Could not put this down. 
 Bacigalupi's imagined dystopian world is horrifying in the way the best dystopia are - where you can truly imagine this as a future. Environmental damage has cities disappearing under rising tides, and a war rages all around - fought by child soldiers armed with acid and machetes. This is a war that could be happening somewhere in the world right now. Those left to survive in the war ravaged land hang on to life by their fingernails always at the mercy of the next band of boy soldiers who passes through. 
 This is a dark and gritty book. While it occurs in the same universe as Ship Breaker it is really a companion novel rather than a sequel - Tool, the halfman/dog hybrid providing a bridge between the two books. Drowned Cities has a wider scope, the themes are bigger and the overall atmosphere is heavier, the violence more shocking. Definitely one that will linger in my mind.