Review: Sea by Heidi R. Kling

Sea by Heidi R. Kling

Publication date: June 10th, 2010

Published by: Putnam Juvenile

Hardcover, 336 Pages

Source: Won copy from Author

Summary from goodreads:

"Haunted by recurring nightmares since her mother’s disappearance over the Indian ocean three years before, fifteen-year old California girl Sienna Jones reluctantly travels with her psychiatrist father’s volunteer team to six-months post-tsunami Indonesia where she meets the scarred and soulful orphaned boy, Deni, who is more like Sea than anyone she has ever met.

She knows they can’t be together, so why can’t she stay away from him? And what about her old best friend-turned-suddenly-hot Spider who may or may not be waiting for her back home? And why won’t her dad tell her the truth about her mother’s plane crash? The farther she gets from home, the closer she comes to finding answers.

And Sea’s real adventure begins."

My Review: ****.5 = 4 1/2 Stars
(very minor spoilers below)

When a book can make me cry, then I can't help but to consider it somewhat of a masterpiece. I can probably count on one hand the number of books that brought real, honest to god, tears to my eyes. This is one of them.

The descriptions used in this books were so realistic and heartbreaking at times. I could visualize the devastation that Kling weaved throughout her debut novel. The emotions from each of the characters were also written so well that I felt, happy, sad, confused, concerned and in love as the characters felt these things.

I imagine I would be somewhat the same as Sienna if I lost my mother. I would probably give up on everything I once loved, and I would feel lost. While a large portion of this story is devoted to the love between Sienna & Deni, the overall story, I feel, is about Sienna's growth. How she goes from, in the beginning, a motherless child, to at the end, a young woman who has seen partial horrors that others can't even imagine, and who learns to cope with what she has lost. The progress she makes is astounding. By learning to care for others, she learns to care for herself better.

While the story, characters and everything about this book are quite beautiful, I can't help but feel a little disappointed by the ending. To me, it seems the ending could have been drawn out a bit, it feels like it was just cut short.

PLEASE don't think that because I felt let down by the ending, that this book is anything but wonderful. I enjoyed the whole thing, I just wish the ending didn't feel so abrupt. (The ending is the only reason why I didn't give it 5 stars!)

Overall, this is one of the best debuts I have read all year. Even without magic, this book is extremely magical. I recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Want to know what others thought of this book? Check out these reviews:

Kelsey @ The Book Scout - 5 out of 5 Stars

Erica @ The Book Cellar - 5 out of 5 Stars

Steph @ Steph Su Reads- 4 out of 5 Stars

Have you read this yet? What are your thoughts? If not, is this something you will read eventually?

P.S - How do you all feel about the other reviews linked in? I've seen it on other blogs and I really like that I can view other people thoughts so easily without having to search. Yay or nay? I'm just testing it out!! :)


Sherry<3