I picked this up because I have a friend with the same last name, and because I'd heard good things about the author.

I definitely wasn't sorry! It was really nice to read a YA book with strong, solid writing (usually I resort to Tamora Pierce for that). I also like it when people create YA sci-fi. The world-building was very solid and interesting and I liked Nailer and Nita as characters. I also am intrigued by Tool and look forward to the companion novel, The Drowned Cities.

I liked that Nailer's most important weapon in this book was knowledge - knowledge he'd gained from his life of ship-breaking. It wasn't a "special snowflake" kind of skill that no one else could do, but came naturally out of his background. What he added to it was a level of compassion that was difficult for others in his situation to maintain.

I think Tamora Pierce would also be very proud of how multicultural this book is, without making a big deal out of it.

Now I'm really interested in picking up The Windup Girl.