This book plays mind games with you the entire time, and that's a good thing. I love a book that keeps me guessing until the end, and The Ship does just that.

I wish I had paid more attn. when asking for this book. I don't enjoy apoplectic stuff so I don't feel I can fairly review this book

Nearly two dozen reviews were allowed to post two months before publication, and yet Amazon rated them Verified. Skewed much?

I found the main character, Lalla (how DO you pronounce that, anyway?) depressing, whiny, and reactive rather than proactive for almost the entire book. It was hard to relate to her because she didn’t do anything for which we could like her, nothing heroic. Yet this was a situation in which heroic actions could have – and should have – happened. She just went along. And whined.

The best I can say is that the quality of the writing was better than many debut novels I’ve read. So three stars for that.

** spoiler alert ** [Disclaimer: I was provided a free e-copy of this book by NetGalley for review purposes.]

There are a lot of spoilers in this review.

I really did not like this book at all. There was a lot of emphasis on how awful it was on the ship, how everyone was going to die, how it was terrible, just terrible to be happy. Frankly, in a world like the one these people are living in, I'd rather be on the damn ship.

Lalla was insufferable. She becomes obsessed with a boy she sees on the ship, starts following him around, decides she loves him (she's 16, by the way), has sex with him on the top of the ship, and then they basically start screwing like rabbits. Remember, she's 16. We never hear how old Tom is. And she's so ignorant, because she didn't feel like learning anything while they were still in London, that when her period stops it takes her FOUR MONTHS to figure out she's pregnant. FOUR MONTHS. AT THE END OF THE BOOK. And then she decides "Oh I can't have this baby on the ship with medicine and all that bullshit, I have to get into a boat and take my chances looking for land, give birth in squalor, and probably both of us will die. BUT I CAN'T STAY HERE BECAUSE WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! IN LIKE 100 YEARS! BUT WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!"

The book was completely predictable. Lalla's mother gets shot in the first part of the book (standing at the window in her upper story apartment looking down on the street, she gets shot from street level... in the bowel? Really? And the "infection" is so bad in like 20 minutes that there's no way she's going to make it? Obviously the doctor was just trying to get her out of the way, there was no attempt to save her life). She dies on the ship. They throw her in the sea. Michael, Lalla's father, who planned this entire ship for years and years, couldn't take the two seconds it would have taken to think to put rocks or something heavy in her dress so she'd sink? Nope, she just floats away and everyone watches... Of course we later (at the very end) find out that Michael orchestrated the shooting, but that he meant for it to be just the window and not his wife, and the doctor (Roger) is the one who convinced the poor kid who was supposed to be on the boat but killed himself out of guilt instead to shoot her somewhere else. And if you couldn't see this foreshadowing through the entire book, well...

Next up, Lalla's pregnancy. Her monthly scourge stops. She thinks it's because she's starving herself, because it happened once before in London. So she keeps starving herself. She doesn't seem to think that she could be pregnant, even though she and Tom are obviously not using any protection, humping like aforementioned bunnies, and literally EVERYONE on the ship is telling her to go see the doctor because they all know they're humping everywhere and want her to get checked out, but she can't figure out why because she thinks Tom is some biiiiiiig secret and she's being "subversive." FOUR MONTHS.

And one more - the ship is going around in circles. It took Lalla weeks to work this out. And how did she work it out? HER FATHER TOLD HER. I figured it out as soon as she mentioned that the sun sets and then rises on the same side of the ship. Obviously they are not going in a straight line, but in a freaking circle. Obviously they are not going anywhere. And if she had listened, actually listened, to a damn thing anyone else said, all of the "We've already arrived!" and "We're already where we're going!" comments should have tipped her off to the fact that literally everyone on this damn ship knows what's going on but her. Now, why no one would just come out and tell her is beyond me. These people are pure sheep. There turns out to be zero subversion, not a single person is willing to turn the boat around and go help all the starving people in London. And you know what? That's cool with me. They've been chosen to live on this modern day Noah's Ark, and they're damn well going to live there, dammit. Who does Lalla think she is to try to convince them that they're wrong? And she keeps telling herself and her father, "I never asked to be here!" Well yes you did, darlin' - it's right there in the same part where your poor old mama got shot. You said you wanted to go, and she got mad but was going to go, and then she got shot. And then you went. And then you made it possible for everyone to sail by throwing your ID card out into the angry mob and getting everyone else to do the same. You never asked to be there? You are very forgetful...

Finally she makes the decision she should have made FOUR MONTHS AGO before she started humping Tom all over the ship, and gets in a boat (on her wedding night, just after cutting the cake and then demanding revelations from her father in front of every person on the ship, still in her wedding dress, pregnant and alone and with just a little food and some clothes in her bag, a map and her father's compass) and steers herself toward the land she's sure is out there.

