The Sea of Tranquility By Katja Millay Review

SUMMARY

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.

REVIEW

If you’re up for some tragedy story, life-changing book, go grab it right now. If not, still pick it up. My first impression of this book 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. The book is written in 1st person point of view and switches back and forth between our 2 main characters Nastya and Josh. They’re both mysterious, witty, and kick-ass which I really liked about their character! Although sometimes I didn’t understand why Nastya acted the way she did. I don’t understand why she just randomly went and chilled inside Josh’s garage? Drew an outgoing unapologetic man whore is Josh’s best friend and the closest thing to family he has. What I adored about Drew was his larger than life personality, with the ego and charm that easily paints the full picture of the most valuable player on campus. Overall the characters were all just plain awesome and realistic.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 and who really is Nastya. In the end it was an emotionally satisfying book. FAV QUOTES - “I wished my mother was here tonight, which is stupid, because it’s an impossible wish.” He shrugs and turns to me, drowning the smile that cracks me every time.  “It’s not stupid to want to see her again.”  “It wasn’t so much that I wanted to see her again,” he says, looking at me with the depth of more than seventeen years in his eyes. “I wanted her to see you.” “Daylight won’t protect you from anything. Bad things happen all the time; they don’t wait until after dinner” “I know at that moment what he's given me and it isn't 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.” “There are so many things that can break you if there's nothing to hold you together.” “People who go around advertising their birthdays are douchebags. It's a fact. You can look it up on Wikipedia.” “Do real boys actually call girls baby? I don't have enough experience to know. I do know that if a guy ever called me baby, I'd probably laugh in his face. Or choke him.” “What did you call her?" she ask's but I don't think it's her real question. "Sunshine," I say, and she smiles like she believes it's perfect and she may be the only person other than me who would think so. "What is she to you?" she whispers. The real question and I know the answer even if I don't know how to say it. Drew's muffled voice rises up from the floor before I can respond. "Family," he says. And he's right.”