16151178Title: The Sea of Tranquility

Author: Katja Millay

Publisher: Atria Books

Publication Date: June 2013

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Contemporary

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Synopsis can be found here.

I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review:

I don’t even know what to say.

The Sea of Tranquility may be one of my favorite books this year. It’s filled with love and hate, heartbreak and healing, redemption and rage. The characters grow together naturally, slowly breaking down each others’ defenses. They love each other, they hurt each other. Josh has lost everyone he has ever loved.  Nastya is broken, angry and seeking revenge. They don’t want to be friends, let alone fall in love. They can barely communicate. But when they do, the words they say are so carefully crafted and thought out, it is a wonder. It shows how the right words, and the right silences, can hurt, heal and express.

I love Josh, sad and antisocial. His faults are our faults, his insecurities are there for everyone to see. There’s Nastya who is angry, silenced and secretive. Her past is hidden, her voice a whisper. I loved her and Josh’s journey, both together and separately. There are some really beautiful scenes between them, and some ones that took my heart out, stomped on it and then light it on fire. Equally in love and heartbroken, the book carries the reader through all aspects of love.

I love the scenes in the garage, when she doesn’t speak. I love the miscommunication and heartbreak that so naturally happens between people. I love the falling in love, so quietly that one day they just look across the room at each other and know. All of the secondary characters are textured, making it enjoyable to venture farther into the world and see the main characters interact with their friends.

The small details that irked me about the book are probably not worth mentioning. And really, the major storyline and depth of the characters won me over. But I was slightly, ever so slightly, unfulfilled with part of the ending. What happened to her was horrible and then the justification of the aggressor was rationalized by this series of events that were equally horrific. Why? Why can’t this culprit simply be evil, with no defense? Does he have to have a reason? It pushed me into storyland again, wrapping everything up with a little too much closure. Don’t know why it bothered me, but there you go. Everything about the story was so raw and real, it felt out of place.

So what do I do when I love a book so much, I can’t contain it.

I want to read it again, and again, and again?

I buy a physical copy of it.

This is the book that broke my book diet, that I needed a hard copy of. This is the book I went out right away to buy. This is that book.

Rating 10 One of the Best