Background

Endless is a visual album released by Frank Ocean on September 19, 2016, just one day before the surprise release of his critically acclaimed album Blonde. Endless was originally released as a 40 or so minute long music video on apple music, showing Frank building a staircase, which, at the end of the video, he walks up and stands atop of. This album is often overshadowed by Blonde due to it never getting a traditional streaming release, not to mention Blonde’s immense popularity, which also had a role in downplaying Endless’s similarly beautiful sound. Endless is most well known for its story outside of the album. It was released as a way for Frank to get out of his record deal with DefJam, releasing it as a visual album so that it doesn't get as many listeners, then releasing Blonde the next day independently. It's estimated that Frank made around $1.7 million within the first week of blonde’s release.

Pros

Even in an album that was just meant to scam his record label, Frank Ocean is able to deliver some of his best song-writing to date. Songs like “Wither,” “Rushes,” “Higgs,” and “Mitsubishi Sony," all show how creative Frank can be when it comes to putting together a story within a song. This album is also a great display of Frank's vocal ability, with “At Your Best (You Are Love)” and “Rushes" being great examples of that.

Cons

About half of the tracks on this album are either interludes, or <2 mins long and forgettable. While this album’s highs are very high, the rest is just okay. 

Favorite Tracks:

1. Rushes

2. U-N-I-T-Y

3. Mitsubishi Sony 

4. At Your Best (You Are Love)

5. Wither

Overall

Overall, I would say this album has some excellent moments, and some okay moments, but in the end, it's a truly iconic moment for the music industry, as this stunt brought so much attention to the mistreatment of artists by their record labels, and influenced so many other artists to release music independently beside him, striking fear into the heart of the music industry. 8/10

Four different perspectives on a war that shaped history as we know it. However, the difference between this novel is that it doesn’t shy away from the horrors in war, while also acknowledging the incomprehensible yet small beauties that still fight to make a show during trying times. 

This is probably my favorite historical fiction novel, focusing on World War II, but not with the perspective of the Jews. This book highlights what the Polish people had to go through, as well as the deadly sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff. No one I know has ever told me about the Wilhelm Gustloff, but it was six times more deadly than the Titanic. Salt to the Sea not only talks about the sinking, but also puts the characters in the ship to really get into how horrific the whole thing was. 

I know I haven’t said this about my other reviews, but I’m going to warn readers before we get further into this. Salt to the Sea isn’t for people who don’t feel comfortable with the following: rape, drowning, child death, graphic injury/death, major character death, and vivid depictions of warfare. I will not recommend this book if you don’t like these elements, and there is no judgment! I can’t handle some books either, and war stories can be hard to read for some people. Just because I enjoyed the book doesn’t mean you have to. 

Anyway, back to the book! I said before that four people were telling the story. They are Emilia, a Polish girl, Florian, a Prussian, Joana, a Lithuanian nurse, and Alfred, a Nazi. Emilia is a teenager when this all happens, so she has a child-like fantasy way of telling the story in order to keep herself sane throughout the book. Joana is a nurse, but she’s optimistic and despite seeing the horrors of war, continues to help people like a nurse does. Florian, a copier and fighter, is quite grumpy but is exceptionally resourceful with a pen. Alfred, a man full of prejudice, is shown to be a coward throughout the book but wants to prove himself a hero for his “lover.” By the way, Alfred never redeems himself, he’s a villain through and through.

My favorite character is Emilia, simply because she’s the character you want to get a happy ending. You root for this girl because it’s so clear that she cares but comes off as odd. Her stories are haunting and what happened to her was disgusting, so you seriously want her to get what she wants in the end: August and her mother. And she does. Not in the way you’d expect though; if you can’t tell, she dies shortly after the ship sunk due to the freezing cold. 

I adored this story because the characters were compelling, even the ones that aren’t in the spotlight. In fact, I loved this book so much that some of my own stories and characters are based off of some of the elements in Salt to the Sea. The things that happen aren’t out of nowhere and it makes sense for the time period the story is in. It’s an amazing book that deserves more recognition. 

Plot

I got this book from my mother, and I refused to read it for a while as I liked its sister book, Between Shades of Gray much more. However, that was a mistake, as Salt to the Sea was just as good as Between Shades of Gray, if not better. 

The story follows four people (a lot, but it balances out nicely). Joana is traveling with a group, trying to get out of the country. Florian is on his own, but finds Emilia, who tags along with him, seeing him as a Polish knight from an old story. Alfred is helping prepare the Wilhelm Gustloff, most of his perspective being told through letters to his love, Hannelore. 

