Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Salvage (Salvage #1)” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Salvage

(Salvage #1)

Alexandra Duncan (Goodreads Author)

3.68 · Rating details · 3,190 ratings · 523 reviews

Ava, a teenage girl living aboard the male-dominated deep space merchant ship Parastrata, faces betrayal, banishment, and death. Taking her fate into her own hands, she flees to the Gyre, a floating continent of garbage and scrap in the Pacific Ocean, in this thrilling, surprising, and thought-provoking debut novel that will appeal to fans of Across the Universe, by Beth R ...more

Get A Copy

Hardcover, 520 pages

Published April 1st 2014 by Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Salvage, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

YA Novels of 2014

1,543 books — 9,162 voters

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Most Beautiful YA Covers of 2014

472 books — 2,263 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 3.68 ·

Rating details

· 3,190 ratings · 523 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of Salvage (Salvage #1)

Sep 05, 2013 Emily May rated it it was ok

Shelves: young-adult, arc, sci-fi, 2014

2 1/2 stars
I wanted to like this book so badly. So badly. How many well-written feminist sci-fis truly exist for young adult/teen readers? I bet I can count them on one hand. And when I say "feminist", I don't mean the kind that take away all women's rights, call the book a "dystopia" and say "ooh, look at all the unfairness to them there womenfolk". I'm talking about those that explore in some kind of depth the prejudice women face for their sexuality or for their desire to work in male-dominat ...more

flag 111 likes · Like · see review

Sep 05, 2013 Giselle added it

Shelves: ebook, arc

DNF

I'm finding the writing too distracting and I just can't, especially for a 500+ page book. It's more the language used than the writing itself. It's narrated using a futuristic/sci-fi language with a lot of odd terms and slang that are thrown left and right for us to figure out on our own. It made reading it frustrating rather than atmospheric or whatever it was trying to be. Maybe it's just one of those that take a bit to get you immersed in the world and dialect, but the last few books I r ...more

flag 30 likes · Like · see review

Nov 05, 2016 Richard Derus rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Ava, a teenage girl living aboard the male-dominated, conservative deep space merchant ship Parastrata, faces betrayal, banishment, and death. Taking her fate into her own hands, she flees to the Gyre, a floating continent of garbage and scrap in the Pacific Ocean.

I think that's pretty damn skimpy, so here's the flap copy as well:

Her life is a shadow of a life. Her future is not her own to fashion. Her family is a tangle of secrets. She cannot read. She cann ...more

flag 26 likes · Like · see review

Aug 14, 2013 Kathylill rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014, reviewed, young-adult, beam-me-up-scotty-scifi

Book, you are awesome.

You remember those famous intro words to Star Trek TNG?

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Well, Salvage shows us not the bright, chromed future of Star Trek, but a gritty one minus the aliens. Small nomadic tribes of hunter-gatherers, marked by powerful kinship bonds, fixed status and rigidly Book, you are awesome.

You remember those famous intro words to Star Trek TNG?

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Well, Salvage shows us not the bright, chromed future of Star Trek, but a gritty one minus the aliens. Small nomadic tribes of hunter-gatherers, marked by powerful kinship bonds, fixed status and rigidly defined social expectations tumble on their patched-up ships through space. The future of humanity in space is shaped by a preindustrial, heavily patriarchal society with predominant roles for custom and habit, polygynous households, strict gender roles where the division of labor is influenced by age, gender, and status. Those tribes have powerful collective memories sanctioned by rituals, songs and legends. Sounds like a interesting premise, right? It is.

I was utterly engrossed in the intense description of this life. It’s an unhurried meditation on society. Ava is illiterate as are all women on this ship. Every once in a while the ship on which her father is the captain returns to Earth and meets up with other tribes the nearby trade space station. At sixteen, she learns she has to go through with the arranged marriage to someone on a different ship. Ava escapes her fate. Now on Earth Ava has to come to terms with not only what happened to her but also an overpopulated, technological advanced earth suffering from environmental issues, weather conditions and pollution. On an enclave built in the middle of the pacific ocean out of garbage, Great Pacific Garbage Patch/Gyre, she starts to heal, to see her own worth, learns to read and write, learns even to pilot a ship by herself.

This is young adult science fiction done right. Ava’s journey from her starship, to the Babylon 5 space station, to a garbage island reminiscent of Waterworld to Mumbai, a city overpopulated by 170 million people, takes her not only to different places but introduces us to different societies and ways of life. Ava is a survivor and she grows beyond the limiting confines of the circumstances in which she was born. She crept through the bowels of hell and came out free. One other thing: I was relieved by the lack of silly romances or stupid love triangles. There is romance, there even are two young men, but it is just the way it is, not overdone.

