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marti4's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
chuskeyreads's review against another edition
4.0
To be honest, I only picked up this book because it won the Printz Award. The summary really doesn't do the book justice - it sounded a little boring. But when I began reading, I was sucked into Nailer's world of scavenging copper from old beached tankers. Most dystopian novels rely on their high tech schemes, but the setting for this novel far more interesting - pirates and beach shanties and clipper ships. The rusty, grimy living conditions added to the desperation of Nailer and his friends and heightened the action scenes.
There were are few places that were a little predictable and a few phrases that lost their luster from too much repetition (e.g. "blossoms of pain"), but overall the writing was well done. The descriptions of the people and the wrecked ship were quite visceral:
"The captain lay bloated, his face puffed and purpled, the sun baking and ruining his flesh.”
The part that struck me the most was the potential reality of the story - almost like a modern version of Lord of the Flies<\i> - kids willing to kill for survival.
On to the sequel . . .
There were are few places that were a little predictable and a few phrases that lost their luster from too much repetition (e.g. "blossoms of pain"), but overall the writing was well done. The descriptions of the people and the wrecked ship were quite visceral:
"The captain lay bloated, his face puffed and purpled, the sun baking and ruining his flesh.”
The part that struck me the most was the potential reality of the story - almost like a modern version of Lord of the Flies<\i> - kids willing to kill for survival.
On to the sequel . . .
abaugher's review against another edition
5.0
WOOO HOOO!!! Excellent! steam punk, action-packed! boy book, super for girls who like adventure. pass it on!
alex_watkins's review against another edition
4.0
Our small hero is a poor ship breaker, basically the salvage old ships, mostly oil tankers. In this world oil has ran out, global warming has upended world order and flooded coastlines, huge hurricanes are a regular occurrence the the north pole is opening to shipping. It has a young protagonist but the book is mature, with child abuse and poverty among the main themes. My main annoyance was it seemed to be a book about poverty and I kept thinking, this didn't need to be set in the future this kind of stuff is happening right now. even some of the worst things like organ harvesting. I enjoyed the world of global warming, where sail boats have made a comeback in a big way, and I understand using a science fiction world to make parallels to our own. However this isn't a science fiction world, it is our own some few hundred years in the future, I wouldn't want people to think this is what lies only in our future. But the plot is good the setting is well down and the action is exciting. One particular chapter ending cliffhanger had my mouth agape.
iceangel32's review against another edition
3.0
A good read of loyalty and choices. I enjoyed the book. it went a little slower than I would have liked. It had great characters and a good story line, but was a bit predictable. Just not a great as I thought it would be.
timna_wyckoff's review against another edition
2.0
Read for family book club, but ended up not making the rest of the family read it. I don't really get what all the fuss is about with this book. It's fine, but the writing isn't super and the world-building is WAY less interesting than in, e.g. "The Windup Girl" (I know this is YA, but it still seems like it could be more inventive). Eh.
badseedgirl's review against another edition
5.0
The Young Adult Genre suffers from the same problem as my other favorite genre “Zombie Fiction.” A reader has to wade through a lot of crap to find the gems of the genre. In YA fiction, a reader has to wade through tons of “Sparkly Vampires” to get to a novel like Pablo Bacigalupi’s Ship Breaker.
This was an absolutely amazing novel, and the reason is the world building. Reading Ship Breaker was to be completely immersed into a world where the entire most dire Climate Change predictions. The gulf coast of America has been drowned, and to make matters worse most of the fossil fuel has also been depleted. Bacigalupi’s rich writing style allowed the reader to experience the less than third world conditions the main character Nailer and his friends live in. Nailer and his clan survive by breaking down abandoned derelict oil tankers into recyclable materials.
In addition to beautiful and tragic world building, Ship Breaker has an amazing cast of characters, all of which are well developed and fully formed. It is amazing and refreshing to see truly powerful women characters in a novel. So often women in YA novels appear to be strong superciliously, but once a reader scrapes the surface, there is just not much there. Not so in this novel. Even “Lucky Girl” who was just a “Swank” showed strength when strength was required. In so many YA novels, she would have been a lilting violet who leaned on her big strong savior to help her survive in this alien environment.
I cannot recommend this novel strongly enough. I have already convinced three of my friends to read this novel. All I will say is try it and you will not be disappointed. I am giving this novel 5 stars something I have not done in a review in a very long time.
