This is one of those unusual circumstances where I definitely remember loving the book as I was reading it--going so far as to plan to myself that I would give it 5 stars--but, upon reflection months later, I can't seem to recall a single element of this story that had transfixed me so. Peculiar, isn't it? I didn't even remember the main characters' names, their conflict, or the plot. This put me in a bit of a difficult position. How could I possibly rate a book highly if it left so little of an impression on me? For my other 5-star books, I can quote quotes and allude to characters' quirks even outside of my reading life. Where, then, should THE SEA OF TRANQUILITY fall?

Despite not even remembering the characters' names, I think that what got to me most while reading this book was how thoroughly Millay's prose swept me up into Nastya and and Josh's love story. Millay's writing perfectly reflects the emotional responses she wishes to wring from readers: the frustratingly languid slow burn of two messed-up people learning to open themselves up to each other. In that way, then, THE SEA OF TRANQUILITY's prose is a more accurate depiction of real-life love than most love stories we read. There is a degree of, shall we say, "life editing" that goes on when writing a story. (No one wants to read about all the meals your character ate or the number of times he/she went to the bathroom, after all.) While this is a perfectly legitimate and understandable narrative practice, it makes it all too easy for us readers to (consciously) forget that storytelling is life edited down to its enticing and relevant bits.

I mean, I get it. I read stories too because I love fiction and want to escape reality. But every once in a while I love the book that makes me aware of the differences between narrating fiction and narrating life, the book that challenges pacing conventions while still triggering a positive emotional response from me. Intriguingly enough, it is this awareness that makes that particular story all the more poignant to me. This year, THE SEA OF TRANQUILITY was that book. And while I don't anticipate rereading it--some stories are like that, you know: you don't feel the necessity of reading them again--I certainly don't regret the (considerable amount of) time I spent with Nastya and Josh.

I really enjoyed reading this. I had so many questions throughout the book, that I was so eager to read and progress. I like that the points of view are clearly defined. Many books are not. Emotions were clearly felt throughout the book also.

"The Sea of Tranquility" is so gorgeously written that I didn't want it to end. The writing is beautifully lush, the story is visceral and intense, and though this book made me cry along with the characters, it also gave me an incredible amount of hope.

Dear Publisher - I was unable to finish this book before the digital ARC expired. I appreciate the opportunity to review this title before it was published and hope you will continue to approve access to your titles! I am continually hand selling titles I have read to my customers and recommending them on Goodreads, Litsy and my personal blog.

This was just an okay read for me. I liked the writing but I didn't really get invested into what was happening with the characters.

Absolutely enthralled by this book. The cover is also gorgeous! I think the characters were really well fleshed out, and the plot was original. I was initially drawn in by the title, but I think the writing craft is the best part.

Heart-wrenching story of two young people dealing with trauma that kept me reading right through. This story will stay with me a long time.

Gorgeous writing and a compelling story and characters. I recommended this book often after I read it. I would read more from this author for sure.

I loved this book. I read it in 2013, I thought I had written a review for this ,but I don't see it. I remember at the time I did not have a kindle and I read it in one sitting on my computer! I just might have to revisit this book in Audio very soon!

One of the best YA novels I've ever read. It's hard to actually describe how emotionally rich this novel is, but you must read it for yourself. The last paragraph really blows you away!

I wasn't too sure about this one when I started the book, it started out a bit slow for me. Took me awhile to really get into it, but once I did I was hooked. Her writing style is a bit different, not that it's a bad thing.

The Sea of Tranquility is a book I have strong feelings about, both good and bad. In some ways, I positively loved it, and, in others, I’m rolling my eyes so hard it feels like they’re about to fall out of my head. I’m going to do my best to explain what worked for me and what didn’t, and I’m planning to employ more quotes than usual, so get ready.

Millay does a great job setting up the mystery of Emilia/Nastya’s past (and I’m just going to call her Nastya from now on, since that’s what she goes by for the bulk of the book). From the very beginning, Millay hooked me into the story, and I had no choice but to finish the book. The first paragraph is incredibly dramatic, lighting a fire to discover who did this to her and whether she will succeed in killing him, the light of vengeance flashing in her eyes. Millay also does a great job of sustaining the forward motion through the book. I read it slowly, because it was my Nook book, for whenever I had downtime but no print books with me, but I was always excited to get to read a little bit more and to watch the story unravel.