Frankly, everyone on the boat bends over backwards to make her feel welcome and she just keeps harping on their old wounds, like "Oh how did your family die?" and "What tragedy did you overcome?" when all they want to do is move on and be happy. She refuses to be happy. If I'd been on that boat I would have thrown her overboard.

And then we have Michael. Michael who helped create the laws that got people deregistered and then murdered, poor guy was just trying to save the world because he had all the answers. Then he found these 500 people, threw them in a holding center for years, and waited and waited for his wife to say "OK let's get on this boat to nowhere!" Michael has a god complex. He thinks he is the savior of all of these people. His wife mocks him at one point about bags he wants her to make for everyone that match. She says she should embroider them with something like "We owe our lives to Michael Paul." Considering what we know about him, yes, that's exactly what he wanted them to say.

Michael makes speeches every day. All day. As they get on the boat. As they eat their dinner. As they go to bed. As they wake up. As they gather to talk. He's constantly making a speech. He raises his hands and talks like one of those prosperity gospel preachers, and these sheeple just eat it up. I can't really blame them. Their entire lives before this ship were hell. They lost family, homes, country, everything. They had nothing left to them. And then Michael came along, determined they were "worthy," and let them on a ship where they could sail around in circles in the middle of the ocean and never have to worry about food or safety again. Hell, sign me up! Yeah he's a little controlling, and everyone's pretty brainwashed, but I can't consider the context and say that going back to hell would be better for them.

I'm sure there will be plenty of people who enjoy this book. I believe I saw a few five-star reviews at least on Goodreads. I am not one of those people. I would not recommend this as dystopia. Frankly, it feels like a utopia amidst a dystopian future, and one self-absorbed and spoiled brat character who wants to ruin it all. I skimmed the commentary at the back with the Q&A with the author and the book discussion questions, and I really couldn't understand how the author thought she was writing one book, when what I took away from it was so completely opposite. She said that a lot of people have written to her and said it connected with them because Lalla's rebellion was like coming out to their families, or not wanting to take over a family business. I'm glad if this book helped you, really sincerely glad. But I do not see that aspect of it at all.

This is an interesting take on surviving the end of the world as we know it. Lalla is sixteen years old and has grown up only knowing the world her parents lived in is no more. She has never even seen a real apple. Her father uses all of his resources to obtain a ship and provisions for 500 people and leave the destruction of London behind. The entire story is told from Lalla's perspective. Her parents have shielded her from the world they live in and have done everything to protect her. She is very naïve and yet questions everything once on board the ship. It isn't an action packed thrill ride like many apocalyptic books but more thought provoking. While reading, I questioned her parents motives and if I would do the same as them or would I make the same decision as Lalla. The blurb says it is a coming of age story but I think it is also a story of choices and what it means to live versus just being alive.

Apocalyptic stories abound in the literary world. Many are good, some are very good. Everyone has their theory, even the Mayans took a shot at it, their descendants are around today, the key statement here is “around today”. So, another try is find someone rich enough to buy a ship. Stock it with anything anyone will need forever, crew, and 500 selected folks invited and sail off into forever. Of course, Mr. Rich guy brings his family, wife and teenage daughter. The wife tragically dies of a gunshot wound. The story continues but becomes mostly about the whining brat spoiled child daughter, wanting for nothing but not wanting anything she has. My guess at this point in the story is she is bonkers. She proves it with her action at the end. While a perhaps novel concept I found my way to the end of the book. I have no intention of ticking off anyone I like by recommending this book, but I do believe this author has potential.

The premise sounded interesting and seemed to have potential in theory, but in execution it didn't work. Or make a whole lot of sense. There were just too many plot holes and gaps in logic with the whole ship concept. Lalla was not a very likable, relatable, or intelligent character. She came off as rather spoiled and whiny to me. And the narrative itself dragged until I was so bored I didn't really care what happened. This was just not the book for me, unfortunately.

This is a very philosophical book. And like many philosophical books it starts out strong, lags in the middle, and ends with a bold statement. I love the beginning of it, but by about 150 pages in I was feeling like the same thing was being said using different scenarios and words. I feel I got it the first time and didn't need to be told for a couple hundred more pages. The final couple lines of this book are gorgeous and the kind that people will write on their whiteboards for inspiration. I just worry that most people won't get there because they fall asleep.

There are a lot of themes in this book and certainly an English teacher could go on forever about them all. If that is your thing you may really enjoy this book. Additionally a long-time book club that is close and wants a good challenge, discussing how people live their lives and why, would benefit from this book and the debate it is sure to bring about.

The Ship is beautifully written, with every word chosen deliberately; which is why it's sad to me to give it only three stars but it just dragged on for too long. I highly recommend this book for those who are interested in the questions surrounding why we live and what is living. That's really what this book is about; the question of what is living and what is happiness. So long as you don't fall asleep I believe you will truly get something out of Antonia Honeywell's gorgeous writing.