This book feels very much like a stand-alone but I hope this is not the last we have heard of Ava and her friends.
...more

flag 24 likes · Like · see review

Sep 25, 2013 Melanie added it

Shelves: could-have-been-so-much-better, take-your-instant-love-and-get-lost, love-triangle, romance, young-adult, books-i-own, dnf, f-a-i-l, dystopian-utopian, e-arc

See more reviews at YA Midnight Reads

DNF at 27%

After the recent bad luck I've been having with all genres other than contemporary, Salvage is no exception. So after just a little over a fifth in, I decided that there is probably no point. And by the looks of my friend's reviews, I am correct. Duncan is by no means a bad author. In fact, I quite enjoyed her writing--it's very sophisticated yet easy to read through. Nonetheless, a series of major turn-offs in the first few chapters cemented my dec ...more

flag 21 likes · Like · see review

Sep 29, 2013 Keertana rated it liked it

Shelves: arc-galley-and-first-reads, why-the-hype

WARNING: THIS BOOK HAS A LOVE TRIANGLE!

I really wish someone had told me about that BEFORE I read it, or even better, requested it. Just MAYBE this would have been a good instance to include in the synopsis that there was a LOVE TRIANGLE present. If there's anything I hate more than a love triangle, it's an unexpected love triangle.

And today is Valentine's Day too. I see what you did to me there, World. I see it.

ANYWAY, getting past that LOVE TRIANGLE (*rages*) Salvage was only moderately dec WARNING: THIS BOOK HAS A LOVE TRIANGLE!

I really wish someone had told me about that BEFORE I read it, or even better, requested it. Just MAYBE this would have been a good instance to include in the synopsis that there was a LOVE TRIANGLE present. If there's anything I hate more than a love triangle, it's an unexpected love triangle.

And today is Valentine's Day too. I see what you did to me there, World. I see it.

ANYWAY, getting past that LOVE TRIANGLE (*rages*) Salvage was only moderately decent. I might as well call myself a critic of science-fiction/fantasy because of how picky I am about the genres and Duncan's debut doesn't live up to the mark. Ava, our protagonist, starts her journey on the space ship where she lives in a dominant patriarchal society. So dominant, in fact, that the women are kept illiterate and expected to perform household duties. Futuristic? Um, try prehistoric. While I appreciated that this divide was starkly outlined, evident even in mythology that told of women misbehaving and causing disaster when given too much freedom, the feminist growth arc Ava undergoes after leaving her home behind left much to be desired.

On her home ship, Ava is told that she is to be a bride soon. Ava hopes - desperately - that it is Luck, the brother of her friend, Soli, who she has only met once. When they meet again, Ava and Luck's feelings for each other are strongly existent, despite the time they've spent apart. Unfortunately, however, a tragic series of accidents leads to Ava being thrown off her space ship and back down to a polluted, dying Earth. If you couldn't already tell from my description of Romance #1, it's little more than insta-love. Yet, Luck does see Ava as a woman capable of learning the tasks of men and Ava, after living a sheltered life submissive to men, is naturally drawn to Luck who sees her as more than a mere child-bearer. On Earth, however, Ava must attempt to survive and her primary objective to find her aunt who resides in Mumbai.

Once on Earth, the narrative of this novel drags, becoming increasingly boring. In fact, I am almost positive I spaced (no pun intended!) out on more than a few occasions. As such, I can only be 99.9% certain in my claim that the world-building on this futuristic Planet Earth is limited. While the evidence of its decline is glaringly obvious, I remain puzzled about the nascence of the communities aboard space ships, not to mention why there is such a large population still on Earth when they could be living in space. Moreover, what made the communities aboard these space ships believe that they needed to go backwards in time after making so much modern-day progress in the women's movement? I wish Duncan had spent more time exploring these corrupt politics aboard these ships instead of focusing on the romance story line. After Amy Kathleen Ryan's Sky Chasers Trilogy, I've realized that the scope to be explored aboard a space ship is far more than most authors would lead their readers to be believe and, on that front, I was disappointed by Salvage.