This was an absolutely amazing novel, and the reason is the world building. Reading Ship Breaker was to be completely immersed into a world where the entire most dire Climate Change predictions. The gulf coast of America has been drowned, and to make matters worse most of the fossil fuel has also been depleted. Bacigalupi’s rich writing style allowed the reader to experience the less than third world conditions the main character Nailer and his friends live in. Nailer and his clan survive by breaking down abandoned derelict oil tankers into recyclable materials.
In addition to beautiful and tragic world building, Ship Breaker has an amazing cast of characters, all of which are well developed and fully formed. It is amazing and refreshing to see truly powerful women characters in a novel. So often women in YA novels appear to be strong superciliously, but once a reader scrapes the surface, there is just not much there. Not so in this novel. Even “Lucky Girl” who was just a “Swank” showed strength when strength was required. In so many YA novels, she would have been a lilting violet who leaned on her big strong savior to help her survive in this alien environment.
I cannot recommend this novel strongly enough. I have already convinced three of my friends to read this novel. All I will say is try it and you will not be disappointed. I am giving this novel 5 stars something I have not done in a review in a very long time.
renuked's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really interesting read, and a really different spin on the entire post-apocalyptic/dystopian genre. Instead of a despotic government and rebellion, we just have total chaos and poverty. Nailer, our main protagonist, scrapes through life crewing for a team of people who scavenge valuable materials off broken ships and ancient oil tankers. It's dangerous, dirty, backbreaking work that requires total loyalty. When a storm blows an expensive ship onto the shore along with a mysterious and beautiful girl, Nailer begins to face the dilemma of upholding his morals or escaping his hellish life.
I really did enjoy this book, but I think that there were some aspects of it that others would like more. There was a lot of description of the ships, and a lot industrial details. Not to say that this is a book for boys, but the shipping and trade wars did dominate a lot of the book. The story behind the fall of humanity was explained only briefly, and some of the plot points were vague. For instance, the different countries and what kind of situation they've fallen into, as well as the genetically engineered men weren't really focused on that much (Tool was awesome, but there wasn't much explanation.) I wasn't really sure what condition the rest of the world was in other than Nailer's little world.
However, the characters were very detailed, and the story was interesting and exciting. Nailer's journey from frightened to courageous was real and believable. He was a wonderfully flawed character, and was easy to root for. Nailer's twisted father, and the other power hungry drug addicts were chilling. Tool was also alarming but awesome and very perplexing. The romance was okay, but at least it was slow, and grew over time. The adventure was new and different, and the story was very unique from others.
I really did enjoy this book, but I think that there were some aspects of it that others would like more. There was a lot of description of the ships, and a lot industrial details. Not to say that this is a book for boys, but the shipping and trade wars did dominate a lot of the book. The story behind the fall of humanity was explained only briefly, and some of the plot points were vague. For instance, the different countries and what kind of situation they've fallen into, as well as the genetically engineered men weren't really focused on that much (Tool was awesome, but there wasn't much explanation.) I wasn't really sure what condition the rest of the world was in other than Nailer's little world.
However, the characters were very detailed, and the story was interesting and exciting. Nailer's journey from frightened to courageous was real and believable. He was a wonderfully flawed character, and was easy to root for. Nailer's twisted father, and the other power hungry drug addicts were chilling. Tool was also alarming but awesome and very perplexing. The romance was okay, but at least it was slow, and grew over time. The adventure was new and different, and the story was very unique from others.
roseleaf24's review against another edition
3.0
Medal Winner 2011
I don't know if this was a not-my-thing issue, or if I just didn't have the time to put into it at the beginning when it needed more focused attention, or if I'm just missing something. The plot felt almost episodic in places, had mysteries that were revealed erratically, and wrapped up really quickly without giving me an idea of where it was going. The setting, though, was really well done -- for me a bit overdone since it seemed to push out plot for the first third of the book. The characters are spectacular. I particularly appreciated Nita, a "swank" with cringes most of us middle-class, first-world people can understand, enough snobbery that Nailer's annoyance was understandable, but a wonderful desire to do her part and be a part of her own rescue, no matter what that required.
I don't know if this was a not-my-thing issue, or if I just didn't have the time to put into it at the beginning when it needed more focused attention, or if I'm just missing something. The plot felt almost episodic in places, had mysteries that were revealed erratically, and wrapped up really quickly without giving me an idea of where it was going. The setting, though, was really well done -- for me a bit overdone since it seemed to push out plot for the first third of the book. The characters are spectacular. I particularly appreciated Nita, a "swank" with cringes most of us middle-class, first-world people can understand, enough snobbery that Nailer's annoyance was understandable, but a wonderful desire to do her part and be a part of her own rescue, no matter what that required.