Salt to the Sea & Between Shades Of Gray By Ruta Sepetys 2 Books Collection Set

by Ruta Sepetys

DISCOVER RUTA SEPETYS
About SALT TO THE SEA: In 1945, World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia, and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, almost all of them with something to hide. Among them are Joana, Emilia, and Florian, whose paths converge en route to the ship that promises salvation, the Wilhelm Gustloff.Forced by circumstance to unite, the three find their strength, courage, and trust in each other tested with each step closer toward safety.

Just when it seems freedom is within their grasp, tragedy strikes. Not country, nor culture, nor status matter as all ten thousand people aboard must fight for the same thing: survival.

Told in alternating points of view, and perfect for fans of Anthony Doerr's Pulitzer Prize-winning All the Light We Cannot See, Erik Larson's critically acclaimed #1New York Times bestseller Dead Wake, and Elizabeth Wein's Printz Honor Book Code Name Verity, this masterful work of historical fiction is inspired by the real-life tragedy that was the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff--the greatest maritime disaster in history. As she did in Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys unearths a shockingly little-known casualty of a gruesome war, and proves that humanity can prevail, even in the darkest of hours.




About BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY:

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.
Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously-and at great risk-documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical

Paperback

First published October 22, 2015

About the author

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author and Winner of the Carnegie Medal.
Ruta Sepetys was born and raised in Michigan in a family of artists, readers, and music lovers. The daughter of a refugee, Ruta is drawn to underrepresented stories of strength through struggle and hopes to give voice to those who weren't able to tell their story. Her award-winning historical novels are published in over sixty countries and have received over forty literary prizes.

For more information:
https://www.rutasepetys.com
https://www.facebook.com/rutasepetys
https://www.instagram.com/rutasepetys...
https://www.twitter.com/rutasepetys

Reviews

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I requested this sampling of these two books because I hadn't read anything by
Ruta Sepetys, and wanted to. "Between Shades of Gray" has been on my desired read list for quite some time.

With 10,385 reviews of "Between Shades of Gray", with an overall rating of 4.33 rating...I began reading several of my friends reviews of the 'entire' book.

I'd like to quote and underline something - I too- have already taken from this
historical Young Adult historical fiction....which Goodreads **CONNIE** says in her review: "It told a story that we all should read since the plight of the nations of
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland during World War II is often forgotten". (
THANK YOU, Connie. Powerful reminder!

"Salt to the Sea", is due out in February. I was able to
see that one of the characters in "Between Shades of Gray" is in this book.
Again, the author brings to light another "often forgotten" event during World War II.
The disaster of the 'Wilhelm Gustoff', sinking ship, with evacuations of refugees.

Both books have heighten my interest--new history to learn!

Thank You Penguin Group for Young Readers, Netgalley, and Ruta Sepetys

[Debra - can't post any comments on site today grrr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this short introduction into the work of Ruta Sepetys. This short intro left me wanting more so I immediately requested Between Shades of Gray from my local library. I am currently reading it. This is a fantastic introduction to the Author.

[Pili · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this sampler for both Between Shades of Grey and Salt to the Sea from Netgalley because I've heard many things about Ruta Sepetys' books and all of them good, so I wanted to check the writing for myself and see if they are my kind of books.

And well, the answer is yes, they are my kind of books for sure! I only got a few chapters of each book and I already was turning pages fast, completely engaged and very much drawn into the stories of those I had just barely met! The characters voices felt so very real and the writing is simply fantastic, drawing you into the story and keeping a hold of you!

Now I need to get me both Between Shades of Grey and Salt to the Sea ASAP!!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Discover Ruta Sepetys is an short book with two excerpts from a book about to be published, Salt to the Sea, and one that was published, Between Shades of Gray, in 2012. I did not realize that they were excerpts and had two different reading experiences with each book. Although it was very short Between Shades of Gray felt immediately compelling and vivid. Lina, who is 15 years old, is the protagonist in the story. She is being taken away by Stalin's henchmen during World War II. and I instantly experienced her confusion and terror. I wanted to know what happened to her and her family. The second excerpt Salt to the Sea did not compare. This excerpt did not grab me and I was confused about the characters and who they were. It may be because there were too many characters for such a short read. It did make me curious though and I will be watching for its debut.. In any case, I am now on the lookout for Ms Sepetys work and looking forward to reading the complete versions of both of these stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for allowing me to review this book for an honest opinion.

[Donna Maguire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I downloaded this excerpt and sample of two of Ruta's books - I loved both and immediately wanted to carry on reading them,. I have added Salt to the Sea to my wish list and purchased Between Shades of Gray. The writing style was lovely, very easy to follow - going top enjoy reading the two full books.