The idea of this book is great but it goes nowhere. It felt like the author couldn't decide on what had happened, flood, famine, global warming, pandemic, let's just lump a bunch of stuff together. And the main character makes me want reach into the book and slap her. She never gains my support or sympathy, even to the end.

I really wanted to like this book. I did. I really liked the premise when I read it. I got about two chapters in and was dragging, so I even went and read a fun, happy, didn't-make-me-think-too-much young adult book, with every intention of giving this book 5 chapters to impress me. Unfortunately, at only 3 chapters in, it didn't. Maybe it was my state of mind- maybe I wasn't ready for a book that was trying to be so deep. But after Lalla's mother died, I knew the intensity and 'deepness' of this book was only going to increase.

Lalla could have been a really interesting character. And maybe she became one. But it seemed too easy to me for Honeywell to take away her support system and throw her into this world she had no idea how to handle. The ship itself was already going to be a new place for Lalla- why take away her best friend too? Come on. Through her mother, she could have learned the trust this new world and meet new people and make new friends, instead of being thrown in (metaphorically) and forced to figure things out on her own, with zero social skills. It would have been so interesting to see how her mom could have been her social buffer, at least for a while, making their bond even stronger. And maybe she could have actually gotten to know her dad too. Somehow, I doubt she really gets to know him throughout the rest of the book.

I did like the head general guy getting on to the ship. Maybe he should have stayed- thrown the whole world off a bit. That mighta been fun to read.

Did not finish at 20% in.

Well, this was certainly a book that I won't soon forget. Admittedly, it was a struggle to continue reading this story. Set in a futuristic London, the story revolves around sixteen year old Lallage( Lalla) and her father, Michael Paul. Things appear quite grim for the characters- lack of water, lack of various foods, controlled society etc. Lallage has been pretty sheltered by her parents and this book really takes the reader through Lallage's "discovery" of what has been hidden from her for so long. Reeling from the death of her mother and sequestered on a ship with 500 passengers with an unknown destination in site, Lalla's father becomes the "captain" of this little crew. Michael"s command, like a religious leader, is easily accepted by the other passengers who begin to see him as their father figure. But of course, Lalla, his biological child isn't easily won over. In fact, Lalla wants nothing more than to leave the ship and focus her efforts on helping the people that were left behind. The problem is that no one seems willing to agree with her, even Tom, the young man that she begins to fall head over heels in love with.

Re-reading my own summary, the book sounds like it has plenty of wonderful potential. The author's Q&A at the back proved really insightful and maybe( if I hadn't been reading it on an e-reader) I should have read that first. The Ship reminded me so much of "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas", but lacked a little bit of the ethical punch that Ursula K. Le Guin always managed to invoke in me with that story. I felt that the story moved too slowly, the atmosphere was so unbalanced, and reading the story made me feel like I was "working."

Not my cup of tea!

The beautifully haunting cover and a dystopian setting seemed to make this novel a perfect pick for me. But while the dystopia of future-world London was extremely engaging in its detail and realism, the same attributes worked very much against the novel's main protagonist, Lalage. As a 16-year old who has led an extremely sheltered and privileged life, she is understandably naive and irrational. I think, however, that I do not belong to the demographic that is capable of putting up with her irrational behavior. This book is better suited to some very smart teenagers, who might be more inclined to find her sympathetic rather than infuriating. It does not help that the plot of the book doesn't actually seem to go anywhere, and conclude with more questions than answers. Not a book for me.

Idea of book is so much better than the actual story. Fell flat and felt too cliched. Not my cup of tea in the end.

Actual Rating: 2.5

This was not for me. The premise of the story was interesting to me. However, I think that the execution of the plot and characters were lacking. I thought the main character was really annoying. This was supposed to be a dystopian, but it only lasted for the first few chapters of the book. I thought the book dragged and was boring. I think this book is more of a coming of age story than a dystopian. Overall, an okay read.

*An ARC was given in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the writer and the publisher for the opportunity to read this.*
I really enjoyed this book, not being able to stop reading it from the moment that I started. It makes you think. Good ideas and good writing.

<em>The Ship</em> is contemporary philosophy woven into a coming-of-age dystopian fiction story. If I was a high school teacher I'd want this on the curriculum.

The world seems to be nearing its end. The seas have risen, the soil is barren and there appears to be no hope of survival on land.

<strong>But</strong> there <em>are</em> people still surviving. The end hasn't <em>actually</em> arrived. So is it right that Lalla, her father and 497 other people escape the chaos and horror aboard the ship, taking precious rations with them?

