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georgie_mb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Love finishing a book on my birthday, something very satisfying about that!
Once again, Jess Kidd has broken my heart. She has a way of taking you on such a beautiful emotional story even though you know what the inevitable will be. You are still left hoping that things will turn out differently, and that just shows how she is such an empathetic writer.
I also loved how even though the two characters lives are sort of parallel, if there is repetition it doesn’t always link up, which I found really unusual and kept my interest.
These kids seemed older than their 9 years which I did find a bit strange hence the half a star but I did love them.
Once again, Jess Kidd has broken my heart. She has a way of taking you on such a beautiful emotional story even though you know what the inevitable will be. You are still left hoping that things will turn out differently, and that just shows how she is such an empathetic writer.
I also loved how even though the two characters lives are sort of parallel, if there is repetition it doesn’t always link up, which I found really unusual and kept my interest.
These kids seemed older than their 9 years which I did find a bit strange hence the half a star but I did love them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, and Child death
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse
Minor: Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, Violence, Classism, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail
lauramcc7's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Blood, Murder, Rape, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Gore, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, and Violence
themushroomforest's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Jess Kidd is undoubtedly a very good writer. She tells a tale with vigour and colour, and I applaud her for that.
However.
I am so glad that I've finished The Night Ship, not because I'm glad to have read it so much as I'm glad it's over.
I suppose I'm not the target audience for this historical novel, but I found it to be dismal, depressing and ultimately irredeemable.
I remember enjoying tragic stories purely for their tragedy as a teenager, and maybe if it had just been tragic I could have fallen back into that rhythm, but Gil's story in particular was just awful. I felt sad for him, but I didn't actually like him. Everything that happened to Gil was so sad, it needed a lift of some sort, a draw other than just sympathy for a broken kid in a dingy, dismal situation.
Mayken's story however, I did find enjoyable in a few ways.
There was a great sense of wonder and adventure at the start of the book, and I liked hearing about the way the ship was loaded and the types of people on board. Seeing it all through a child's eyes gave it a great sense of scope. Even still though, knowing from the start that she and everyone she was with was going to be dead soon took a lot of the magic out of reading Mayken's point of view.
I did enjoy the parallel scenes been Gil and Mayken, and the way the author brought their stories alongside each other. Mayken was a happy child who died tragically, and Gil was a miserable child who lived tragically.
I have a hard time with kid stories where all the adults are trash, and I really did have a hard time pinpointing redeemable people among the grown-ups in both eras. I don't know why I would read about such dreadful, sad people in a non educational way. There are times It is necessary and makes sense to read sad things about sad people, but I didn't find this to be worthwhile.
Having said that, there clearly was something that drew me along, as I did make it to the end. Kidd's writing is very bright and interesting, I would still be interested to read more of her work.
However.
I am so glad that I've finished The Night Ship, not because I'm glad to have read it so much as I'm glad it's over.
I suppose I'm not the target audience for this historical novel, but I found it to be dismal, depressing and ultimately irredeemable.
I remember enjoying tragic stories purely for their tragedy as a teenager, and maybe if it had just been tragic I could have fallen back into that rhythm, but Gil's story in particular was just awful. I felt sad for him, but I didn't actually like him. Everything that happened to Gil was so sad, it needed a lift of some sort, a draw other than just sympathy for a broken kid in a dingy, dismal situation.
Mayken's story however, I did find enjoyable in a few ways.
There was a great sense of wonder and adventure at the start of the book, and I liked hearing about the way the ship was loaded and the types of people on board. Seeing it all through a child's eyes gave it a great sense of scope. Even still though, knowing from the start that she and everyone she was with was going to be dead soon took a lot of the magic out of reading Mayken's point of view.
I did enjoy the parallel scenes been Gil and Mayken, and the way the author brought their stories alongside each other. Mayken was a happy child who died tragically, and Gil was a miserable child who lived tragically.
I have a hard time with kid stories where all the adults are trash, and I really did have a hard time pinpointing redeemable people among the grown-ups in both eras. I don't know why I would read about such dreadful, sad people in a non educational way. There are times It is necessary and makes sense to read sad things about sad people, but I didn't find this to be worthwhile.
Having said that, there clearly was something that drew me along, as I did make it to the end. Kidd's writing is very bright and interesting, I would still be interested to read more of her work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Death, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Grief, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Classism, Child death, Bullying, Blood, Homophobia, Cursing, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Genocide, Alcohol, Addiction, Gore, and Excrement
Disaster, Shipwreck, Starvation, Nowhere to run,
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