Ship Breaker is a book that sat on my to-read list forever and I decided that I had to give this book a shot when I saw it at my library. Ship Breaker is a slow-paced, realistic dystopian novel that focuses more on character development and world-building than action, which is both simultaneously refreshing and problematic. Bacigulpi's novel was an interesting change of pace and it is unlike any other dystopian book on the market--a feat that few authors have accomplished.
Ship Breaker takes place in a world that was ravaged by natural disasters and subsequent oil shortages. Nailer lives in a world where if you don't have a Crew, you're almost guaranteed that you're going to die of starvation; his Crew scavenges wrecked ships for parts and other valuables. Nailer's world changes forever when he finds "Lucky Girl", a member of the elite who could potentially fetch a large sum but Nailer is unsure what to do with her.
It's truly sad how little diversity there is in young-adult literature and I was so excited to see that Ship Breaker has an extremely racially diverse cast of characters. We have characters with skin colors of all tones and hues, but diversity isn't a major focus in this novel. Many of the characters are possibly bi-racial such as Nailer who is unsure of his heritage and his ethnicity.
The narrator of the Ship Breaker wasn't bad, but feeling his reading didn't fit with the novel's slow-pace. The narrator's voice never really intrigued me and made the novel feel tedious and unengaging; I think I would've enjoyed this book far more in print and I wouldn't recommend the audio version at all.
Ship Breaker is one of the better dystopian books I've read this year and it really managed to stand out in my mind. I'll definitely be reading Bacigalupi's future novels and I'm quite excited to read this duology's conclusion in The Drowned Cities. It'll be interesting to see how The Drowned Cities goes because Ship Breaker's ending felt very final and conclusive, but I'm definitely ready for more.
Ship breaker premise wouldn't necessarily hook me, but I do like seeing and want to support diversity in books, so I'll put it on my tbr list. Thanks for reviewing it :).
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this book but I agree with you, it's a pretty slow paced book, and I don't know if I'll ever pick up the sequel.
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I've had this one on my to-read list forever as well, and I know I need to get to it! I've heard such different opinions on it, but I'm eager to find out for myself. :)
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