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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.
songwind's review against another edition
4.0
Story Set-Up
Ship Breaker takes place in the post-oil, ecologically ruined future of Bacigalupi adult SF novel, [b:The Windup Girl|6597651|The Windup Girl|Paolo Bacigalupi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1278940608s/6597651.jpg|6791425].
The story follows Nailer, a young teen ship breaker. He and his crew crawl the ducts of old oil-burning hulks recovering scrap wire and other light, valuable materials before the adults move in to take down the steel, aluminum and iron. Bright Sands Beach is a hard place to live, and even the richest ship breakers barely rise above the level of subsistence. To be rich on the beach means you don't have to worry where to get food or medicine.
When a modern clipper ship is beached by a storm where Nailer and his crewmate Pima are hunting for crabs, their luck seems to be turning. What they find on the wreck, and where it leads them, could change their lives forever.
Review
I was impressed with Ship Breaker. The characters were very well realized and possessed of a great deal of depth. From Nailer and his closest friends, to the villains of the piece, the only one-note characters were the ones that weren't on the page long enough to develop.
Nailer's troubles are recognizable to anyone, though more severe than most. He needs money, security, and love. He has trouble with family, with his boss, with his own conflicting teenage feelings. He's trapped in a life he didn't choose for himself, and the deck is stacked against his being able to leave it. The only chance he has of making a real change is a "lucky strike," some unforeseen fortune he can take advantage of. In the broken future of Bacigalupi's work, those opportunities aren't as easy to come by as a college scholarship or lucky job find. Nailer's world has to turn upside down, and any stroke of luck brings an equal measure of danger.
Nailer, Pima and the other teen protagonists don't get a free pass from the author. Nailer doesn't miraculously outperform experienced adults in feats of skill or strength. He doesn't possess unearned advantages or propensities that allow him to make his way out of Bright Sands Beach. What he has is a bit of speed and toughness he inherited from his abusive old man, a keen paranoid mind, and a will that won't quit.
Ship Breaker takes place in the post-oil, ecologically ruined future of Bacigalupi adult SF novel, [b:The Windup Girl|6597651|The Windup Girl|Paolo Bacigalupi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1278940608s/6597651.jpg|6791425].
The story follows Nailer, a young teen ship breaker. He and his crew crawl the ducts of old oil-burning hulks recovering scrap wire and other light, valuable materials before the adults move in to take down the steel, aluminum and iron. Bright Sands Beach is a hard place to live, and even the richest ship breakers barely rise above the level of subsistence. To be rich on the beach means you don't have to worry where to get food or medicine.
When a modern clipper ship is beached by a storm where Nailer and his crewmate Pima are hunting for crabs, their luck seems to be turning. What they find on the wreck, and where it leads them, could change their lives forever.
Review
I was impressed with Ship Breaker. The characters were very well realized and possessed of a great deal of depth. From Nailer and his closest friends, to the villains of the piece, the only one-note characters were the ones that weren't on the page long enough to develop.
Nailer's troubles are recognizable to anyone, though more severe than most. He needs money, security, and love. He has trouble with family, with his boss, with his own conflicting teenage feelings. He's trapped in a life he didn't choose for himself, and the deck is stacked against his being able to leave it. The only chance he has of making a real change is a "lucky strike," some unforeseen fortune he can take advantage of. In the broken future of Bacigalupi's work, those opportunities aren't as easy to come by as a college scholarship or lucky job find. Nailer's world has to turn upside down, and any stroke of luck brings an equal measure of danger.
Nailer, Pima and the other teen protagonists don't get a free pass from the author. Nailer doesn't miraculously outperform experienced adults in feats of skill or strength. He doesn't possess unearned advantages or propensities that allow him to make his way out of Bright Sands Beach. What he has is a bit of speed and toughness he inherited from his abusive old man, a keen paranoid mind, and a will that won't quit.
stephxsu's review against another edition
3.0
Bacigalupi's writing is vivid and tense, and I love the world that he has created here, full of gritty danger and dog-eats-dog, eye-for-an-eye, every man for himself competition. I never fully felt much empathy for the characters though; for me, it felt like, while the writing was superb and great for the genre, the characters were lacking in the heart and humanity that I crave from any book I read. They seemed like stonehearted actors playing out their roles instead of real people, real teenagers with typical adolescent worries in addition to their life-or-death ones.
In addition, this book was just not for me because of the extreme cruelty of the adults. It is horrifically fascinating to consider a world in which this occurs, where adults will betray their own children in the hopes of getting ahead economically, but my stomach was constantly unsettled by the adults' gruesome actions. SHIP BREAKER is not for the faint of heart, but is an otherwise very well conceptualized dystopian novel.
In addition, this book was just not for me because of the extreme cruelty of the adults. It is horrifically fascinating to consider a world in which this occurs, where adults will betray their own children in the hopes of getting ahead economically, but my stomach was constantly unsettled by the adults' gruesome actions. SHIP BREAKER is not for the faint of heart, but is an otherwise very well conceptualized dystopian novel.
coleycole's review against another edition
3.0
It was a'ight. I'm not seeing why it won the Printz award, etc.