Nevertheless, on Earth Ava does come to recognize the inconsistencies with her previous life. While her transition into a bad-ass feminist is rushed, it is still present which is a relief. Ava forges many strong bonds with characters she meets on her journey to find her aunt in Mumbai, but I wish those secondary characters could have come into their own a little more instead of the focus remaining solely on Ava's characterization. Once in Mumbai, though, my issues began to arise with Duncan's setting itself. I've been to Mumbai and though the landmarks mentioned are accurate, as are the mention of elephants, I found that the rich atmosphere of Indian culture that pervades every part of India to be missing. In The Lost Girl, Sangu Mandanna does a brilliant job of capturing the essence of Bangalore, the city where part of her novel takes place. Sadly, the essence of Mumbai isn't portrayed the way I'd have liked it to be in Salvage and instead of connecting to a setting I'd been to, I felt distanced from it instead. (Of course, this is a personal qualm I have as I've been to India many times, so I'm sure most readers will not struggle with this.)

Of course, Mumbai brings us to Love Interest #2 and, honestly, I just did not see this coming. I don't know why. I figured that since this novel is a stand-alone and Ava was so hung up on Luck throughout the novel, there couldn't be anyone else for her. WRONG. I saw Love Interest #2 as a genuinely sweet FRIEND to Ava, so to find that this character was actually a love interest in disguise shocked me. It's a sweet romance, but one I found rather unnecessary to the plot line as it is given such minimal screen time. Instead, it is the friendship that is developed well and I wish this novel could have remained that way. Not because I'm Team Luck, but because I'm Team Ava. I enjoyed the conclusive ending of this novel, though, and am thankful the love triangle is wrapped up quite neatly and very tastefully, actually empowering Ava.

Ultimately, though, Salvage is a character-driven novel where I didn't feel much for the characters. I love the world Duncan has created and I wish she had spent more time detailing this universe to the reader and exploring intriguing plot devices within the different nooks and crannies of her richly imagined future. Instead, I found myself flipping these pages rather dully, looking up with excitement from time to time but mostly reading this as a disengaged individual. Salvage isn't a spectacular debut and for fans of science-fiction, I wouldn't recommend this. On the other hand, though, if you're just looking for an innovative new read, this novel does the trick. ...more

flag 19 likes · Like · see review

Jul 29, 2013 Beth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya, sci-fi

Salvage Alexandra Duncan's debut illustrates a richly detailed world that vividly shows a possible future of Earth where society has both regressed and progressed, where the struggles of humanity have become more dire, but where love still remains. Everything--from the world to the characters--felt viscerally real. ...more

flag 15 likes · Like · see review

Aug 16, 2013 Saniya marked it as to-read

With one life-altering decision, a sixteen-year-old girl from an isolated community in space is exiled to the over-populated and crumbling Earth.

Thats it? Thats the blurb? LOL, I might read this just to figure the story out. ...more

flag 14 likes · Like · see review

Dec 08, 2013 Aimee ♥ | Aimee, Always rated it did not like it

Shelves: did-not-finish-boo, insta-love-lust-attraction, covergasm, eye-roll, let-me-gouge-your-eyeballs-out, arc

How could I have resisted a gorgeous, intriguing cover like that? Of course, the cover had lured me to give this book a shot. I didn't finish this book. At around 22%, I just about gave up on the book completely.

That doesn't mean this was a bad book! It just wasn't a book for me. With its elegant, descriptive and poetic writing, it was no wonder Salvage had not really interested me. I do appreciate and love how authors can write this beautifully, but I much prefer simple writing to get me in ...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Jun 05, 2012 Giselle rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc-electronic, 4-star, genre-dystopia, age-young-adult, requested-for-review, from-edelweiss, genre-science-fiction, 2014, arc-physical, genre-apocalyptic

An Electronic Advanced Reader Copy was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss for review. Quotes have been pulled from an ARC and may be subject to change.

Morgan, a so girl who lives on the ship Parastrata, doing chores that women need to do. Cooking, cleaning, taking care of the small ones. When her father arranges a marriage between her and one from the æther ship, she makes a mistake. Seeing her childhood crush, Luck was a mistake because does something that is scandalized and has her cast a ...more

flag 11 likes · Like · see review

Oct 11, 2013 Katie Walton rated it really liked it

Shelves: dystopian-reads, into-the-future, out-of-this-world, books-for-girls, big-social-issues, young-adult, thanks-edelweiss

Polygamists. In. Space.

What?!?!?! I didn't realize I had preconceived notions about what to expect from a society confined to a space ship, but then Alexandra Duncan started ripping them away and instead she gives me polygamists- in space.