I also think that, largely, Millay’s writing is quite skilled. I highlighted several quotes throughout that spoke to me in their beauty or their wisdom. Though I make a habit of this, there aren’t too many authors who get me to make note of that number of sentences. I applaud her for this, and on the wit and intelligence of the writing alone, I know I’ll be reading whatever Millay’s next book is.

However, much as I loved the writing on a basic level, I do feel like it has a couple of major weaknesses. First of all, Nastya and Josh’s perspectives read exactly the same to me. Their narrations are the exact same amount of bitter and the same flavor too. They use the same sorts of derogatory terms to think of others and have a similar cadence to their thoughts, as well as matching desires to avoid emotional attachments and to respond sarcastically to things. Were it not for the helpful chapter headings, I would have been reliant on the narrator seeing the other character to figure out whose mind I was in. Though I did largely like the narrative voice, they were much too similar.

The second drawback to the writing, and the main reason I was rolling my eyes, is how damn angsty it is. Josh and Nastya could win an Olympics of angst. It’s ridiculous. Honestly, I didn’t have a good handle on what angst was before this book, and even asked Renae of Respiring Thoughts about it. NOW I get it, because they WOULD. NOT. STOP. Don’t believe me?

“Maybe what he says should floor me, but it doesn’t even make me blink. Maybe I should jump in immediately and tell him that he shouldn’t think that way. That, of course, God doesn’t hate him. That it’s a ridiculous thing to believe. Except, it’s not. Nothing about it is ridiculous. When you watch every person you love systematically removed from your life until at seventeen years old there is no one left, how can you think anything else? It makes such perfect sense that the only thing that surprises me is that I didn’t think of it myself.” (195-6)

“People like Josh Bennett and I don’t get perfect. Most of the time, we don’t even get remotely tolerable.” (289)

“Everything is hell now and I deserve it, but I can handle pain if it’s pain of my own choosing.” (336)

“‘I figure the next time I want to completely destroy all chance of happiness, at least I’ll remember doing it.’ It’ll make the self-loathing that much easier.” (345)

“‘The worst part is that I’m not even allowed to be angry about it, because it’s my fault. Is that what you need me to say? That I know it’s all my fault? That none of this would have happened in the first place if I wasn’t determined to destroy myself and everyone around me? Fine. It’s all my fault! Everything is my fault, and no one knows it more than me. We’re all in hell and I’m the one who put us here.” (368)

Keep in mind that that is merely a sampling. Like, I completely get that their lives have been largely terrible, what with Nastya’s tragic past and Josh having lost all of his family (to death, not at the mall). Still, constantly telling me that they’re NOT being over the top with their thoughts about how much their lives suck is precisely the way to make me think they are being over the top, because it makes me look closer. I mean, yeah, they had shitty hands dealt to them, but, goddamn, they are still children of privilege, and intelligent besides. Plus, for all their talk of being alone, they have friends (Josh) and family (Nastya) who care deeply about them; they’re not as alone as they pretend to be. They don’t begin to have it as hard as so many other people in this world that their constant moaning about how they weren’t overreacting got seriously old.

Speaking of that angsting, if we cut that out, the book would be a way more manageable length. This book weighs in at 450 pages, and that definitely felt too long. I’m all for long books, but they shouldn’t feel long; they should feel right. While I appreciate that she took time to set up the emotions, there’s definitely space to cut things out and leave the emotional arc as is, though I would also cut out a few of the cheesier lines between Josh and Nastya that made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. I also thought the end dragged, the last fifty pages or so.

All of those things aside, I really enjoyed reading The Sea of Tranquility, and did root for Nastya and Josh most of the time, pretty much up until they actually got together (wah wah). More than them, though, I liked Drew’s family, who invites everyone over for Sunday dinner. Drew’s parents are some of the best parents I’ve seen in young adult fiction, not just to their own kids, but to their friends as well. Millay took the time to develop the secondary characters, like Drew, his family, and Clay, which rounded out the book nicely.