Florian and Emilia find Joana’s group, and Florian begrudgingly follows them. They continue to stay in this group pretty much until the end of the book, facing horror after horror. A blind girl, Ingrid, crosses a frozen river to help everyone out but planes shoot her down. They end up in a town where refugees are starving and begging for help. Early in the book, Joana figures out that Emilia is pregnant and is by her side to keep her safe. Florian is on the run from officers because he stole an important piece of art. There is a LOT going on, but within the story, it makes sense. Let me try to break it down!

Florian - He was used to try and replicate famous pieces of art for Hitler. Once he realized his ability to copy was being used, he decided to take revenge by stealing a very important piece of artwork. He is on the run to avoid capture and he uses his copying ability to get him and other people out of serious trouble!

Joana - She studied religiously to become a nurse, neglecting her relationships in the past. However, when her sister Lina was deported, she blamed herself because she sent a letter to her. She builds relationships with the group she’s traveling with, but she’s haunted by the loss of her cousin. 

Emilia - A Polish girl who was raped by Russian soldiers and is pregnant. She lives in a fantasy world to try and ignore the present situation, but readers see how horrific her life has become during the war. She follows Florian, seeing him as a knight. Her devotion is to him and Joana only.

Alfred - A Nazi who is hunting for glory. He has fallen in love with a Jewish girl but sees her as inferior and objectifies her, even getting confused when she refuses to deny her ethnicity. He is shown to be scorned by his fellow sailors, and is generally a coward. 

All of these perspectives lead to the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, where Emilia has her baby, Halinka, and everything goes downhill fast. Florian and Joana are lucky to escape, but Emilia and Alfred get trapped on a kind of lifeboat. Both of them die (Alfred more gruesomely than Emilia), while Joana and Florian live on with two children, Klaus and Emilia’s baby, Halinka. The ending is Florian receiving a letter from his home in the United States, saying that Emilia was finally at rest and that her grave would be protected. 

My Rating and Commentary

This book was a 5/5 for me. I’ve reread this book a lot, and I adore how it was written. Each character had their own voice, own story, and all elements were mixed together. War, a touch of romance, and quiet moments that felt right within the really loud story. As per usual, let us go over the vocabulary, worldbuilding, plot, and characters. 

Vocabulary made complete sense for the book. The way it was written was different for each character (letters for Alfred, stories for Emilia, art for Florian, and optimistic but medical for Joana). Each had a distinct voice and the writing for them made sense once you learn about them. The short, choppy sentences are in times of fear and the longer ones are when someone’s emotional. The writing style didn’t stick out to me as much as Once Upon A Broken Heart, but the aphorisms are really good. 

Worldbuilding is simply knowing the history behind it, and I believe the author did a good job there. It does not focus on the genocide on the Jews, but turns to the others affected by World War II. As someone who doesn’t know much aside from the genocides committed, it brought a new light and showed me how truly awful that war was. The author also included references for her research, so people can check the accuracy of the events if they so wish. 

The plot made sense as well. Everything leading up to the sinking was alluding to this saving grace actually being a death sentence. The hinting throughout the book and the losses along the way paint a ugly picture of what war does to the individual. The plot is not geared towards the characters and no one is safe, leading for things to be fascinating but also realistic for the time period. 

Finally, the characters. Oh. My. I loved these characters probably more than my childhood favorite characters, and that is saying a ton. Emilia, my favorite character, has faced so many challenges throughout the book, but she remains the group’s bravest and kindest character. She’s a devoted girl to her “knight” and trusts not easily, but once she does, it won’t be broken. She hands off her child and protects Halinka and Klaus from the sinking, sacrificing her life in the meantime. Alfred, a horrible character, is super well-written. You can see his narcissism and superiority among other characters without anyone explicitly saying it. Joana, not my favorite character, has such a compelling story! She feels so guilty for sending a letter which she thinks condemned her family. She throws herself into her friendships to build something with her traveling group to really be there for people. Florian, my second favorite out of the four, is also really interesting to read about. His love for art but distrust of people are so, so fascinating! He can pick things out the others can’t, and has saved the group through copying handwriting to pass as identification. All of them, though not all morally good, have their own motives and own story outside of the others! It’s really cool to see their dynamics and how they shift throughout the story. 

I would seriously recommend this book to history lovers and anyone who loves studying character… anything! It was such a good read for me, and made me stare at the invisible camera after I was done reading it. Any book that does that is worth a read, at least to me!