The Ship cover art

The Ship

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The Ship

By: Antonia Honeywell
Narrated by: Melody Grove
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About this listen

Oxford Street burned for three weeks; the Regent's Park camps have been bombed. Lalla, 16, has grown up sheltered from the new reality by her visionary father, Michael Paul. He has promised Lalla and her mother that they will escape. Escape on a ship big enough to save 500 people. Once onboard, as day follows identical day, Lalla's unease grows. Where are they going?

©2015 Antonia Honeywell (P)2015 W F Howes Ltd Coming of Age Dystopian Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction

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Critic reviews

" The Ship is tense, engaging and emotionally charged: I devoured this novel." (Helen Dunmore)
"A beautiful futuristic fable with huge power to haunt and disturb." (M. R. Carey, author of The Girl with All the Gifts)
All stars
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This is a difficult book to rate, as though it is technically a dystopian novel it never actually quite strikes me as such. Nor exactly is it a disaster novel, perhaps a careful mix of the two.

The story focuses entirely on the first person narrative of the teenage Lalla, set at some indistinct point in the not-to-distant future where owing to some unknown catastrophe the world has collapsed. As London quickly is deteriorating as the falling government attempts to keep control, Lalla is shepherded onto "the ship" which is a seaborne haven for a fortunate few to escape.

This is ultimately a coming of age story, though Lalla never really strikes as being much more than a naive and foolish teenager, obsessed about returning to land whilst never understanding what she has been shielded from her whole life. Many parts of the book are quite predictable, the ending itself I thought was disappointing. Though make no mistake, this has been an enjoyable book and has been quite diverting. The narration by Melody Grove was a pleasure to listen to.

Dystopia at sea

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This was such a frustrating book. The central idea was interesting - the difference between living and existing in a dystopian future. The problem for me was the central character, Lala. I know she had an extraordinarily sheltered upbringing, totally protected from the harsh reality of the world around her, but her lack of empathy and unbelievable naivety bordered on the stupid. I could see the twists and turns long before she did, so there was no sense of tension or shock. Her constant whining and longing to return to land, with no realistic alternative or plan for the future soon became tiresome. I got to the point where I wanted them to drop her back off in London and see how long she would survive with her ridiculous ideas about life. There were some serious concerns at the heart of this book, ones I wanted to explore, and with a different central character, one who was more intelligent and self aware, I think this could have been a interesting story. Instead I really struggled to make it to the end.

Good story trying to get out

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Well that was a lot of nonsense :(
A stroppy spoilt teenager, a man who thinks he is God and a shipfull of 'too good to be true' passengers. All set in an unrealistic world that is The Ship. Even the narrator, who i usually like, was really getting on my nerves by about half way through.

Wish I hadn't bothered

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Great concept but the moany main character makes it really difficult to enjoy! it felt like the story on board the ship should have been 3 chapters of a larger idea. Although well written, it was very drawn out at points. Well performed but not the exciting plot I had hoped for.

difficult protagonist

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Is there anything you would change about this book?

I enjoyed this book but about half way through I realised that this was a book with a young girl complaining...a lot. This didn't help with the tone of the person who read it. However, it was beautifully written, was a good story and the reader does have a great voice... it was just a bit of a combo and although I understood the message underpinning this story, I did become frustrated with the main character at times and felt quite guilty about it!
I would change the length of it- making it shorted because I felt that the main character tended to make the same point again and again. I would also change the main characters name as it is a bit pathetic and adds to the frustration. Beautifully written however and an original idea.

Would you be willing to try another book from Antonia Honeywell? Why or why not?

Yes as she is a fantastic author and had written this beautifully.

What three words best describe Melody Grove’s voice?

Soft, calm, young

Was The Ship worth the listening time?

Not sure.

Any additional comments?

Both author and reader clearly have amazing talent, I just felt that this book became quite frustrating and there were points where the main character was making the same point over and over again which irritated me. I am very conflicted in this review as I would still recommend this book... maybe not listening to too much at one time!

Beautifully written...but got a little whiny...

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