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 am in LOVE with this book. If you were to open my heart and ruffle through the things I store in there you would find this book. First off, I don’t want to give any spoilers
away. Like AT all. I feel like it would be a discredit to the story
and to you, the reader by doing that. So instead I want to focus on some of the
things I loved most about the book. I hope you take it from there and choose to
read it.
The popularity of this book is so immense and far reaching.
It’s always followed by 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads (I'm talking thousands of reviews on these sites.) Full of heartfelt reviews. Readers pouring their hearts out. People who were going about there life and read this story and will NEVER be the same. It is recommended to
everyone, no matter reading preference. I have never met a person who was not
profoundly touched by this book. Whenever someone asks me for a book recommendation
I automatically blurt out its title with enough passion and confidence it’s
been known to scare people. Seriously, I get CRAZY about this book!
It’s the kind of book you can read over and over again
throughout your life and you find it effects you in different ways. It’s the
book you are jealous that gets to be read the first time by someone else (so if you are reading this for the first time. I AM VERY JEALOUS). Just knowing
a reader is experiencing it for the first time you are automatically flooded with
memories of your first time reading it. I know. I sound intense. You just drop me a line when you are up all night like a loon and we can talk....mmmmmk.
I have never read a book like it and I don’t think I ever
will again. I think that’s okay too. I think knowing that this is the book that
will forever be ‘that book’ for me is a fitting accolade to all my years of
reading. It’s a good choice to have as the one that will never leave me.
Not only is Millay a brilliant storyteller but an amazing
writer. And yes, I think there is a difference between the two. It’s an
incredible story with wonderful characters but it’s also full of beautiful
language and style. It flows from the first to the last page. No detail left
untouched or organized without thought. No awkward moments, no unnecessary
characters or plots. EVERYTHING matters.
The novel is told is alternating first-person narratives
(Nastya and Josh) which I love because the reader is able to get an insider
look into both of the main characters. And man, do we love those two. I mean. LOVE THEM! Another thing I enjoy about Millay’s
writing is she gives credit to young people and how they act and talk. It’s not
a stereotypical idea of how an adult thinks teenagers are. I read a lot of YA and a lot of times
authors get wrapped up in trying to think how a teenager would be and speak and
it comes out like some bad movie. Millay gets it right.
Also with respect to young and old people alike there is no
insta-love. I get the insta-love I suffer from it occasionally (helllooo instagram tattoo boys). I think a lot
of writers make their income off of this idea. BUT in reality most of us spend
time falling in love and in The Sea of Tranquility you get to witness this
first hand from both characters. They are also dealing with some really heavy
stuff in their lives and you get to experience that as well. It’s so visual you
feel like you are there with them watching everything play out. Writing a
synopsis of something so powerful and special just seems wrong. Instead pick it
up, read it, recommend it, enjoy it, sleep with it under your pillow. You
will not be disappointed.
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