Ava has lived her entire life in deep space, traveling along merchant routes with her Crewe. The women of the ship must all work constantly to be virtuous, productive and demure. Ava's pretty good at living by the rules, and almost as good at breaking them wi ...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Mar 04, 2014 Tina added it

Shelves: 2014-favorites

Blog | Pinterest | Twitter | Booktube | Booklikes | Instagram | Google+ | Tumblr

Ten Likes/Dislikes:

1. (+) Ava, the protagonist - Oh, Ava. From the very first pages I was intrigued because she was haughty about being so girl and I knew that wasn't going to last. I was also intrigued by her curiosity, her boldness despite the harsh society in which she lived. And this determination carries throughout the book. I said something similar of the main character in Tin Star, but I'll say it again: It's ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Jan 20, 2014 Elena rated it liked it

3.5

I loved the concept, but unfortunately I wasn't as engrossed as I wanted to be. ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Aug 13, 2019 Carol (StarAngel's Reviews) Allen rated it really liked it

Shelves: dystopian

***3.5 Stars***

It took me so long to get into this book which turned out to be so confusing at first with the strange language of "so" and "some" being added but I trucked on and eventually was able to block the words out and understand the story. ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Jun 26, 2016 Kara Babcock rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2016-read, science-fiction, from-library, young-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. There is something to be said for aspirational science fiction. I singled out The Martian as such. And despite its beginnings, there is definitely much that is inspirational about Salvage. It took a while for that to come into focus. At the start of the book, I was intrigued but not impressed. Alexandra Duncan manages to portray a believable world aboard a spaceship where the patriarchy has gone into overdrive. It could happen, and there are interesting cultural flourishes I’ll touch on in a mom ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Jun 20, 2016 Olga Kowalska (WielkiBuk) rated it liked it

It is not an easy task to create a young adult novel, in dystopian future with feminist ideas in it. Yet, Alexandra Duncan managed to do so pretty well.
It is a fascination story, symbolic and full of interesting concepts, too chaotic at times, but still exciting for younger readers.
------------------
Wykreowanie wiarygodnej fabuły science fiction, łączącej tak popularny gatunek jak powieść młodzieżowa z przesłaniem feministycznym to nie jest łatwe zadanie dla pisarza. Alexandra Duncan podjęła si ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Jun 24, 2013 Jasprit rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-galley, love-the-cover, ya, out-2014, sci-fi, read-in-2014

Salvage was one of the toughest books to read, the beginning was what I struggled with the most. There was so much detail to get my head around and the way that everyone spoke in Ava’s world just took so much effort to understand. But I’d read a review which mentioned something which happened very early on, so I really wanted to know what the consequences would be next. I could understand why these two characters would assume that they were going to be married to one another and why they would d Salvage was one of the toughest books to read, the beginning was what I struggled with the most. There was so much detail to get my head around and the way that everyone spoke in Ava’s world just took so much effort to understand. But I’d read a review which mentioned something which happened very early on, so I really wanted to know what the consequences would be next. I could understand why these two characters would assume that they were going to be married to one another and why they would do what they did and for me it wasn’t as if their feelings were insta love, okay we didn’t really know both characters properly but their feelings for each other seemed genuine to me. I didn’t like the way characters had to live in this world taking on wives and making them pregnant and moving on to the next. But I believed that Ava and Luck could have something which was stronger than what everyone else had and that maybe they wouldn’t follow down that same route that was expected of everyone else.

Despite not liking this world that Ava was bought up in Upside, I was glad to see Ava was given the chance to make the most out of her life away from Space side. It did take some time adjusting to a whole different lifestyle, but when you’ve been instilled ideas from a young age, it’s kind of hard to look past everything else. But thankfully Ava did manage to grow into her own character and fully grasp and take advantage of what was available to her. Also this is when we were introduced to two fantastic characters in Perpetue and Miyole. Perpetue and Miyole were exactly what Ava needed, they both took her on no questions asked and when she was still suffering from what had happened above. I was too still kind of freaking out about it. But for me this is also when the book picked up for me incredibly, we got to experience Ava on an incredible journey trying to make a life for herself, but being able to through help in unexpected places such as Rushil. Rushil was the sweetest person ever, he took Ava in when she was a complete stranger and helped her when things were tight for him too. It was easy to see that there could be a possible love triangle looming, and in parts it did confuse me at times, as I wanted Ava to find luck, I believed that there was so much more left to them, and so I didn’t want her wasting time around Rushil. But then slowly Rushil started winning me over, that I was like Luck who? And also I’m easily swayed by a character with tattoo sleeves! But then when Ava went on to try and find Luck I wanted her to find him and be with him all over again. I do believe that some readers would be annoyed by this love triangle, but the two potential love interests weren’t in the picture together at all, it was more pinning for a character who wasn’t there and overlooking the best thing possible right in front of you. But at the end of the day I think Ava made the best decision possible.

