The Sea of Tranquility - Review

The Sea of Tranquility

By: Katja Millay

Published: November 13th 2012 by Atria Books (first published September 5th 2012)

448 pages

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon )

Goodreads description--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.

Full of rage and without a purpose, former pianist Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone discovering her past and to make the boy who took everything from her pay.

All 17 year-old Josh Bennett wants is to build furniture and be left alone, and everyone allows it because it’s easier to pretend he doesn’t exist. When your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space.

Everyone except Nastya, a hot mess of a girl who starts showing up and won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. The more he gets to know her, the more of a mystery she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he may ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding or if he even wants to.

The Sea of Tranquility is a slow-building, character-driven romance about a lonely boy, an emotionally fragile girl, and the miracle of second chances.

Please Note: This book contains mature content including profanity, drug/alcohol use, and sexual situations/language.

Whew. I’m still reeling from this book, and I don’t know that I can write a review of it that’s at all thought out any analytical or anything even remotely not some form of babbling.

I was reading Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout and coming off just finishing Obsidian and Onyx only days before. For those of you who are huge JLA fans, you’ll appreciate how much this means. I was only able to get in snippets of The Sea of Tranquility while mainly reading Opal, but at some point The Sea of Tranquility took over. I was 50% finished with Opal, but I couldn’t get The Sea of Tranquility out of my head. And that’s saying A LOT because I was really enjoying Opal. I mean REALLY enjoy it. Cause Daemon’s HOT! But that goes to show you how firmly The Sea of Tranquility took hold of me.

Nastya and Josh’s story had a little bit of everything in it. Moments I’m soaring in the heat of passion and new found love despite such harsh circumstances only to plummet into the debts of darkness due to what Nastya and Josh have been through and what they do to each other. There’s love and loss, happiness and heartbreak. Love and hate. Hurt and healing. The Sea of Tranquility is a story that can’t be kept from cutting into the depths of your soul. You’ll fall in love with these characters and your heart will break over these characters. Nastya and Josh are both extremely vivid and come off the page and I can’t express how happy I am that I’ve read so many great characters that have come alive for me lately.

Katja Millay does a great job of giving you information all along so that you don’t completely piece Nastya’s story together too soon. You think you have all of the details, but you still question just as much as you think you know, whereas Josh’s story is told pretty early on and very directly.

There was a bit too much cursing and too many f-bombs for me, but the story compels you forward and I always try to overlook what I can.

The Sea of Tranquility is an extremely heavy story, but all I can say is read this book and just try not to get invested in these characters. I dare you. Seriously, read it! The Sea of Tranquility gets 5 stars. Have you read The Sea of Tranquility? If so, what did you think? Let me know!