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Title: The Sea of Tranquility
Author: Katja Millay
Synopsis: 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.
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.
Review:
“Sometimes it's easier to pretend nothing is wrong than to face the fact that everything is wrong, but you're powerless to do anything about it.”
Oh wow. I cannot find the right words to describe this but saying that this is amazing is an understatement. It was raw and gripping and so goddamn emotional but still has the right mix of fun in between. Yes, it was heart breaking. Yes, it was a bit devastating. But no, it won't pull you behind the dark curtains of depression. It actually has this ability of making you hope and believe in second chances.
I love how the author got me so intrigued the moment I started reading it. She made it like it was a puzzle and there were pieces to pick up as I read along. It made me want to read it so fast so I can finally understand Nastya and Josh's individual stories.
Nastya \n(a)-st-ya, nas-tya\ as a girl's name is a variant of Anastasia (Greek), and the meaning of Nastya is "resurrection".
Nastya, after suffering a traumatic incident changed everything about her. She keeps on keeping everyone away, even her family and stopped speaking. I love how her character was written. She was portrayed as tough and vulnerable at the same time while keeping both personalities tied to her and without confusing the readers. Her self-loathing wasn't irritating at all and she seem to keep that attractive personality despite her standoffish attitude towards others.
Josh \j(o)-sh\ as a boy's name is a variant of Joshua (Hebrew), and the meaning of Josh is "Jehovah is salvation".
Josh, after losing everyone in his life, responsibilities and attachments were the last thing on his mind. Although he still got people on his side by default when his best friend chose to stay, he was still alone. Like Nastya, he doesn't want people to stay in his life only to find them gone one day but deep inside, he also craves normalcy and permanence. Both scarred, he and Nastya found solace in each other.
Drew \d-rew\ as a boy's name (also used as girl's name Drew), is pronounced droo. It is of Welsh origin, and the meaning of Drew is "wise". Short form of Andrew. It is of Greek origin, and the meaning of Andrew is "man, warrior".
Drew, the best friend who acts like a jerk but actually isn't. I personally think that the meaning warrior fits him because of how he looks after his friend. He's undeniably loyal to his family and friends. Among all things, what I'm glad about Drew is not on how he treats his friends or how he hugged his sister, but the fact that he proved himself as nothing like what others say about him; like how other people see him. There was definitely more of him than he lets on.
The other characters were also exceptional. It proves that no matter how small that certain character is, he/she has the ability to leave an impact and I think Millay did a good job on making everyone essential to the story. There might be some filler characters mentioned but it wasn't that much and it felt right for them to be there. It made the story real and tangible and not just revolve around the couple.
“We're like mysteries to one another. Maybe if I can solve him and he can solve me, we can explain each other.”
I was used to couples where one of them is flawed and the other one has sort-of-issues but helps the other get over his/her shit and gets together. Here both of them were flawed and deeply scarred. Both of them has issues that won't go away for a long time and it seems perfect how both of them found each other.
The only issue I had with the book is the scene between Aidan. I expected and need more from it. Maybe I wasn't convinced with his speech about what happened but it felt one-sided, abrupt and not-so believable.
But Aidan-scene aside, this is exceptional, amazing, brilliant, genius and I would love to reread it again and again.
This copy was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This did not influence my review in any way.
