Great idea for a story. Irritating main character.

I was lucky to get this book free from NetGalley. Thank you! It was well worth the read.

London is now part of a dystopian world and survival seems near impossible for this family, even though it is a well to do family. Must really suck for those with less.

But the spoiled daughter of these particular parents has no clue what is happening in the real world outside her house. They have tried to spare their child the worst of it. That seems a big mistake as this poor girl just doesn't know how to live once she isn't in her sheltered life.

Father, in hopes of saving many people, has obtained a ship. Eventually, the small family must join the rest of the people he has attempted to save.

The process of the story before the ship is interesting. But gets quite exciting when they move aboard. I don't want to put in any spoilers so I won't tell you any more of the plot. But I would assume one could call this a coming of age for this main character--I hope so. I didn't see enough growth in her by the end of the book to make me want to read anymore. She moans, complains and mourns the whole book. Yet her father and everyone onboard try their best to help her.

Maybe it is because I am not the target audience for this book, but I do love a good dystopia, and those elements are there. Maybe resolve is coming as this was only book one. I might want to read the next. Not sure if I want to put up with the brat anymore.

The Ship is the epitome of everything I could ever want in a dystopia. The descriptions vibrate in the mind and echo down into the heart and everything connects and becomes something grand at the very end. I gave myself a lot of time reading this book, reading chapters here and there and wondering all the time why I didn’t just read it all in one sitting? Well, I find the answer when I think about what this book is about, starvation, hurt, anger, relief, stagnancy, fear, and the apple.

Have you ever thought about the privilege of eating an apple? Holding it in your hand smooth skin against you hand and turning it around for just the right place to sink in your teeth. The resistance and sweet taste as juices flow into your mouth and you take another bite and another and another until you reach the core of it. Maybe having bit in too deep ending up with a small arsenic filled black seed on your tounge. All of this and the biggest privilege of all seeing an apple tree in full bloom and weeks pass and there you have it the apple ripe for the picking. That one tree rooted in the ground just to give and give and give.

This book is like that and it’s something I needed to savor. It is about the apple. It is about desperation, privilege, and the lack there of, even the very definition of what privilege is, but most of all it is about a girl. A girl who lives in a decaying world with a father who used his privilege to build a ship to be humanities final stand, but to quote the essence of the book to live a life of certainty is to live a life without hope and if there is no hope you can never truly live.

I am in love with this book. I didn’t know for a long time as I was reading it where the story was going or what it would mean to me, but it is a story well-told and to say more would ruin it as you should discover what it means for yourself. The Ship is incredible. Read it as soon as you can.

Lalla's life began as the world started to end. Famine, floods, disease, governments failing, thousands of people dying on a daily basis......the complete destruction of civilization. She lives in what is left of London with her parents. Life is constant hardship. Threats of death if required identity papers are lost. Long food lines. Government news broadcasts showing mass killings of those without identity papers. It is a life of horrors. Lalla hears her parents talk about The Ship. A vessel that will take them to safety. Away from the killings. Away from the dangerous, starving masses in the streets. Lalla isn't sure the ship is real. Maybe it's just a story. But then the day comes when it's time to board the vessel and leave the last remnants of society behind. 500 people on a ship stocked with enough supplies to last 20 years or more. The last bit of humanity. But even if everyone else follows her father like some sort of cult hero, Lalla is confused. Is the ship their salvation? Or just another horror?

I have to honestly state that this book was hard for me to read. It's well written and a beautiful piece of fiction. But, I had a hard time finishing this book because it was just emotionally draining.

Depressing.

Lalla's realization that The Ship and her father's plan to save humanity was completely flawed was just rough. The story made me feel so many emotions, and more than once I wanted to stop reading. But I continued with the tale to the end. I can't really imagine how a 16-year old girl would feel to be basically living through the end of humanity. Rough topic.

The end was the worst part for me. No spoilers from me.....but the lack of any resolution just left me with a WTF-did-I-just-read feeling. It's hard to enjoy a story that is basically without hope. I kept waiting for some glimmer of something besides doom, but nothing ever materialized. Then the ending basically left everything unresolved.