The story is somewhat familiar. It's a 21st-century version of Noah's Ark - without a deity, and seen through the eyes of a young girl who isn't entirely sure she wants to be saved. Lalla just wants her old, sheltered, life back. Her parents made sure she <em>didn't </em>experience the horror and chaos so she now experiences none of the relief and gratitude that the other inhabitants of the ship feel towards Michael Paul - their saviour, Lalla's father.

I spent most of this book wanting grab passersby and hold philosophical discussions with them. These were my questions.

<b>Is it right to shelter our children from the true state of the world they live in?</b>

It's natural to want to protect our children from many of the harsh aspects of life (especially if you happen to live in a future dystopia...). But how can we expect them to live in the world or - better yet - feel motivated to actually <em>improve</em> their world if they don't understand what's wrong with it?

Surely it's best to help them understand the suffering of others - even if their own life is relatively comfortable - so that they can learn and take action.

<b>Are we obliged to help others and risk death or is it okay to run and live?</b>

Most of us aren't faced with such an extreme choice - to run back into the burning building and save a total stranger, or stay outside and stay safe. But we are faced with choices every day about turning away from pain and suffering to preserve our own happiness.

Turn off the news from Aleppo - it's too tragic and what can we do anyway?

Skip past the latest Facebook article about a woman murdered by her intimate partner - nobody's trying to personally attack me, so it's not my problem.

Change the topic when a colleague opens up about their struggle with mental illness - that's for their friends and family to deal with, right?

To an extent these statements are all true - we can't be expected to take on the entire world's pain and suffering or we'd simply fall apart under the weight.

But where is the right balance between helping others and enjoying a comfortable, peaceful life?

<b>What's more important - happiness or hope?</b>

I really loved this dilemma that <em>The Ship</em> poses. By leaving London, the ship's inhabitants have given up hope that London can survive. They have turned their backs and chosen to leave everything - including their memories of loved ones - behind them.

It's difficult to explain this dilemma in greater detail without plot spoilers, but consider this - you can be happy and at peace if you choose to stick your head in the sand and completely ignore the chaos and horror. Or you can choose to give up your total happiness and try to do something about it.

You can't do both - so which <em>should</em> you do?

This is an interesting concept, life as we know it is ending and your one of the chosen 500 to start again, somewhere safe but with no hope of a future. I enjoyed this book, i didn't like the main character at all, she is naive and extremely selfish however I think that's the point. It definitely makes you think about what you would do in her red shoes.

I had very high hopes for this book as a blurb by M. R. Carey sends my heart racing. However, I was sadly disappointed. Lalla is not an empathetic character. I understood what the writer was doing in her attempt to show that there's more to life than comfort, however, given the circumstances, I'd have slapped Lalla and told her to be greatful. She was whiney and repetitive and, to be honest, toward the end, I hoped she would die. The premise was fantastic, shame about the character study. I literally didn't care whether she made it or not.

This post-apocalyptic book is a grim look at the future of the UK after the collapse of the world. The exact reason for the collapse is never explained, but there are mentions of a world overcome by damaged agriculture and no natural resources, rising sea levels, and contagious diseases. People are starving and the only government response is to register those it can afford to feed; and murder those it can't. But it's not really murder, because if you're not registered, you never existed, did you?

Lalla is a sheltered 16 year old who has been raised in relative privilege by a family involved in previous government reforms. When she's 16, they embark onto a ship with 500 hand-picked companions. The ship is luxuriously stocked with everything they need to get to their destination, but Lalla becomes obsessed with where they're going and what they've left behind.

It's an exploratory novel about someone who has been shielded from the harsh reality of life trying to work through the things she's left behind, as she works for the first time, interacts with others for the first time, falls in love for the first time... and ultimately starts to question her existence and her place in the world.

The blurb offers a bit of a mystery but the questions posed in the blurb are answered half way through the book. I thought that would be the ending, but a lot of the book is how a young adult processes what she's found out and how it shapes her - also how her upbringing shaped her and has made her different to the other people on the ship. There is very little adventure or action in this book; it's more an internal musing and the development of critical thought process in a teenager.

It's a good story, but a little lacking in the meat department - too much repetitive thinking and not enough everything else for me to absolutely love it, but I did find it engaging and wanted to know what decision she would make in the end (even though honestly, I think she made a very dumb choice!) I found Lalla a little annoying as she is incredibly naive and simple at times, but of course, I have to bear in mind she's a 16 year old who has never had a friend and never been part of the outside world other than short walks outside, holding her mothers hand.

It's Young Adult and has a teenage protagonist, but I think it will appeal to a wide variety of readers but you definitely have to have the patience for dealing with a stubborn teenage mind, rebelling against the adults - that story is as old as time. The content is fairly simple and the shallow teenage love aspect very immature - but ultimately it does have some depth and philosophical insight.

This book was terrible. Horrible plot and characters that are infuriatingly dumb.