Despite this love triangle I was relatively able to enjoy Salvage; I enjoyed the chapters that Duncan wrote in Mumbai and the culture that Ava was able to take in. I also enjoyed the fact that Ava was given this chance to experience it, as otherwise I didn’t think that Ava would have been happy at all. Salvage was a book which could be a hard slog at times, but a book which I’m grateful I did give a go, so that I was able to experience the sisterly relationship emerge between Miyole and Ava and the watch Ava become the better person through sweet gestures that she had never had before.

This review can be found on The Readers Den ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Oct 01, 2013 Kelly rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed reading this book. At first i was confused by the author's writing but then after a while I got used to it and found it really original. The world building was pretty good and I liked getting to know these "crewes" even though the one she lived in was really unfair to women. At least, there were some great characters i enjoyed getting to know and the storyline was interesting. I wasn't bored.

The thing i didn't like though was (view spoiler) ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Jul 01, 2013 Soumi added it

Shelves: books-i-reviewed, young-adult, to-review, space-fiction

3.5 stars

Good overall, though failed to live up to my expectations. It has its merits and demerits. The author did an laudable chore in describing futuristic Mumbai, but the story was dragged more than it required, causing me to die several times in boredom. Review to come.

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Dec 22, 2013 Dark Faerie Tales rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed-by-kaitlin

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Salvage is a good book, but judging on all the praise in the Amazon description, I had higher hopes and was not very impressed.

Opening Sentence: The morning before our ship, Parastrata, docks at the skyport, I rise early.

The Review:

Salvage is the story of a girl ostracized from her ship in space. Forced away from her love interest and onto the harsh earth, she must learn to survive the gravity of the planet, take care of an orphaned girl, and le ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Mar 20, 2016 Sarah Louise rated it liked it

I'm quite torn by this book. Despite my three star rating, I really did enjoy this futuristic exploration of survival on Earth. Salvage follows the escape of Ava, a young woman aboard the merchant spaceship, Parastrata, who is sentenced to death by her crew.

In a male-dominated environment, the Parastrata women are treated as unfit, obedient housemaids, with the sole purpose of performing chores and providing children. Although Ava harbours the natural ability of a mechanic, such tasks are restr I'm quite torn by this book. Despite my three star rating, I really did enjoy this futuristic exploration of survival on Earth. Salvage follows the escape of Ava, a young woman aboard the merchant spaceship, Parastrata, who is sentenced to death by her crew.

In a male-dominated environment, the Parastrata women are treated as unfit, obedient housemaids, with the sole purpose of performing chores and providing children. Although Ava harbours the natural ability of a mechanic, such tasks are restricted to men, forcing her to suppress her knowledge and, instead, tend to farm animals. Aside from being a story of survival in a corrupted society, Salvage is also a story about a young teenager learning and embracing her choices as a female, despite the messages ingrained from birth.

But, here's the thing: The world was utterly confusing.

Salvage immediately introduces a variety of terminology with zero explanation, which even after reading paragraphs multiple times, I could not comprehend. After reading the language used in different contexts, I was better able to understand the parallel to modern day words, but because of this, the beginning of the story was extremely confusing. And while some phrases resembled poorly written English, others were overly simplified to the point that was equally as confusing.

"[...] he'll ask how I know what the fix is. And then it'll come out someone's taught me fixes."

As to why there are humans living in space, Salvage never really provided a clear-cut explanation, aside from the history of wanting to remain pure. Aside from accepting trades, association with Earth is frowned upon, especially by women, and I'm not quite sure how, or why, this started. With this being a futuristic setting, I'm confused as to what caused society to travel to space and revert back to archaic customs by obliterating the opportunity for women to use their brain.

Thankfully, although the romance features a love triangle, both love interests were respectable. The relationship between Ava and Luck, a neighbouring crew member, was a completely unrealistic representation of love, however. (view spoiler) I was more in favour of the slower burn relationship with Rushil, a boy she encounters after her escape on Earth.

In fact, I enjoyed all the characters met on Earth. Each, in their own way, lead Ava in a more positive direction, one that allows her to strengthen her self-worth. The moments on Earth, which make a large portion of Salvage, were my personal favourite, especially the descriptive scenery of Mumbai. I do think more explanation could have been provided of Earth, though, as I am still confused about the living conditions of certain areas.