Looking back, if I had fully realized what this story was....and how it would make me feel....I wouldn't have read it. Too bleak.

Well written.....just not my cup of tea.

This novel is a little grey raincloud of a book. It is Bleak. It started off quickly with a family living in a civilization in some sort of crisis that we are not very clear about. Instead of going into detail we are very quickly introduced to a couple fighting over what to do next and what is best for their daughter Lala. The beginning moves quickly as the stage is set for the rest of the book but unfortunately from there nothing is really going to happen. Lala understandably has concerns about her future and the direction of her life that she has no control over. I assumed (wrongly) that the book was going somewhere but like Lala it is directionless. While I agreed with her concerns, and even understood her teenage angst about it, I was appalled at the ending. The book is actually very readable, just extremely bleak, until the horrible ending. For that reason alone I strongly recommend against it...unless you like depressing directionless books.

It was not what I thought it would be and it was not everything I wanted it to be but it was still quite good. an interesting, thoughtful exploration of humanity.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher on netgalley.

Interesting premise but it wasn't for me and I dnf. To be fair, I'm curious whether I'm just too old to relate to Laila, who I found annoying. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

It's creepy, just how plausible this story is. Seriously. In a futuristic London, a ship sailed to save 500 people, chosen carefully. For Lalla, the choice had not been entirely hers: it's her father that bought and furnished the ship, so she could have a better future. But at what price? Nobody is starving at last, but no food grows, so one day hunger will come back. I would have gone mad in her place! This story is a chilling and realistic one. Great debut!

The author did not even try to make the main character bearable, maybe it was her intention to annoy, but it was so annoying that I could not finish the book. Not a good debut and I really wanted to like it, because it had such a promising premise.

I was pretty ambivalent about reading another cliché, dystopian novel, but from the first page this one had me in its grip. Lalange is a young girl who has been protected all of her life by her parents, who didn't want the devastation of London and the world to touch her. Her father had been secretly provisioning a ship to take 500 survivors who he selected and felt had special talents away from London, destination unknown. He had done this all for Lalange...to give her a safe world. As Lalla discovers herself and their destination, she matures and learns to look at life differently...and question whether or not life on The Ship is worth living. A beautifully executed novel that will have you questioning what exactly IS life?

The Ship by Antonia Honeywell is a recommended YA dystopian coming-of-age novel.

It is the end of civilization. Lalage "Lalla" Paul has grown up in a future London where one act after another limits the registered citizens and controls the increasingly limited supplies. Plagues, viruses and the trashing of the environment have eliminated people and crops globally. People who aren't registered can be eliminated at any time. But none of the restrictions and limits seems to affect Lalla's life as the only child of a wealthy influential father, Michael, and her intelligent strong mother, Anna. They live in a comfortable flat with guards protecting them. While her father gathers supplies and worthy people for "The Ship" her mother tries to educate Lalla on past civilizations, culture, what the world once was, and compassion for others.

On Lalla's 16th birthday, the increasing violence swirling around them has made her father decide it is time for them to leave for The Ship and put his survival plans into motion. Anna bulks and doesn't want to leave the land. She feels Lalla needs to learn more, but Lalla says she wants to go to this mysterious ship. A violent incident sets Michael's plan into motion.

The ship only has room and supplies for 500 people. British troops and a mob try to stop them, but they set out for sea. Soon it becomes clear that Michael wants control and obedience from the people in his utopia. As he instructs them to leave the past behind and consider him the "Father" of all the children, his actions take on a religious tone. Lalla is questioning everything about the endless supplies of food, her father's plan, and everyone's blind following of it. She wants to know when they will reach their destination and start a new life.

The Ship starts out strong in the creation of the dying world, but falls under too many pages and the sheer weight of Lalla's incessant teenage angst and, frankly, odd rebellious behavior. She's lived a very sheltered life compared to everyone else, but surely she should have noticed a bit more about what was happening on land than she apparently did. And she also should have noticed more about the ship than she did. Her love interest has as much depth as a cardboard cutout.

