Imagine coming home after a long day of strenuous work, just to try to persuade your father from hitting you. The dystopian fiction book Ship Breaker, written by Paolo Bacigalupi, exemplifies this theme again and again.

The book begins with Nailer, a poor shipbreaker who is just trying to get enough money for food. His abusive father, Richard Lopez, is constantly drunk and is always trying to antagonize Nailer. When Nailer and his friend Pima stumble upon a ship that hasn’t been scavenged, they are forced to make a decision. They can tell their crew manager and get a bonus, or steal the scavenge for themselves. They decide to have a look inside the ship where they find a dead girl with gold and silver draped across her neck and gold rings on her fingers. They then decide to take the luxurious items by cutting off the bloated fingers. As Nailer sinks his knife into the wrinkly skin, the girl suddenly wakes up with a stifled scream. The book eventually comes full circle when Richard Lopez comes into the mix in this exciting action novel.

The theme of this book is what makes this novel so great. Friendship, family bonds, and loyalty are put to the test when Nailer has to choose between going with his father or maintaining friendships that he would call family. It’s exciting to see how far Nailer will go and how much he will sacrifice for the people he loves.

Overall, this book is quite the thriller and every page will make you sit on the edge of your seat. This fast-paced book is accompanied with fresh characters who get great character development. You end up caring about these characters and what they do. This novel is driven from friendship, sacrifice, and loyalty to the people you care deeply about.