But, even after all that, I'd still recommend Salvage. Despite being a long book, I was continually interested in the story and characters. I thought the ending contained a perfect message, as well, and I am definitely looking forward to the companion novel, Sound. ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jun 17, 2013 Jen Ryland added it

Shelves: debut-challenge-2014

I'm not a big reader of sci-fi, so I went into this book with some trepidation, but I really enjoyed it. It's a beautifully written coming-of-age story set first in space, then on an floating island of flotsam in the Pacific, then in a futuristic Mumbai.

The first ten chapters or so take place aboard the Parastrata, a space merchant ship that houses an oppressive, patriarchal little community, complete with arranged polygamous marriage.

I wasn't really sure I was up for reading 500 pages of that, ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Oct 30, 2013 Kristen marked it as to-read

Shelves: started-but-put-aside-for-now

I am about midway through this book and have set it aside for now. I don't know exactly what I was expecting but it wasn't what I got.

This book did not read science fiction to me barely at all. Felt more like a character and society study. There is nothing wrong with that but it just isn't my favorite type of book. I felt a lack of tension and story arc and it felt just like following the main character, Ava, along on her growth as a person. She is raised in a very stifling community that treats ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Oct 09, 2014 Carissa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed, sci-fi, young-adult

SALVAGE is my new favorite book of the year.

Breathtakingly, achingly beautiful, this is literary science fiction at its best. I said it on twitter, but I'll say it again here: if you are a fan of FIREFLY or THE HANDMAID'S TALE, you should probably drop everything and read this book right now.

As other reviewers have noted, Duncan is a master world-builder. From the close, rigid, puritan culture of the spaceship on which Ava is born; to the rag-tag jumble of community adrift on the Gyre; to the g ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

May 10, 2012 J.R. Johansson rated it it was amazing

SALVAGE was refreshing in a totally unexpected way. I felt like I was reading something totally new and I don't get to experience that very often. The characters were awesome and I loved Ava's character ARC. She learns and grows and goes through SO much! It was like reading Space Opera meets Little House on the Prarie at moments and Waterworld at others. It was a wild ride and I loved every minute of it! ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Mar 27, 2013 Alyssa rated it really liked it

Recommended to Alyssa by: http://alexandraduncanlit.blogspot.co...

Shelves: 2014-releases

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

Salvage by Alexandra Duncan
Publisher: Greenwillow
Publication Date: April 1, 2014
Rating: 4 stars
Source: eARC from Edelweiss

Official Summary:

Salvage is a thrilling, surprising, and thought-provoking debut novel that will appeal to fans of Across the Universe, by Beth Revis, and The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. This is literary science fiction with a feminist twist, and it explores themes of choice, agency, rebellion, and family. Ava, a teenage ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 09, 2012 Krys rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, first-person-narrative, arcs-i-no-longer-have, series, young-adult, debut-2014, netgalley-edelweiss-request, read-in-2014

Salvage is the first book by Alexandra Duncan. It is a Young Adult Science Fiction novel with a pro-female message. I read it in the last few days and wanted to get my thoughts here before they are gone. This novel wasn’t perfect, but it had something that kept me reading until the end. So, that is definitely saying something.

I did not, however, love this book. I wanted to, but I didn’t. Which, now that I think about it, is sort of a shame.

Ava is a 17-year-old young woman on the space ship Paras
Salvage is the first book by Alexandra Duncan. It is a Young Adult Science Fiction novel with a pro-female message. I read it in the last few days and wanted to get my thoughts here before they are gone. This novel wasn’t perfect, but it had something that kept me reading until the end. So, that is definitely saying something.

I did not, however, love this book. I wanted to, but I didn’t. Which, now that I think about it, is sort of a shame.

Ava is a 17-year-old young woman on the space ship Parastrata. She is an outcast among her own people both in looks and in ancestry. Three generations ago her grandfather came to the Parastrata, married, and fathered a child. He passed his looks onto his daughter and Ava inherited them years later. It happens from time to time among Ava’s people along with other ships; bringing outside blood into the genetic pool helps to stave off generations of inbreeding. It helps to strengthen the blood. Ava dyes her hair red to blend in, but her darker skin has always been a problem that she cannot change.

