This review is somewhat, wow I sound so educated and mostly excuse me as I try to come out from under my FEELS and Kleenex. 
 I knew from the start that this book would be heart-breaking, but man, MY HEART WAS NOT READY. AT ALL. SO MANY EMOTIONS OH MY GOSH. These characters are beautiful, and as the story progresses, you just become more and more attached to them. And in between this amazing-ness (yes, I just made this word up) its HEARTBREAK HEARTBREAK HEARTBREAK. JUST EMILIA AND JOANA AND FLORIAN AND KLAUS AND POET AND INGRID AHH!!!!! I LOVE THEM ALL! 
 I really enjoyed the connection of this book to Between Shades of Gray. I definitely recommend reading Between Shades of Gray before Salt to the Sea. It's not necessary, but it's interesting to see how the characters in these two novels connect. I ALSO RECOMMEND READING BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY BECAUSE THAT IS ALSO A BEAUTIFUL, EMOTIONAL ROLLER-COASTER OF A NOVEL AS WELL. 
 Bottom line: Once again, Ruta Sepetys writes another beautiful novel about an event in history I've never learned about in school. WHY HAVEN'T I LEARNED ABOUT THIS BEFORE?? I'm so glad that there are authors like Ruta Sepetys who bring these hidden events to the present and reminds us not to repeat or forget the tragedies of the past. The author note's at the end of the novel truly captures this sentiment. The amount of research and time Sepetys put into this book is also astounding and just adds to the perfection of this novel. Salt to the Sea has easily just become one of my favorite books of 2016, as well as Ruta Sepetys becoming one of my favorite authors EVER.