A review by mdemanatee
The Night Ship by Jess Kidd

slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Potentially more straightforward historical fiction twisted with a more modern storyline (though 1989 is historical by YA standards) than anticipated, at least from Kidd. This is a slower novel, laced with grief. It’s central mystery has a sense of inevitability to it based on the historical record and is less active than the other two novels I’ve read (Himself and Things in Jars). This last sentence is not a judgement but rather to set more expectations in terms of tone and pacing. And while there are beautiful moments and imagery that blend the lines of time, we are largely denied the solace of the supernatural and faced with human horrors. And the ghosts here haunt more in their absence. 

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