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lauramcc7's review
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: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Rape, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
billyjepma's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
There’s a lot to like here—striking prose, sharp characterizations, vibes so potent you can feel them sticking on your skin—but it ultimately didn’t work for me as much as I wanted. It’s a very cruel book, for one, with more violence than I expected (that’s on me for going into this without knowing anything about it), which I can usually stomach without a problem. But the cruelty didn’t have the teeth it needed to leave a mark—it’s all blunt and brutal and lacks the intentionality I look for. What’s the violence saying? How does it frame or reframe the themes and characters? I kept looking for a moment to make everything click into place, but I never found it. I’m sure it’s there somewhere, but for whatever reason, it never materialized for me.
The dual storylines have potential, and the structure of the chapters does an admirable job of bouncing between the two timelines. Some moments had me by the throat and used the back-and-forth pacing to keep me reading longer than planned. Those moments are the exception, though, as I usually gravitated toward the 1989 story, where Kidd’s characterizations are the strongest, and the narrative has the most momentum and stakes. I kept waiting for the two stories to converge, but they didn’t, at least not in a way that satisfied me. They share themes, sure, but when the themes are this broad and, honestly, kind of basic, it left me cold. There’s enough good here that I can’t go lower than a three-star rating, but suffice it to say, this one wasn’t for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Cannibalism
emily_koopmann's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Suicide
alexijai98's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
More than anything, The Night Ship is just okay. The concept is interesting, and executed fairly well. Kidd handles the subject matter with grace, and having children as the protagonists brings an interesting perspective to the book. Overall an okay read, but I can’t find myself fervently recommending this to anyone, or rereading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
nyne's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault
estherrosedq's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
This book was much, much darker than I expected, even with the blurb being somewhat morbid. It was at times hard to read because of the themes. I did like how the two stories were tied together, although the link was somewhat tenuous. I think my favorite part of this book was how it incorporated childrens’ imaginations into the storyline and really built the characters around their imaginations in a way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Murder
spacewhombus's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I love stories with non-linear timelines, and the structure of this book was wonderful. This book alternates between a progression of Mayken's journey on the Batavia ship in the 17th century, and Gil's stay on a remote coral island off Australia in 1989, where we learn details about his traumatic past. The two stories converge in subtle ways, and I expected there to be some fantasy/magical element but I was actually happy there was not.
I also somehow didn't realize that the events of the Batavia's journey were all based on a true story, and only found out after finishing the book and reading the author's acknowledgements- it definitely hit me then how dark that part of the story was. Though, Gil's story with his mother was also extremely sad. The reviewers who called this book "haunting" were definitely right.
I think I only wish there had been more of an emotional, sob-your-eyes-out moment when reading this, rather than the empty hollow feeling of reading all this dark stuff through the eyes of children. Overall, it was a memorable read.
I love stories with non-linear timelines, and the structure of this book was wonderful. This book alternates between a progression of Mayken's journey on the Batavia ship in the 17th century, and Gil's stay on a remote coral island off Australia in 1989, where we learn details about his traumatic past. The two stories converge in subtle ways, and I expected there to be some fantasy/magical element but I was actually happy there was not.
I also somehow didn't realize that the events of the Batavia's journey were all based on a true story, and only found out after finishing the book and reading the author's acknowledgements- it definitely hit me then how dark that part of the story was. Though, Gil's story with his mother was also extremely sad. The reviewers who called this book "haunting" were definitely right.
I think I only wish there had been more of an emotional, sob-your-eyes-out moment when reading this, rather than the empty hollow feeling of reading all this dark stuff through the eyes of children. Overall, it was a memorable read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual assault
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: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Genocide, Gore, Excrement, and Alcohol
Disaster, Shipwreck, Starvation, Nowhere to run,what_heather_loves's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The Night Ship By Jess Kidd published by xx on xx
"'I hope we never get to Batavia,' says Mayken. There is silence. Something in the room shifts...The candle flames, hitherto steady, waver and splutter. Mayken has cursed the voyage."
1629 - Dutch, high-born orphan Mayken and nursemaid Imke board the Batavia, a Dutch East India ship on its maiden voyage to what is now Indonesia. Bright and mischievous, Mayken is soon hunting a mythical monster, Bullebak, which that prowls the huge ship. However, the monsters prove to be human and fast-approaching as tragedy strikes the ship, its passengers and crew.
1989 - Australian, poverty-stricken orphan Gil arrives on tiny Beacon Island, off the coast of Western Australia to live with his gruff and distant grandfather, who's part of a seasonal fishing community. As Gil settles in, he learns of a terrifying shipwreck of a Dutch ship, some of whom found brief safety on Beacon Island, which became many of their graves. For Gil too, the islands holds monsters he must hide from.
1989 - Australian, poverty-stricken orphan Gil arrives on tiny Beacon Island, off the coast of Western Australia to live with his gruff and distant grandfather, who's part of a seasonal fishing community. As Gil settles in, he learns of a terrifying shipwreck of a Dutch ship, some of whom found brief safety on Beacon Island, which became many of their graves. For Gil too, the islands holds monsters he must hide from.
Based on the true storey of the Batavia, Kidd weaves fiction with fact around her two protagonists, May and Gil and their dual time lines. At times those timeliness appear to meet, particularly through the witches /hag stone May and Gil are given. Both children, with many similarities, they're both curious, both face struggles, both are misunderstood by many of the adults around them but find friends and both search for a mythical monster, when it's the humans they should fear. It's beautifully written, particularly the descriptions of life on board the Batavia, the language and characters. This is an epic and enthralling tale of human endeavours and human connection, striving for better and tragedy, when survival is threatened and monster surface.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Child death and Rape
Minor: Pregnancy
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