I received a free copy of this book thanks to Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review, this has in no way impacted on my reivew. 
 so i've taken some time to think about this and i'm going to lower my initial rating down to four stars, i feel like the shock factor changed my perception slightly and yeah. sorry about that but i still loved this book a lot. 
 Basically: This book follows four separate perspectives for an interwoven narrative following the retreat of German troops at the end of the second world war. 
 In Depth: I've wanted to read a Ruta Sepetys book for sometime now, I keep hearing the most amazing things about her books. So when this novel came up on netgalley I requested it never thinking I would be approved, but I was. This was honestly such an exciting moment for me and it made me smile. A lot. So I read it, quite quickly for me and I kind of enjoyed it, I can definitely see the appeal for readers but I'm not sure I fully connected to the characters. 
 The Story: The book begins with four separate POVs that begin to connect up as the story unfolds, the first three characters meet relatively quickly and there development happens rapidly. The fourth character is the last to meet the others and potentially a huge part of the reason I didn't connect with this book the way I hoped I would. 
 The first three characters are travelling towards the ships that will take them from where they are in Poland to Germany, where they hope they will be safe from the advancing Russian forces. As they are introduced they interact with a larger group and the perils of their journey are widely explored. This was easily the most engaging part of the story for me, favourite isn't the right word here, the sights seen are distressing and accurate (in my knowledge) portrayals of the horror's committed during this period. There's something harrowing and gripping about this book and the past that it shows. There's no doubting this. 
 The fourth and final POV is a German solider aboard the boats that are evacuating the 'desirables' back to Germany. 
 The Characters: This was the area of the book I felt was weakest, there were (for me at least) too many characters and not enough time to get to know them. The format that the characters were introduced, each with some kind of mystery felt a little complicated. Whilst I appreciated the way this was done, to help drive the story forward for me it didn't add anything and actually cost the story slightly. 
 The drive for the characters was hidden and only revealed later, which normally works well but with this for four different characters over a relatively short book I didn't feel that it worked as well as in some other books that I've read. This also made them hard (for me) to connect with, I wasn't sure who they were so I didn't feel as emotional a pull as I might have otherwise felt. 
 Also I felt that for me a major downside of this novel was Werner, his character felt like a cardboard cut out. He didn't feel like a true character. I think he was meant to be mentally ill, but the thing was he was never explored enough to make an informed decision over, his POV chapters were always short and often didn't make full sense. I felt like his character could have been left out entirely, or just better handled. 
 My Thoughts: I would recommend this book (in fact I already have to a family member who I thought would enjoy a fiction version of a factual event) and I think the most emotional part of this story for me was that death in the ice, i cried lbr and the fact that it was based on true events. That that many people really did die. Will I be reading more of Ruta Sepetys, I think I will. They're on my library wish list (and at some point I will read them) but they're not at the top of my MUST-CHECK-OUT-NOW pile. This is a good book that for me just falls short of being an excellent book.