Ava’s people are male dominated. The men take care of the inner politics, the engineering, and any contact with Earth. Women are deemed too weak for such tasks since they are susceptible to Earth’s pull that draw them towards the planet like a magnet. Women are also found to be inferior with facts, numbers, and anything intellectual. As such they are relegated to mundane, domestic chores and told to keep their heads down. That Ava can do simple figures and mechanical fixes sets her apart. She hides her abilities, knowing that they are just one more thing that will remind people of her Earth bred genetics.

Ava’s best hope is when another ship’s captain arranges a marriage for her. Thinking that she has been matched as first-wife to Luck, a handsome 19-year-old, she succumbs to his pressure and loses her virginity to him. This one action becomes Ava’s undoing in her community and for her future with Aether, Luck’s ship. Now, she must make a choice to abide by the decision of her people or to run to Earth and maybe eke out a future for herself there.

At times I found myself underwhelmed by the pacing of this book. It’s a long Young Adult novel by normal YA standards. The final copy spans 520 pages and there are times when not a lot happens. I found myself wondering where the novel was going and hoping that the ending would deliver a punch worthy of the novel. As far as the ending goes… I guess I was underwhelmed by that as well. It makes sense given the context of everything that precedes it. However, by the time the ending came, and Ava makes her final, tumultuous decision, I was a little over the whole novel. I think this could have used some editing to improve the pacing.

And, speaking of editing, there is a bad typo in the final copy. For a chapter a character is introduced as Dayo. Her name is that for the first part of the chapter. She disappears for a few pages and shows up as Doya for the rest of the chapter. This would be chapter 24, pages 315 -325 (for anyone who wants to double-check). I have access to an e-arc AND a physical ARC as well, and it’s messed up in all three formats. Pity, you think someone would have noticed this in the time it took to edit a manuscript (probably several times) and then print the hardcovers. I only noticed it because I put the book down and came back to it later. I had to return to the beginning of the chapter to see who Duncan was talking about only to discover the misspelling. It makes me wonder what Duncan intended her name to be?

Ava was an interesting character, with her “right so” language and her Parastrata crew dialect. In truth, it took me a while to get the rhythm of her words since many of them seem out-of-place or unnecessary. She is very polite and passive about her language and it never completely leaves her months later. Besides that, she is a character who does grow throughout the book but she never feels as if she changes. For me, she felt as “different” as she was going to be right from the first page when it was obvious that she was never wholly accepted within her own crew. She also did things on the sly, learning numbers and then remedial math. As such her personal journey is more internal and subtle. As she is exposed to more culture outside of the Parastrata she begins to see that women do not have the limitations that she was reared with. It helps to allow her to become more comfortable in her own skin. Since her growth is so slow I don’t know if that helps with the pacing issue. The first period in the Gyre, a community that salvage garbage for scrap, is probably the time where she makes the most change. I think that might be a result of her spending weeks lying around recovering from gravity illness more than anything. There’s a lot of reflective passages in that part of the book.

One other thing that annoyed me was the sex shaming that was in this book. Granted, it’s completely within the confines of Ava’s society – she loses her virginity and everything spirals out of her control. She is reviled and rejected. For the rest of the book she regrets that decision and silently chastises herself for her own lewd ways. She questions her desires and her commitment to Luck, who may not even be alive any longer. It isn’t until a potential love interest tells her that it is immaterial to him whether she had another lover that she lets go of her own shame. This really bothered me, that Ava had to be told, by a man no less, that she was in the clear with him sexually. It deflated my expectation for a really feminist twist and I was annoyed for the rest of the book.

I’m not blown away with the book, I think that is fairly obvious. The message seemed pretty apparent to me from the first introduction of her crew when my thoughts were simply “Get out!” – A spaceship that subjugates women and forces them into marriages with men who will take multiple brides for their own whims… seems like there are only so many places that the author can go with that. The Ava that we know by the end of the book is leaps and bounds ahead of the Ava from the opening. However, she never completely comes into her own. There is a scene at the end that felt like the beginning of enlightened empowerment but I wanted more. I think I wanted to read Ava five years later, see where her progress has led her then. As this book stands it seemed like everyone helped her along the way, and that lost a bit of the power for me. I wanted more of a bang.

4 out of 5 stars.

