The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

The Sea of Tranquility

Title: The Sea of Tranquility

Author: Katja Millay

Publisher: Antisocialite Press (September 2012)

Pages: 328 pg

Read in Ebook

***

I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.

Full of rage and without a purpose, former pianist Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone discovering her past and to make the boy who took everything from her pay.

All 17 year-old Josh Bennett wants is to build furniture and be left alone, and everyone allows it because it’s easier to pretend he doesn’t exist. When your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space.

Everyone except Nastya, a hot mess of a girl who starts showing up and won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. The more he gets to know her, the more of a mystery she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he may ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding or if he even wants to.

The Sea of Tranquility is a slow-building, character-driven romance about a lonely boy, an emotionally fragile girl, and the miracle of second chances.

***

"I hate my left hand. I hate to look at it. I hate it when it stutters and trembles and reminds me that my identity is gone. But I look at it anyway; because it also reminds me that I’m going to find the boy who took everything from me. I’m going to kill the boy who killed me, and when I kill him, I’m going to do it with my left hand."

Nastya dan Josh sama-sama memiliki masa lalu yang kelam, traumatis dan tidak menyenangkan. Nastya pernah mengalami percobaan pembunuhan, dimana akibat peristiwa itu ia sempat mati suri, dan peristiwa itu pulalah yang membuat ia sekarang tidak bicara. Ibu dan saudara perempuan Josh meninggal saat usia Josh masih 8 tahun, lalu sejak itu Ayahnya larut dalam kesedihan sebelum lama-lama 'menghilang' dan akhirnya ikut menyusul istri dan anak perempuannya. Mereka punya cara masing-masing untuk menghadapi kesedihan dan trauma mereka tersebut; Nastya dengan kebiasaannya berlari di waktu malam, sedangkan Josh menyibukkan diri dengan membuat berbagai perabot rumah dan keterampilan dari kayu.

Suatu hari, waktu lagi lari, tiba-tiba Nastya justru end up di garasi Josh. Dari situlah awal komunikasi dan hubungan aneh di antara mereka terbentuk. Awalnya hanya berupa companionship dimana Nastya sering datang hanya untuk duduk diam dan ngeliatin Josh kerja, lama-kelamaan jadi sebuah friendship. Nastya merasa nyaman sama Josh, dan cuma sama cowok itulah dia mau ngomong. Not-so-long-after, they're starting to feel drawn into each other.

“People like to say love is unconditional, but it's not, and even if it was unconditional, it's still never free. They always want something in return. Like they want you to be happy or whatever and that makes you automatically responsible for their business because they won't be happy unless you are. You're supposed to be who they think you're supposed to be and feel how they think you're supposed to feel because they love you and when you can't give them what they want, they feel shitty, so you feel shitty, and everybody feels shitty. I just don't want that responsibility.”

Saya nggak tahu harus bilang apa selain bahwa saya suka, BANGET sama buku ini. Indikasi suka bangetnya sampai ke nangis-nangis pas baca dan masih kepikiran aja sama ceritanya meskipun udah selesai dua hari uhuhu. Josh Bennett is definitely my new book-boyfriend! Huhuehehehehehehe. And I'm soooo in love with Katja Millay's writing style. Dia pinter ngehadirin karakter yang (hampir semuanya) loveable dan juga pinter mainin emosi pembaca. Kaget juga pas tahu kalau novel ini adalah novel pertamanya. Jujur aja, di awal saya emang sempat bosan, apalagi setelah masuk 5 chapters awal belum ada kejadian berarti. Sesuai dengan kata-kata di sinopsisnya, The Sea of Tranquility emang slow-building banget. Tapi begitu kita udah sampai di bagian intense dan menuju klimaks, wuih!

Selama ini memang banyak kan ya orang-orang yang pernah mengalami kejadian buruk kayak Nastya dan mereka lebih sering nyimpen dan nanggung beban serta masalah berat mereka sendirian, nggak mau jujur dan menolak untuk minta/diberi bantuan. Biasanya yang tipe-tipe seperti ini hobinya menyalahkan diri sendiri, atau malah menyalahkan takdir. Padahal itu justru potensi bahaya lho, nggak hanya buat dia, tapi buat orang-orang di sekelilingnya juga. Tapi untungnya, Sea of Tranquility nggak difokuskan ke hal-hal yang nggak menyenangkan itu, melainkan how the characters dealing with those things and trying to keep their lives on.

Hubungan antara Nastya dan Josh juga sangat menyenangkan buat diikutin (meskipun harus sabar-sabar bacanya...) Mereka kayak nemuin 'home' di diri satu sama lain, meskipun menolak untuk mendeskripsikan hubungan mereka dengan jelas (read: nggak mau ngaku kalo lagi jatuh cintrong!). Percakapan-percakapannya moving, seru dan nggak cheesy, saya jadi senyum-senyum sendiri pas bacanya, apalagi mereka juga termasuk sering flirting satu sama lain hihihi. Ditambah Josh yang selalu nyebut Nastya dengan nama panggilan 'Sunshine'. :') Dan The Sea of Tranquility ini punya tokoh pendukung yang juara banget: Drew! Ya ampun Drew ini favorit banget deh, tipe bad-boy yang sebenernya asyik buat dijadiin sahabat gitu, meskipun lebih seringnya minta ditampol :p

Fave part!

Ulangtahun ke-18 Nastya, dimana Josh ngebawa dia buat ngelempar koin-koin (uang logam) ke sebuah fountain/air mancur. Soalnya kan ada juga kepercayaan kalo kita bikin wish sambil lempar koin ke fountain nanti wish-nya bisa terkabul yah. Tapi bukan itu yang bikin favoritnya, melainkan percakapan ini.

“I wished my mother was here tonight, which is stupid, because it’s an impossible wish.” He shrugs and turns to me, drowning the smile that cracks me every time.
“It’s not stupid to want to see her again.”
“It wasn’t so much that I wanted to see her again,” He says, looking at me with the depth of more than seventeen years in his eyes. “I wanted her to see you."

Bikin meleleh nggak, siiiiih? :''')

Dan masih banyak lagi kata-kata Josh lainnya yang sukses bikin saya klepek-klepek dan berasa kayak jelly sendiri, uhuhu. Pokoknya Josh juara deh. Nggak berlebihan tapi juga nggak lempeng. Sayangnya TSoT ini emang pace-nya lambat jadi bikin saya rada gemes, dan penyelesaian antara Nastya dengan si orang yang dulu pernah mencoba untuk bunuh dia itu kurang memuaskan. Tapi tetep aja, jadi favorit saya banget nih. I will definitely read another stories from the author! (PS: Cerita Drew-Tierney juga oke banget deh kalo dibikin jadi spin-off buku ini, hehehe) Semoga ada kemungkinan bukunya diterjemahkan ke Bahasa Indonesia juga ya :D

"So what did you see when you died?"
"... Your garage."  

"And if my Sea of Tranquility were real, it would be here. With him."

- Tirta.
Anyway, I just noticed that the blog has reached its first thousand page views. YAY! Thank you everyone x) #littlethingsthatmakesmehappy