i’ve done it. i’ve officially read all of ruta sepetys’s books. (not that there was a lot to read - only four, but still!) i kept saying that she was my favorite author without reading all of her books. and now i can say that i loved every single one of her books. (no one asked for it - but here’s a very haphazardly made up ranking of her books, in my opinion, from best to worse: between shades of gray, out of the easy, the fountains of silence, salt to the sea.)
the fountains of silence has a completely different feel as compared to her books. i don’t know if it was that it was set in a time period pretty different as opposed to her other books (out of the easy was… pretty close? it was set in the 1950’s. this was set in the late 1950’s to the 1970’s.) the writing style seemed to change a bit too, it… matured?
the only flaw i can think of is that the characters were a bit more bland as compared to her past characters she has written. there wasn’t as many of full backstories. surely, there definitely was backstories. just not as developed. in my opinion, puri had the most developed backstory, therefore, making her my favorite character in the book. daniel had one of the least developed backstories and it might just be coincidental, but, he was my least favorite.
this book felt like a history lesson. i don’t know if it’s just because i go to american public school and the entire country’s school system is most definitely flawed, but, i had no idea this ever happened in spain. i was confused at times due to my lack of knowledge. (and my lack of reading the synopsis before diving into this book.) finishing this book feels like a high of some sort, everything finally made sense at the ending and the ending was extremely satisfying. THE TIME JUMP WAS EXECUTED PERFECTLY. I RARELY…. VERY RARELY, ENJOY ANY TIME JUMPS IN ANY SORT OF STORY. they usually suck and skip over everything you’d think would’ve happened during all that time. this time jump was perfected and described everything in full detail.
the setting of this story made you feel engulfed in it. i truly felt as though i was there with the characters, in the very messed up times of spain’s dictatorship.
and the romance?? oh my god. i have no words on how to describe it without basically spoiling the entirety of it. what would the trope be? i have no idea. but truly, i believe that ana and daniel were soulmates.
ruta sepetys never defeats my high expectations i set for her. i’m excited for whatever she publishes in the future. i know i will love any of it.
the fountains of silence has a completely different feel as compared to her books. i don’t know if it was that it was set in a time period pretty different as opposed to her other books (out of the easy was… pretty close? it was set in the 1950’s. this was set in the late 1950’s to the 1970’s.) the writing style seemed to change a bit too, it… matured?
the only flaw i can think of is that the characters were a bit more bland as compared to her past characters she has written. there wasn’t as many of full backstories. surely, there definitely was backstories. just not as developed. in my opinion, puri had the most developed backstory, therefore, making her my favorite character in the book. daniel had one of the least developed backstories and it might just be coincidental, but, he was my least favorite.
this book felt like a history lesson. i don’t know if it’s just because i go to american public school and the entire country’s school system is most definitely flawed, but, i had no idea this ever happened in spain. i was confused at times due to my lack of knowledge. (and my lack of reading the synopsis before diving into this book.) finishing this book feels like a high of some sort, everything finally made sense at the ending and the ending was extremely satisfying. THE TIME JUMP WAS EXECUTED PERFECTLY. I RARELY…. VERY RARELY, ENJOY ANY TIME JUMPS IN ANY SORT OF STORY. they usually suck and skip over everything you’d think would’ve happened during all that time. this time jump was perfected and described everything in full detail.
the setting of this story made you feel engulfed in it. i truly felt as though i was there with the characters, in the very messed up times of spain’s dictatorship.
and the romance?? oh my god. i have no words on how to describe it without basically spoiling the entirety of it. what would the trope be? i have no idea. but truly, i believe that ana and daniel were soulmates.
ruta sepetys never defeats my high expectations i set for her. i’m excited for whatever she publishes in the future. i know i will love any of it.