster
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: November 30, 2012

    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.

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Wow. Just wow. I don’t even know how to start a review for this book because it totally blew me away. Before I first started, I wasn’t really sure what I was getting myself into and I was a little unsure about the book. Yeah, that was totally wrong. I started reading and was immediately intrigued by Nastya’s story. She’s starting a new school in a new city with her aunt after what we know has been a tragic incident for her, but it takes Natsya a while to reveal to reader exactly what that was. I liked that we weren’t given the whole story right away because I was so curious to see what had happened to her, what had caused her to shut down, what had taken all the joy out of her life.

The character development is amazing. If I didn’t know this was a work of fiction, I would have believed that these were real stories of real people. The amount of emotion that you feel from them is incredible and everything about the book just felt so real. As their hearts were breaking, my heart broke too. When they felt joy, I was excited for them! It was so great to see these characters evolve over the length of the novel and to really see how their interactions affected the course of their decisions and at the same time, how they struggled to prevent those feelings from affecting their decisions.

The relationship that develops between Nastya and Josh just felt like it flowed so naturally. I guess normally you wouldn’t expect two people so affected by tragedy to be the ideal people to fall in love, but then again, it makes perfect sense. They have an understanding right off the bat and when Nastya needs someone who won’t ask questions, Josh is the perfect person to spend her time with because he’s tired of questions himself. I loved that you could see the trust building between them, the relationship slowly developing instead of jumping into things all at once. It made me fall in love with the characters as they were falling in love with each other.

Really, I could go on and on about what I loved about this book, but I don’t feel like talking about it will do it justice, in all honesty. It’s an experience that each reader needs to go through, to feel all the emotions as they figure out the book for themselves. I’d honestly recommend it to anyone (and  I’ve already tried to force a few of my friends to stop reading what they’re in the middle of to get a copy of this book and read it). It’s quite the emotional roller coaster and there are some really painfully realistic scenes that the reader witnesses, but it’s such an amazing journey. THE SEA OF TRANQUILITY is something that you need to feel your way through, and you will do just that. So go read it!

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Nastya/Sunshine/Emilia: Wow. I absolutely loved her character. She’s been incredibly wronged for no logical reason, stripped of her talent — what’s made her the person that she was — and that one incident really look away her whole life. There’s a storm raging inside her at all times yet she chooses to keep in all in, refusing to talk to anyone, only releasing those emotions into notebooks. Her strengths are her biggest weaknesses and my heart broke for her over and over again throughout the book. She felt like such an incredibly real person that sometimes it was so hard to pull myself out of the book. I absolutely loved how she grew throughout the novel (and I can’t really say much about the end because it’s something you have to figure out as you read) and finally starts to allow people to help her. Not like I’ve experienced a tragedy like that, but Katja Millay does a fantastic job of intensifying so many emotions that I’ve felt at my lowest lows and I just felt them all.
Josh: Oh, Josh. Poor Josh. I can’t imagine what it would be like to slowly lose your family, everyone leaving around you. I was actually quite impressed with how much he maintained a level head (I mean, as best you can when you’re 17 and all of your family has died), but at the same time, he still has a giant hole in his heart that makes him the perfect person to relate to Nastya. He’s quite flawed as well, but in a way that any of us can relate to. I’d say if I was in his position, I might react the exact same way to these situations. My heart went out to him as he went through quite a few hard times himself, dealing with it the best a teenager can.
Drew: I think Drew was one of my favorite characters and it was totally unexpected. I wouldn’t necessarily say that Drew changed a lot, but what did change was the light I saw him in. Up front, he’s a ladies’ man. He has a reputation of “lady slayer” to protect and we come to find out that that’s all it is — a reputation. Now, of course it’s based on the way he once was, but Drew has a lot more substance than a stupid womanizer (and THANK YOU for not making him a football player!!! You have no idea how sick I am of that stereotype). I loved Drew and how much he was a part of the story and not just some supporting character.

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BUY IT!

Ohhh my gosh, I loved this book. It was so moving, so emotional, so deep. I was just totally hooked from start to finish!

book_recommendations1BOOKS LIKE THE SEA OF TRANQUILITY

Hi, I'm Brittany!
Hi, I'm Brittany!

I'm an avid reader, candle-maker, and audiobook lover! Here you'll find book reviews, fun blog posts, and my other loves of photography & craft beer!

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27 thoughts on “The Sea of Tranquility – Katja Millay

  1. Kaci B

    I have been trying to decide whether or not I wanted to read this book. Based on your review , how can I not read it?! I actually want to go buy it right now. Great review!

  2. Kelly

    Yay! So glad you enjoyed it! I read it for Katja as an ARC back in September and LOVED it. No-one knew about it back then but it’s suddenly exploded with Atria picking it up and I love that more people are reading and loving it, too!

    1. Brittany

      Yes! Absolutely. I hadn’t known about it until I got an email from Atria informing me of the Netgalley version, otherwise I might not have known! So glad it got picked up. It’s such an amazing book!

      1. Brittany

        AH I don’t know if I did! I think I read part of them, but I must not have read everything because I would have noticed your name!! That’s awesome 🙂

      2. Kelly

        I know! I didn’t know about Katja putting me in there and I was just about ready to cry when I saw my name there! You’re actually the only person I’ve mentioned it to so that it didn’t seem like I was being a show-off but I was beyond happy about it!

      3. Brittany

        I’m glad you mentioned it! That’s definitely something to be proud of and that’s so amazing that she put your name in there!!! But I totally understand what you mean – I’d feel like that too. I’d want everyone to know, but I wouldn’t want it to seem like I was showing off (even though trust me, that’s not how you come off!) Very cool!!! 🙂 🙂

      4. Kelly

        Thank you, that makes me feel better!
        I actually broke my rule of not talking about bloggy things with my real life friends and family so that I could gush to them about it, I had to tell someone! I’ve even put that page of the acknowledgements as my iphone screensaver! Haha! Such a proud moment!

  3. Ashley

    Fabulous review! You hit it spot on! The Sea of Tranquility is an AMAZING book that everyone should read! I was a bit like you: I didn’t know what I was getting into with this book. The blurb is kind of vague and doesn’t give away many details.. but that’s kind of what makes the book awesome. I love that mystery element and how it keeps us guessing throughout the book!

  4. Elizabeth

    You successfully convinced me to put down what I was reading and start this one. I’m only about a third of the way though, but have been having a really hard time putting it down. I love that we don’t really know Nastya’s story and I only just found out what Josh’s story is. I sort of want to finish this immediately so I can relate to all your other claims… the curiosity is what is driving me at this point, I think!

    1. Brittany

      YAYYYYY!
      It’s so true! It’s not like it’s a mystery but I love how the truths are slowly revealed to us a little at a time. Defintely keeps you reading! 🙂

  5. Quinn

    Yeah I’ve been hearing amazing things about The Sea of Tranquility. I have it from netgalley, but haven’t gotten to it yet. After I finish Opal, though, I need to go for something lighthearted. But maybe after that I will read this one. I definitely want to.

    1. Brittany

      Woo hoo!!! Hope you love it 🙂
      Yeah, I wanted to update my rating system and take away actual stars to avoid any confusion about how I reallyfelt about the books 🙂

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