Review: The Sea of Tranquility - Katja Millay

 

On the Phantom Paragrapher , I like to pride myself on unearthing the treasures of those things called books written by the strange but now very popular species called Indie Authors.

As a book reviewer and a voracious reader, you start to make friends with a lot of the Indie authors and it starts to feel like a community.

Today's book is one that a few friends of mine had read and one of them the other day KerriW. told me that if I didn't read it, she would cry and I couldn't have that happening so here today on The Phantom Paragrapher is the heartfelt book "The Sea of Tranquility".

Review: The Sea of Tranquility - Katja Millay- September 2012

Have you ever had a book that your friends are all discussing it and then you feel left out so you want to read it and discover its awesomeness ? That's what I was like with "The Sea of Tranquility" as a group of friends on the FB Group I belong to Bookaholics Anonymous were discussing it and I thought hmmm -I want to read it and I was nicely gifted it in one of the PIF competitions we have.  I have had it sitting on my Ipad waiting to be read, until a friend said "Paula, you have to read it or else I will cry" , so I stopped what I was doing and read it and as I normally do with the amazing Indie books I am recommended or I recommend to others , I loved it.

The Sea of Tranquility, we meet a teenage girl who we learn was in a tragedy which resulted in her almost murder and death. The accident though, caused her whole life to evaporate as everything she had ever loved , she could no longer do. The boy who did this to her, took it all away. Now a few years later , Nastya has moved in with her aunt Margot and is about to enrol in the local high school. She has not spoken a word since the accident , and prefers to be left alone. We are about to discover though, that wishes are just that and sometimes they don't always come true as there are better things stored around the corner. In her first week of school , she meets four very different guys and two will impact her life and help her grow. The first is Ethan - he is a jerk at school who is trying to seduce Nastya with his sexual innuedos , Clay - a gay artist who draws her picture , Drew - Mr. Popular who is trying to get with her but also has a secret and the most important character Josh Bennett - whom we discover Nastya having a connection with. 
Over the course of the novel told in Josh's and Nastya's POV's we discover bits and pieces about their lives and their true feelings. We learn that everyone has a secret to hide, some more complicated than others and that everyone deals with grief differently. Nastya with her silence and extreme running and Josh with his furniture making.

A favourite part of mine was the fact that Nastya has an obsession with the meaning of names ,as a wordsmith I loved this and thought it was pretty awesome - as my name kind of represents me as Paula is the feminine word for Paul meaning small and at 5ft 3 , Ive been considered short.  My other favourite part is a part which Im not sure many others really read or take notice of , but it is the Thank You at the end of the book as in my life it really rings true was the first sentence that Katja used "Life is short and TBR lists are long".

This is the type of story that includes mystery, suspense, thrill , emotionally driven, romance and lust. It contains a bit of everything for everyone.