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.
All Josh Bennett wants is to be left alone, and everyone allows it because they all know his story: each person he loved was taken from his life until at seventeen years old there was no one left. When your name is synonymous with death,
people tend to give you your space.
Everyone except Nastya, a new girl in town who 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 a mystery 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.
5 of 5 Stars
Atria Books
Meet Josh and Nastya, two young adults learning to live in the aftermath of their own personal tragedies. They’ve both suffered great loss at a young age. How do they cope with what has happened to them? The Sea Of Tranquility is their first person journey, unveiled slowly through the use of alternating point of views.
This book “stuck” with me for quite a few days after reading it, and I’m still having a problem articulating how I feel about it beyond proclaiming The Sea of Tranquility one of my favorite reads of the 2012.
It is clear from the start that Nastya has suffered something. She hasn’t spoken in 452 days and generally does everything and anything to keep those around her at arms length. It would be easy to caste her behavior as self-indulgent or self-pity. She doesn’t want you to like her.
Josh Bennett has lost every member of his family. He takes refuge in building furniture. He doesn’t want to get attached to anyone either, but that doesn’t stop what transpires between them.
Their relationship develops slowly, until circumstances and personalities cause everything to fall apart.The writing here is very personal and at times, gut-wrenching. These are not teens dealing with the normal teenage “stuff”.
Quite a few themes weave throughout this book, such as high school politics, the dream of second chances and coping with tragedy. I thought Josh said it best when he observed that “every normal family is one tragedy away from complete implosion.” Even though its been many years since I’ve personally experienced high school, these were themes I could relate to.
Josh’s best friend Drew is an awesome supporting character in this story. He’s a more typical teen, but I liked his relationship with both main characters. He’s also dealing with a need for a second chance, and Nastya helps him along that path. She’s drawn to him from the start and their unlikely relationship is a bit of a relief from the heaviness of what Josh and Nastya are dealing with.
The Sea of Tranquility is a very intimate and emotional character study. Katja Millay does an excellent job of taking us inside the mind and heart of these characters. You can’t help but want them to have their second chance. The language, particularly in the final scenes, captures both the hurt and hopefulness perfectly.
“And with every brush of his lips against mine, I know what he’s giving me and what I’m giving him and what it will cost us both. And, for once, I am not afraid.”
“And if my Sea of Tranquility were real, it would be this place, here, with him.”
Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley for the review copy.
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