1629: A newly orphaned young girl named Mayken is bound for the Dutch East Indies on the Batavia, one of the greatest ships of the Dutch Golden Age. Curious and mischievous, Mayken spends the long journey going on misadventures above and below the deck, searching for a mythical monster. But the true monsters might be closer than she thinks. 1989: A lonely boy named Gil is sent to live off the coast of Western Australia among the seasonal fishing community where his late mother once resided. There, on the tiny reef-shrouded ...
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1629: A newly orphaned young girl named Mayken is bound for the Dutch East Indies on the Batavia, one of the greatest ships of the Dutch Golden Age. Curious and mischievous, Mayken spends the long journey going on misadventures above and below the deck, searching for a mythical monster. But the true monsters might be closer than she thinks. 1989: A lonely boy named Gil is sent to live off the coast of Western Australia among the seasonal fishing community where his late mother once resided. There, on the tiny reef-shrouded island, he discovers the story of an infamous shipwreck.
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Add this copy of The Night Ship to cart. $8.90, good condition, Sold by The Yard Sale Store rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Narrowsburg, NY, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Blackstone Pub.
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Good. 8 AUDIO CDS! AUDIO CD performance. Each CD POLISHED prior to shipping for quality sound. You will receive a reliable set. Enjoy this AUDIO CD edition for your home and library.
Add this copy of The Night Ship to cart. $9.88, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Simon & Schuster Audio.
Add this copy of The Night Ship to cart. $42.80, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Blackstone Pub.
Add this copy of The Night Ship to cart. $65.04, new condition, Sold by Revaluation Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Exeter, DEVON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2022 by Blackstone Pub.
Add this copy of The Night Ship to cart. $74.13, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Blackstone Pub.
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.