[Kayris]

If the purpose of a sneak preview is to get the reader excited about an upcoming publication, then Ruta Sepetys has got me! I immediately added Between Shades of Gray and Salt To The Sea to my to-read list.

The opening chapters grab you and I want-NEED-to know what happens to the characters.

Well done.

[Ahri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I already read Between Shades of Gray earlier this year and I am definitely awaiting for Salt to the Sea.

I've also read Out of the Easy and enjoyed it just as much as I did Between Shades of Gray. Ruta Sepetys has become one of my new favorite "be on the lookout for new books" author.

*I received the sampler from Netgalley, this in no way affects my review.

[Ida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both books are on my to-read list and when I got a chance to downloaded this excerpt and sample of two of Ruta's books - well I could not miss this opportunity.
I did like both and immediately put them on my Christmas wish list.

[Megan Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this free sampler from netgalley and i gotta say honestly it has me wanting to read more of the two books. Only thing i don't like in this book is the evil man hitler and the male officer hurting a woman but other than that It's so good!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this from NetGalley and it left me wanting to read these books, which is kind of the point. I think I might have found another historical author I really, really like and I hope to read the full version of both these books someday.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read both but I already rated between shades of grey. This rating us just for the salt and the sea. Very good book. Hard to read but enlightening as always about horrendous things that happened during WW2.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruta is a very creative writer, she wrote this one from each of the characters perspective, so it jumped around a little bit. But it still flows pretty well. It follows four characters and how their stories intertwine during the fleeing of war world 2. I didn’t know about these sinking ships, Ruta so good at bringing big historical, but little known events to life.
Pretty sad with a lot of death but good read

[Abigail Tanner · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are my favorite books of all time!!! There's romance and history and anything you could ever want in a book! Ruta Sepetys is the best author ever! I can't decide on my favorite book because I would have to pick between these two! I would 100% recommend them to anyone who has a brain. And a heart. They are also very well written, and the history in the books is actually accurate. Definitely read them! What I did, and what I would recommend doing, is read "Between Shades of Gray" first and then "Salt to the Sea." Honesty though, as long as you read them both, it doesn't really matter. READ THEM!!! THEY ARE THE BEST BOOKS OF ALL TIME!!! 🥰😁😍🤩🥲🥹❤️🤎👍💯😊

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story about a largely unknown ship full of refugees from the WAR that was torpedoed in the Baltic Sea. I found the story difficult to follow at times, especially from one character's viewpoint as he clearly lived in a fantasy world and it took some time to figure that out and then process what he was thinking against reality. I found the writing a bit too cryptic for my tastes.

[Ivy Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved both of these books! Both are heartbreaking and definitely will make you cry but it is such a good book!

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Makes one think how important good shoes can be. I loved this book The story … it’s sad but so worth reading

[Lori Gall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book Good shoes-they really are important when in tuff situations ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[Gil Morong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Effective. I think the first person narative throughout grabbed me.

And who knew? 9000 lost souls. What a tragedy.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only read Salt to the Sea. A very good historical fiction.

[Evie Knodel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her story of the main characters came together on the ship Wilhelm Gustov. This vessel held 1500 people but took on over 10.000 in an effort to flee Germany at the end of WW2.
Worth your time.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't find the single edition of Between Shades of Gray.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read Salt of the Sea

[Parker Zwahlen]

The book, “A Salt to the Sea.” by Ruta Sepetys is a very good book in my opinion and here’s why. The first aspect of this book that the author did very well was Multiple point of views. For example, almost every couple of pages, one of the characters gets to show their point of view of what is going on. There are four main characters in this story and each one of them gets a chance to talk about their side of the story, making the book much more interesting. The second aspect of this book that the author did very well was the very good emotional storytelling. For example, this book goes extremely deep into the emotion showing that every character has a very sad part of the book. Because this theme is based in WW2, there is a lot of tragedy throughout the characters in this book. I believe that the author did a great job portraying the heavy emotions with the character in this story. The people who might enjoy this book would be fans of historical fiction, people who enjoy deep emotional impact in a story, and students or teachers who are discussing WW2. The only real bad aspects of this book are that some people may not like how the chapters are so short. For example, each chapter or section of the book will only contain a few pages and some people do not like how each chapter is so short paced as it makes it hard for the reader to really go in depth of what is actually going on. The only other poor aspect of this book is that the ending leaves a lot of plot holes. For example, the ending is very emotional but does not go fully in depth of the parts readers may want to see. In conclusion, the book, “ A Salt to the Sea” is a 5/5 book in my opinion as it was very enjoyable for me as someone who loves very emotional historical fiction books.

[Everleigh Hackenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book had to read for school and I enjoyed it!