It becomes increasingly difficult to tolerate Lalla. As the plot and pace of the novel slow down, there is no extra character development or insights to keep your interest high and propel the plot forward. I couldn't help but think of Waterworld (don't judge) where they dove down to collect soil to grow things. One of my first thoughts was why didn't they at least try to get soil and grow things on the ship. It could be done. A lot of soil is covered up by buildings, etc. dig under them, get good soil. Or, as other reviewers have pointed out, Lalla had some more options available in the long term, had she used her brains. The opening dystopian fall of society is worth an extra star, but the meat of the book is really so-so.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Orbit.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1987964728
on 5/2/17: http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/

The premise of the book really intrigued me. The world is falling to pieces but this group of survivors has this ship that they escape on. A young girls father plans for years on how to get his family and 500 others out of the fallen country by leaving on a ship. Lalla has grown up sheltered from the horrors of much of the world and has never wanted for food or shelter. They were poor but not starving on the streets like most people were. So when they finally get to the ship and it appears that they have food, clothes and shelter to last 20 or more years I couldn't stop thinking about where it all came from? The ending was also pretty anti-climatic but could have left it open for another book? But honestly I kept waiting for something huge to happen and it just never did.

Hated it! Gloomy setting, ill-defined characters who are also so unlikeable that it took all I could do to finish this one. I actually did not care if the snooty daughter Lalla made it out of apocalyptic London onto a ship basically going nowhere. Only my opinion.

The Ship By Antonia Honeywell

A very interesting story set in time where the world was dying. Chaos was running rampid and food was scarce. This is a story about a young girl named Lalla who has been sheltered from most of this chaos by her parents. Lalla's father has a plan, a ship where he would bring his family and 500 others. They would escape the collapse and be safe.
This story kept me interested all the way through to the end. I loved the writing of this Author and the way she captures your attention. The story is a bit unusual as it's mostly told from Lalla's point of view, but the feelings and revelations from this character are so real you can feel them.
I enjoyed reading this novel and I'm looking forward to more from this Author.

I give The Ship 4 stars for its original content.
I would recommend this book to all.

It was okay. I wanted to like it more, particularly because it is the author’s first release, but there were some hurdles that I just could not clear. First, the good stuff. The premise of the book is neat. The descriptions of the registration cards, of isolated life, and the short flashbacks into what people went through before the ship were all well-done. Knowing their struggles really lets the reader empathize with how blindly they worship the man, Michael, who saved them all. Michael himself, the process by which he picked the people to come, and the set-up of the ship was interesting. The reveal of where they are going was neat but quite obvious. I would have loved more mystery, more creepiness. It would pop up for a line and then disappear which was disappointing.

What makes this book just okay though is Lalla, the main character. First, she is the only one with an uncommon name and I still don’t know exactly how to pronounce it. Then there is the fact that she’s just very dull. I get that she’s a teenager but I’m expecting her to grow up a bit during the book. She didn't though. She's pretty much the same at the end as in the beginning. Obviously the circumstances of their departure call for some moping but then she never stops moping for the rest of the book. I actually empathized with OTHER characters finding her annoying and the ‘romance’ between her and Tom could hardly be called such. Between Lalla and the repetitiveness of the plot itself, The Ship just fell short for me. If you can stomach Lalla, it’s a good read but I won’t be recommending it. 2 stars.

NOTE: I received a free Kindle edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank them, the publisher Orbit Books, and the author Antonia Honeywell for the opportunity to do so.

I have read the book and rate it two stars. I did not connect well with the characters and found the book and the book did not flow too well for me, so i found it a difficult read - due to this i have turned the post in my blog into a promo post for the book
the promo post will be posted 11am gmt on the 25th april 2047

I received this ARC from Orbit Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"There was life, and there was death, and the fragile divide between them, held in the hands of a stranger."

