Thursday, August 16, 2012

Cover Love Thursday & Review of Sea by Heidi R. Kling


I love the glittery button. It's so happy. CLT happens at Kismet Kayla. Basically it's where we share covers we love and why we love them.

This week's cover:
Sea

Summary from Good Reads:
Still haunted by nightmares of her mother's death, fifteen-year-old Sienna Jones reluctantly travels to Indonesia with her father's relief team to help tsunami orphans with their post traumatic stress disorder-something Sienna knows a lot about. Since her mother's plane went missing over the Indian Ocean three years before, Sienna doesn't do anything if it involves the ocean or planes, so this trip is a big step forward.
But the last thing she expects is to fall for Deni, a brooding Indonesian boy who lives at the orphanage, and just so happens to be HOT. When Deni hears a rumor that his father may be alive, Sienna doesn't think twice about running away with him to the epicenter of the disaster. Unfortunately, what they find there could break both their hearts.
A compelling summer romance, Sea marks the arrival of a stunning new voice in YA.

Why I choose Sea:
I loved this book and I felt that since the ocean is such a big symbol that is defines the love and loss that Sienna and Deni have between each other. I love how they are underwater and how (because it's set in Indonesia) there are the elaborate designs behind them. I love how passionate they look, as though they need only each other and not air. Because once they push to the surface, they must separate.

My Review:
Sienna's mother drowned in the ocean three years ago. That is why Sienna fears it, why she stopped surfing and going to the beach, why she stopped being best friends with Spider. She has awful nightmares about her mother's death and fears dying. Yet it's inevitable no matter what. The tsunamic proves that. Tragedies happen. People die. People live. Disaster only shows that we must leave a legacy behind, do something good for the world and the people who live before we go.

That is why Sienna goes to Indonesia with her dad, her uncle, and her dad's girlfriend Vera (who she doesn't like). Sienna enjoys her work at the orphanage, helping Vera and the young girls try to deal with their grief and losses. Sienna esp falls for Elli, a young girl who lost her whole family, but is still beautiful, still happy, still has hope. Elli was one of my favorite characters. I enjoyed learning more about Indonesia and their way of life compared to America. I enjoyed the vast majority of the novel, esp when it was set in the orphanage and that town.

Sienna falls for an Indonesian boy named Deni. He's troubled with the loss of his family and his freedom. They slowly start to rebel, riding on Deni's motor and going out together. When he hears of news that his father might still be in Aceh (epicenter of the tsunami), they go together to try to find him. But the person looking for him may not be his father...

At this point, I really want to ruin it for all, but I won't. Sea is a very beautiful and poetic book. It's full of longing, desperation, hope, love, loss, letting go, fear, bravery, love, distance, time, family...

I'll leave you with Sara Ockler, author of Twenty Boy Summer, her words, "Sea is a richly woven story as turbulent and beautful as the sea itself, plunging us headlong into the depths of loss, devastation, compassion, and hope. A touching and romantic debut about the redemptive power of altruism and the heart's capacity for love."