Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

This book was recommended to me, so I decided to give it a shot. Sometimes, my favorite books are books I would not have normally chosen to read myself.

Ship Breaker was a good book, but it did not make my list of favorites. I liked the futuristic setting, and the plot, which was very original. The book is unlike the other dystopian novels I’ve read, as there is no controlling government and rebels hoping to break free. Just the opposite, actually. The world is in disrepair, and there is a very large gap between the rich and the poor. Nailer is a ship breaker, a boy who strips grounded ships of their copper wiring to earn his living. He has never been fortunate, with few loyal friends and an abusive and unpredictable father.

Competition is fierce because resources are scarce. It’s a dog-eat-dog world.

However, when Nailer discovers a beautiful beached ship and a rich “swank” girl, he realizes his luck might have changed. Nailer embarks on an adventure to return Nita to her father, but the pair is chased by both Nailer’s father and the people who wish to kidnap Nita. Although the action moved quickly and there was plenty of high-seas adventure, I still found myself slightly uninterested and unconvinced by the characters.

I would like to read the sequel, The Drowned Cities, to see how Nailer’s story ends. Overall, I enjoyed the book but I probably would not read it again.

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