Lalla Paul is a sixteen year old girl who has only ever known known a society slowly circling the drain, ready for its swan song. London's ever-changing government requires constant re-registrations to maintain citizenship and without that, you are not even counted as human. Lalla has been sheltered from all of that, kept safe behind security codes, under the watchful eye of her mom. Her father has a solution, a ship. On this ship her family and 500 strangers will set sail and leave the broken world behind. Here-finally safe- for the first time, Lalla can't seem to stop her mental tally of things that don't make sense. It's all attributed to her being spoiled.

"I had never felt loss, or hunger, or genuine fear either. My parents protected me so well from what the world had become that I had no means to navigate it."

The ship is heaven to those around her but Lalla can't turn her mind off. There were times when I found Lalla's narration to be plain annoying. However, when I kept in mind that she was a sixteen year old girl spared the horrors of her world it became easier to understand her. In any society there are those who fall in line and there are those who question everything. We need both if we are to truly be free. Honeywell did something interesting here and as I read the final page I knew I'd be chewing on this one for a few days. If you could leave your fears behind and set sail, would you?

"...there is no such thing as certainty, and in creating it, we lose the very thing that keeps us alive."

5 Stars.

Expected Publication: April 25, 2017

I didn't enjoy this book or the fact that it was originally published years ago.

Lovely YA dystopian debut novel! Sixteen-year-old Lalla has only known her hometown of London and as it is now being systematically destroyed, her father, Michael spirits 500 people away on the ship he has waiting. Believing they are going to a new land that is free from the controlling government edicts, people freely follow their modern-day Noah, hoping for paradise away from London. But Lalla is skeptical when she discovers a secret being kept by their patriarch. Where are they really headed and what happens if the the food supply runs out before they reach land? Trusting her own instincts, Lalla decides to take charge of her own destiny and break free from the mob mentality her father has created. Heartbreaking and raw, this novel was unlike anything I've read before!

I love the dystopian genre and the description of this book really caught my attention, but I have to say it fell a bit flat for me. The first few chapters Lalla spends explaining about how the world came to be in the chaos that it is currently in, while also explaining her family and childhood. By the time she is 16, there is really no place left to go as the entire world has basically been destroyed. Lalla's father has a ship that he has stocked to save his family and 500 other people. There are some things that happen that effect Lalla deeply right at they board the ship and she spends some time trying to move past these events. Her father seems to take on almost a role like a cult leader on the ship, trying to become something to everyone; their father, child, son and future. Lalla also meets a young man aboard the ship and although Lalla is interested in him, she seems to feel isolated and lovely. As she further learns what has happened in the world, since her parents sheltered her quite a bit growing up, she begins to lose hope that there will be any sort of future for her.

The first few chapters are really the only dystopian part of the book, with the rest happening aboard the ship. I didn't particularly like Lalla as a character and found her to be a bit annoying at times. I also didn't really like the decisions she made and the way the book ended seemed a bit ridiculous to me. I like to write spoiler free reviews, as I frequently read reviews before I decide to read a book. The book ends in a cliffhanger, I assume setting up for a sequel. It just didn't really go the way I expected it to and if it had, I think I would have enjoyed it a great deal more. Thank you to the publisher for sending me an advanced reading copy of this book.

I so desperately wanted to like this novel that I felt disappointed in myself for not enjoying this book. It had such an interesting concept but it was just not written in a style that worked for me. The main character, Lalla, is by far the most annoying character I have ever met. She is spoilt, and naive, and just seems to miss the point. Every single person on the ship is trying to explain everything to her but she chooses to ignore their words constantly. While I think she raises valid points, she just doesn't get them across in the right way, and ended up frustrating me (and the actual passengers on the ship) to no end. There was this really awkwardly created love story put in, and while I understand why the author chose to put it in, it didn't really work for me, either. The author's writing style was also terribly convoluted and confusing, making me wonder what was the point of half of the words used. It's like the author was trying to take a concept and present it in a very impressive way. But by overdoing it, she lost the message. In the end, this novel just did not work for me.