Funny though: that WSJ article about how YA lit is "too dark" listed "Ship Breaker" as a book that they could recommend. This book is dark!!! The main character's dad is on meth and tries to kill him multiple times in a post-apocalyptic future. WTF, WSJ. One more reason that article was lame.
Funny though: that WSJ article about how YA lit is "too dark" listed "Ship Breaker" as a book that they could recommend. This book is dark!!! The main character's dad is on meth and tries to kill him multiple times in a post-apocalyptic future. WTF, WSJ. One more reason that article was lame.
motchmom's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
geekwayne's review against another edition
4.0
In a post-oil world, Nailer works light crew salvaging copper and other metals from derelict and abandoned oil tankers. He's good at what he does because he's small and he can fit in the ducts of the ships, but it's a hard life and a poor one. Everyone dreams of making that "lucky strike." Finding something that will make them rich enough to not worry about other scavengers. Nailer also has a violent abusive father, so that gives him even more desperation to get away.
One day, after a big storm, Nailer and his friend Pima discover something with the potential to change everything. This leads Nailer into danger and new adventures.
This book is set in the same universe as 'The Windup Girl' and 'The Drowned Cities.' The latter is for adults and is quite different in tone. I'm quite impressed with Paolo's writing, and his ability to scale his writing for adults and younger readers. The books are quite different in tone, and I enjoyed both of the ones I've read (and the few short stories I've read). I look forward to other books by this author.
'Ship Breaker' won or was nominated for quite a few book prizes when it came out, and rightfully so. Check it out.
One day, after a big storm, Nailer and his friend Pima discover something with the potential to change everything. This leads Nailer into danger and new adventures.
This book is set in the same universe as 'The Windup Girl' and 'The Drowned Cities.' The latter is for adults and is quite different in tone. I'm quite impressed with Paolo's writing, and his ability to scale his writing for adults and younger readers. The books are quite different in tone, and I enjoyed both of the ones I've read (and the few short stories I've read). I look forward to other books by this author.
'Ship Breaker' won or was nominated for quite a few book prizes when it came out, and rightfully so. Check it out.
sandygx260's review against another edition
2.0
Ship Breaker is one of those maddening books that falls firmly into the “yep, I read it, so what” realm. The fascinating concept deserves a five, but the heavy duel anchor of failed pacing and weak characters pulls to the novel down to a two. Yeah, sorry, had to inject a little nautical humor there.
The endless descriptions of violence are, well, endless. Granted, this is a dystopian society: bleak, hard, gritty, dirty, hopeless—all the usual buzz words— but did we really need mayhem every three pages? Perhaps I exaggerate and it only infected every four pages, but even so, the fighting, the wounding, the storms, the general danger became mind-numbing because it was not convincingly written.
One fifteen page long tedious description of our hero trying to escape drowning had me muttering, “look, kid, either drown or escape. You’re boring me here.”
The storyline held my interest enough to finish the book, but I never really cared about the characters. Our teenage hero Nailer never developed enough depth to carry the book. The rescued Nita is a spoiled brat. Bacigalupi’s attempt to transform her from a “swank” into “crew” falls flat. Nailer’s odious father Richard Lopez is a one-note baddie, a walkin’, talkin’ tattooed cartoon of cruelty and depravity.
Secondary characters like the mysterious half-man Tool, loyal Sadna, and her daughter Pima seemed far more intriguing than the MCs.
Guess I set my hopes too high here, thinking I’d read something amazing along the lines of China Miéville’s fabulous YA novel Railsea. In Railsea, the young male MC suffered through astonishing danger. I cared about him, damned, I cared, and I cried at the finish.
Here I shut the book and strolled off to wash the dishes. Not quite the same impact.
Well, at least Bacigalupi returns Tool to action in the follow-up novel Drowned Cities. I’ll read it for that alone.
The endless descriptions of violence are, well, endless. Granted, this is a dystopian society: bleak, hard, gritty, dirty, hopeless—all the usual buzz words— but did we really need mayhem every three pages? Perhaps I exaggerate and it only infected every four pages, but even so, the fighting, the wounding, the storms, the general danger became mind-numbing because it was not convincingly written.
One fifteen page long tedious description of our hero trying to escape drowning had me muttering, “look, kid, either drown or escape. You’re boring me here.”
The storyline held my interest enough to finish the book, but I never really cared about the characters. Our teenage hero Nailer never developed enough depth to carry the book. The rescued Nita is a spoiled brat. Bacigalupi’s attempt to transform her from a “swank” into “crew” falls flat. Nailer’s odious father Richard Lopez is a one-note baddie, a walkin’, talkin’ tattooed cartoon of cruelty and depravity.
Secondary characters like the mysterious half-man Tool, loyal Sadna, and her daughter Pima seemed far more intriguing than the MCs.
Guess I set my hopes too high here, thinking I’d read something amazing along the lines of China Miéville’s fabulous YA novel Railsea. In Railsea, the young male MC suffered through astonishing danger. I cared about him, damned, I cared, and I cried at the finish.
Here I shut the book and strolled off to wash the dishes. Not quite the same impact.
Well, at least Bacigalupi returns Tool to action in the follow-up novel Drowned Cities. I’ll read it for that alone.
jackiehorne's review against another edition
3.0
A well-written adventure story, but not different or unique enough to warrant winning the Printz...