The Sea of Tranquility on 06-04-13 Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
Goodreads
Audible
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.
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.
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.
I am among the very few who have never read The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay. There are many reviews posted about this book and the majority of my friends have read and loved it. When the audio became available for me to listen to I thought it would be a great opportunity to see what the “fuss” was about. And I am so incredibly glad that I did. And I am thankful that I listened to it on audio. Because the female narrator – Candace Thaxton, was incredible! She brought so much to the story. I was enthralled in her retelling of the events of Nastya Kashnikov’s life. The piano prodigy who had her whole life ahead of her. She had dreams of being a famous pianist, and travel the world performing. And she had the talent to get her there. Until one tragic event destroyed her dreams and ability to perform. Candace brought forth the anger, hurt and despair of Nastya so exquisitely, that I cried as I listened to her words.
Josh Bennett… wow, what a character! Flawlessly written, he is a caretaker in every way. Yet he is strong and thoughtful and witty. He too, is broken by the circumstances life has thrust upon him at such a young age. But this young man has the fortitude to push forward and continue despite or in spite of those circumstances. He is truly a magical character. I did not, however like the narrator’s rendition of Josh (or other male characters) on this audio. He spoke too slowly, and with a monotone voice – I had to increase the speed so that I didn’t get bored, and so that his speed would match that of Candace Thaxton. Secondly, he has an accent which didn’t lend itself to Josh or other characters and he seemed too old for them as well. Unfortunately had I not been so invested in the story I would not have connected with Josh. The one time I did find his narration to be good was when he was portraying anger and yelling. This was done well.
Because I loved this story – I will definitely be purchasing the book and reading it – and because of the female narrator – Candace Thaxton, this audio is a 5 Star for me!
Please enjoy a sample of The Sea of Tranquility
Periodically, I will highlight an audiobook. If you have these books in your Kindle library, Amazon has a COOL program where they will match the books in your Kindle library with discount audibles for those books. When you upgrade your Kindle books with audio, you will be able to switch seamlessly between reading and listening here’s HOW IT WORKS. When you click HERE, Amazon will find your audio upgrades for your Kindle books.
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