Despite some reservations, The Sea of Tranquility was an engaging read, one I was generally loath to put down. Millay has earned her way onto my list of authors to watch, though I hope to see a bit less angst in her next book.

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay blew that reading slump to smithereens. I just need to sing this book’s praises.

So let’s talk about what made me all heart-eyed towards this book.

1. This book was the WHOLE package. The Sea of Tranquility was a beautifully layered and absorbing story with just so much depth to it — every plot line felt significant, the writing was excellent, every minor character added so much and the emotions that tie it all together are rooted deep..not something superficial. I felt it all to my core and I really, really needed these character’s in my life. It’s the kind of book that should be in the dictionary next to the word poignant because it was that in every sense of the word but it was beautiful and uplifting and happymaking at the same time. There were times when my heart would be fluttering because of a Josh/Nastya interaction or the feeling of Nastya’s walls falling down a little bit. And then my heart could be brutally aching — just because of the intensity of their stories and their sadness. This story will stay with me.

2. As I finished the book I was immediately longed for the characters. These are characters that leap off the pages and crash right into your heart. Nastya (this girl and her snarkiness!) and Josh (so, so sweet) were the kind of lead characters you long for — realistic and flawed and memorable. They are broken and so wanting to be whole in the face of what has happened to them. You learn a lot about them and you feel everything they feel. I loved their individual story and the strength I saw in them and their relationship brought me great joy and great pain sometimes and WOW it was intense and light and all consuming for the reader watching these two broken souls come together. I loved their time in the garage and how their friendship evolved. It was perfect. And the thing is…it could have been a good book with two great main characters and maybe some decent secondary characters but Katja Millay’s secondary characters made this book move to that GREAT. I was so invested in THEIR lives too and every single one of them added so much to this story. I mean, DREW. You peg him for one thing, and he is that, but he is SO MUCH MORE. He was one of my FAVORITE characters and the more I saw of him and got to know of him I just LOVED him especially with how he and Nastya interacted! I loved the family dinners and just really his family was so memorable to me. GAH I could go on about ALL the characters but I so appreciated how dimensional they were!

3. I haven’t given favorite status to a book in a while but this book deserves it. I read an e-arc I had of this sitting on my kindle and I NEED this novel to be sitting on my shelf. I need it to be here for when I want to get lost in their story and the words. To reread certain parts that just really affected me. This is the type of book that was perfect for me — yeah, there were little things I could be nit-picky about (like a certain part that gutted me but didn’t make all that much sense because I’m not sure I understood the motives of Nastya in that moment) but all I can think about this book is how much I loved it and how deeply I felt. My heart felt raw but so alive after and I never wanted that feeling to end.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I hate that I feel like I can’t convey my love for this book. I’m smitten. Beyond smitten. This book just gutted me because of how visceral of an experience it all was — the way Nastya and Josh’s stories are revealed, the beautiful way in which Nastya begins to find herself again and just the raw sadness that emanated from the characters sometimes. But it made me laugh and swept me off my feet and gave me genuine hope. It’s a new favorite for sure and I will be pushing it on everyone I can because The Sea of Tranquility took my expectations for it, stomped on them and gave me this perfect book that I needed so, so bad.

This is a great YA. I love how the author made poetic words. Especially at the beginning of the first chapter.

I didn't get a chance to read this before it expired on my nook. I'm sorry! I do hope to one day buy and read this!

Very good book. Definitely a high school read but wonderful. Well written and worth the long read. Very emotional.

This was a great book! I loved Nastya and Josh and the relationship that developed between them. The storyline kept me engrossed,and I'm so glad I read this one! Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you so much for approving me. Unfortunately I ended up not being able to finish this book.

Could not finish this book - I was just bored by the writing style.

What an absolutely beautiful novel. Incredibly emotional, this book is not one I can stop thinking about. I loved everything about the characters and felt every heart wrenching emotion as they did. Definitely recommended.