Book Review: The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig

The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig

Pages: 400
Publish date: March 9th, 2017
Publisher: Hot Key Books
ISBN: 1471406164
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

Nix has spent her whole life journeying to places both real and imagined aboard her time-traveling father’s ship. And now it’s finally time for her to take the helm. Her father has given up his obsession to save her mother—and possibly erase Nix’s existence—and Nix’s future lies bright before her. Until she learns that she is destined to lose the one she loves. But her relationship with Kash—best friend, thief, charmer extraordinaire—is only just beginning. How can she bear to lose him? How can she bear to become as adrift and alone as her father?

Desperate to change her fate, Nix takes her crew to a mythical utopia to meet another Navigator who promises to teach her how to manipulate time. But everything in this utopia is constantly changing, and nothing is what it seems—not even her relationship with Kash. Nix must grapple with whether anyone can escape her destiny, her history, her choices.

The Ship Beyond Time:

I received a copy of The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heligi from Allen & Unwin in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

The Ship Beyond Time was one of my anticipated sequels of 2017 and it didn’t disappointed. It was just as magical, adventuress, and swoon worthy as The Girl From Everywhere.

The Ship Beyond Time follows protagonist Nix as she travels across seas and times. After the events of The Girl From Everywhere, everything is a little strained abroad the ship. Nix and her father have come to somewhat of a standstill. Nix and Kash have amazing spark, but they holding back on one another. And Nix needs to decide where her next adventure will take her crew.

I love Nix as a protagonist. She is everything that I look for when picking up a book. She is tough and ready to fight, but she also has these insecurities that don’t make her invincible. I loved Nix’s voice, the reader can understand her perfectly and she immediately captures the reader’s attention.

Kash, Kash, Kash. Can I please have him? I spoke about how much I enjoyed Kash as a character in my review of The Girl from Everywhere. And my love for him didn’t change. I loved his smoothness – if that is world. He can come into any situation and just know the right thing to say. I loved that Kash spoke so many different languages and even though he didn’t like speaking about his childhood – tried to stay close to his roots.

The romance between Nix and Kash. My heart. They are both so adorable together. I loved the slow burning love, the hesitation (most of the time). I loved that they knew so much about each other, and slowly their feelings changed. The reader is able to see how much they care for one another, even if they don’t see it themselves

Family is a big theme throughout both The Girl from Everywhere and The Ship Beyond Time. While Nix and her father have a very hard relationship, we do see their love for one another – in their own way. We don’t just see the family dynamics of those blood related, but the whole crew. I love that they all treat each other like family and grow together. I do wish there was more focus on the crew in The Ship Beyond Time though.

At times I felt that the plot was a little too slow for my liking, but then it picked up and took me on another ride. I love the whole concept of this series, how using maps they travel through time and worlds even. Another thing that I really enjoyed was how history was intertwined. I am a history buff, so seeing this even though it was altered was such fun.

Overall, The Ship Beyond Time was a fantastic read. I was taken from the first page and didn’t want to stop there. It explores family and love. It’s about coming of age and discovering who you are. With its poignant writing and characters that are just fabulous, you want to be on their journey.

Have you read The Ship Beyond Time? What did you think of it? Are you planning on reading it? Have you read The Girl from Everywhere? What did you think of that? Let’s Chat!