- review courtesy of www.bibliopunkkreads.com ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Sep 28, 2013 Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller rated it really liked it

Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.nikihawkes.com

I will admit I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this book. It started off with an interesting concept, but I found it kind of difficult to follow and the language a bit convoluted. Because it was so unlike anything I’d ever read before, I decided to stick with it… And I’m so glad I did. This is definitely not your typical teen read – it followed a story line that almost seemed backwards (which was part of its brilliance), had an odd love-inter Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.nikihawkes.com

I will admit I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this book. It started off with an interesting concept, but I found it kind of difficult to follow and the language a bit convoluted. Because it was so unlike anything I’d ever read before, I decided to stick with it… And I’m so glad I did. This is definitely not your typical teen read – it followed a story line that almost seemed backwards (which was part of its brilliance), had an odd love-interest conflict (which was oddly refreshing), and as far as I know, is a standalone novel (which is probably why I feel so satisfied with it).

Duncan did a great job building culture and creating a cool atmosphere that was one of my favorite elements of the book. Aboard the transport ships where Ava, the protagonists, grew up, a hierarchal polygamist lifestyle that was once essential to their survival had warped into this weird male-dominated society where she is taught to keep quiet and obey the rules. It was an incredibly oppressive system which was made all the worse by the other women higher up in the pecking order. The intership politics and customs were so feasible that I found that whole portion of the story sufficiently creepy… in a good way. You see, it really made me think about how plausible that society actually was, and appreciate just how good I have it.

As far as character is concerned, although Ava made some really foolish decisions early on, I still admired how her desire to accomplish more than she was allowed was evident right from the start (well, maybe not the start… There was actually a good fifty pages of reminiscing that happened before the story really got going, but I’m choosing to block that out because, odd pacing aside, it was at least interesting). The side characters were unique in their own way, but the focus of this book really was all about Ava.

The earth portion of the story is really when the novel really came alive for me. You see, it was quite remarkable experiencing Earth from an outsider’s perspective (especially since it was an overcrowded, futuristic Earth that had evolved into a melting pot of cultural tradition and technology… It was friggin’ cool). Anyway, watching Ava adapt to a society so different from her own, and to see her growth throughout the story, was easily one of the highlights of this novel.

The more I evaluate this book as a whole, the more I like it. Despite the fact that it was a bit difficult to get into and certain plot-points required a little bit of “just go with it” forgiveness, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It’s one of those books that sticks with you long after you’ve read it, and am quite happy I decided to give it a chance.

Recommended Reading: I would probably only hand this to older teens and adults, as it has more mature moments than most books of this genre, (younger readers might find it a bit risqué). I will say this would be an excellent recommendation for someone looking for something “different.” ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 05, 2012 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) marked it as dnf

Okay, so I know I was going to try to make it at least 25 pages in my egalleys, but the writing style annoyed me so much that I made it just over two by the egalley's page numbers, but it had 298 pages, so maybe I made it like five pages.

First, the heroine gets up and gets dressed, making sure she's properly covered. Then she mentally praises herself for her preparations and thinks it will be a good day.

"Everything balanced, everything raveled right"

I admit that I had never actually heard the t ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 23, 2019 StarMan added it

OK, made myself finish this one.

It did improve later, or at least got more interesting when the protagonist found herself in a brand new setting with new people/friends. But overall it wasn't a book for me. I think many YA readers will like it better than I did, esp. if they like stories about young ladies fighting adversity and dealing with stuff.

For me (adult reader), it was maybe a 2.25 star affair. I can see it being 3.5+ for many YA readers, esp if they don't mind the occasionally unusual w ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. about a girl who lived in space and found out she was to be married, she thought to her friend. Her friend also thought this so they ended up doing the dirty. [s]	4	43	May 06, 2019 09:16PM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. YA Sci-Fi begins w/ young woman living on a spacecraft who's about to be married. She lives in a tight-knitted patriarchal society, the women do all the cleaning, cooking, tending the animals, etc and the women must obey the men w/out question. [s]	4	23	Feb 06, 2018 08:37PM
Crazy for Young A...: Salvage by Alexandra Dunca → Start Date: May 25th, 2015	12	56	Jun 12, 2015 03:03PM
Addicted to Novel...: Salvage by Alexandra Duncan	1	19	Mar 30, 2014 07:21PM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Young Adult

236 users

Science Fiction

202 users

Science Fiction > Dystopia

97 users

Romance

55 users

Fantasy

42 users

Space

35 users

Fiction

35 users

Apocalyptic > Post Apocalyptic

15 users

Adventure

12 users

Young Adult > Teen

12 users

See top shelves…

About Alexandra Duncan

Alexandra Duncan

373 followers

Alexandra Duncan is a writer and librarian. Her young adult science fiction novels Salvage, and Sound, , and Blight are available through Greenwillow Books. Her short fiction has appeared in several Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy anthologies and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. She lives with her husband and four cats in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
You can visit he ...more