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Salt to the Sea
Salt to the Sea
Ruta Sepetys | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics, Young Adult (YA)
7
8.8 (12 Ratings)
Book Rating
So, I’ve just finished reading all three novels nominated for the YA category of the California Young Reader Medal. The first two I read kind of left me feeling “meh,” so I was all set to be unimpressed with this one as well. I’m so delighted to tell you that I was wrong.

The story is told from the perspectives of four different characters, and I loved how Sepetys begins the narrative by telling of the same opening event from each character’s view point. After that, things unfold a little slowly, but it is completely worth it as you approach the climax…by that time, I was completely invested in each of the characters and was absolutely riveted to what was happening to them.

I’m also terribly impressed that Sepetys tackles telling a story from the “wrong” side (Germans during WWII), painting the characters not as the accepted “evil” caricatures but as real human beings caught up in a horrific war. In doing so, she sheds light on a human tragedy that so few of us know anything about (myself included) because it happened to the Germans as they were losing the war.

I will warn potential readers that the end of this novel does get rather graphic and emotionally wrenching, as you would expect in a novel about war and death. Although writing for a young adult audience, Sepetys does not gloss over the terror, panic, and trauma of the events.
  
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Jeff Lynne recommended Revolver by The Beatles in Music (curated)

 
Revolver by The Beatles
Revolver by The Beatles
1966 | Pop, Psychedelic, Rock

"This is pretty amazing. I think this is Geoff Emerick’s first go as engineer. He’d been working there [at Abbey Road studios] but he hadn’t become an engineer yet. When I was working with Paul McCartney on his album, Flaming Pie, Geoff was the engineer as well. He told me what a marvellous thing it was for him because he used this close mic ambience on this album and did some really amazing effects, like on ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’. Backwards stuff and all that and this was pretty advanced stuff in them days. It was more experimental than anything they’d done before. Some of the tunes on there are just great and it was them nearly getting into Sgt Pepper, you know? Probably doing more experimenting and copying tapes and bouncing them across. They hadn’t got the tracks to do it, really, so they had to use two machines and sometime three machines and then mix everything down from four tracks onto one and then start on another and mix that down to another machine. So it was very difficult to make those records, I would imagine. How did it sound back in ’66? Way better than everything else, I would say. It stood out like a sore thumb really. It was so tight and beautiful and punchy. It was the punchiest thing around. It was, like, powerful and, it seemed to me, majestic."

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Requiem ( Remington Carter book 2)
Emma Cole | 2022
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
111 of 230
Kindle
Requiem (Remington Carte book 2)
By Emma Cole
⭐️⭐️
🌶🌶🌶

My name is Remington Reese Carter, and I’ve had a really bad day. It should have been an excellent day, after the prior evening spent with Elliot McAdams.
The experience had been amazing, but then the front door of Eli’s place opened, along with the biggest can of worms ever. I mean, really, what were the chances that not one, not two, but all three boys—well, now men, I suppose—that I ever loved, or thought to love, would all live together? And that Eli would live there as well? All. Together.
My mind couldn’t fathom it.
So I did what any self-respecting girl would do when confronted with four guys she has a major thing for. I ran. Don’t act like you wouldn’t have, either. I went straight to my best friend for some serious girl time.

Oh dear I hate going lower than 3⭐️ ratings but this really started to get boring half way through it was a little repetitive too. It did pick up in the last few chapters but not enough to go up to 3⭐️. Yes we did find out more of what happened but these things were spread out over too many chapters and the stuff with her dad ect was left to the odd mention. I kinda needed more.