The Hunger Games meets Station Eleven? Umm not really. There might have been a bit of Snowpiercer vibes but just very mildly. Appealing premise, but the execution just seemed lacking and the story wasn't propulsive at all. It's a supposedly dystopian universe but didn't feel cut-throat. There was action but I didn't feel tense. There was a body count but I didn't feel sad.

I didn't care for any of the characters and found Esther particularly annoying. There was one part where another character thinks, "She's pathetic — a jelly mess wallowing in self-pity. I resist the urge to kick her." LMAO I felt that. The only interesting person to me was Hadley.

There was also a lot of wasted opportunity: Unsatisfactory world-building as I wanted so much more details and background. No twists, turns and morally grey characters despite an intricate plot. Highlighting of social issues as such racism and displacement that didn't really go anywhere.

Overall, this was a dull read that I slogged through. Ugh, the cliffhanger!

Sarah Daniels’ The Stranded has a nostalgic feel, a harkening back to the dystopian era YA books I couldn’t seem to get enough of ten years ago when The Hunger Games and Divergent were all the rage. And I didn’t mind the revisit one bit.

While it’s not perfect and it took me the first twenty percent of the book to learn all the characters, once I committed to the story, I was engaged and entertained. This one does have a slow build, but the pay off is worth the trek.

The reader gets the story of the stranded Arcadia from three different points of view: Esther, a sixteen year old medic student with the sole focus of getting herself and her boyfriend Alex off the ship; Nik, a young rebel working behind the scenes with his mother to overthrow the corrupt leadership; and Hadley, the corrupt leader. I enjoyed Esther and Nik’s points of view, but I found myself wanting to skim Hadley’s. Thankfully his chapters are mostly short and quick, but I personally would have preferred the book without his sections.

Esther and Nik are flawed and well-rounded, making human choices with consequences, and I appreciated their story arcs. Esther’s transformation from a naive student to someone more integral to the rebellion is believable and compelling. Nik’s determination to protect May, Esther’s older sister, and then Esther because of his love for May, is the heartbeat of the story.

While there’s plenty of action throughout the story, it was in the last twenty percent of the book that I suddenly didn’t want to set it down, taking the book with me to read everywhere I went. Daniels doesn’t leave us on too big of a cliffhanger, wrapping up the main climax of the book, but we are left with plenty to ponder until the sequel is released, once again reminding me of my days spent reading and anticipating my favorite dystopian series. A solid story, well-written and layered, I could see this one on the big screen, as well.

Why is this book so long??

Seriously, this book just never ends. And there was no real reason for it. Maybe it wouldn’t have felt so long if the characters had been better developed- they were all just kind of there. I didn’t care what happened with anyone … in fact I found myself rooting for the virus, even though the virus was rarely mentioned.

Then I hear it’s part of a series? Why? With how many pages were in this book I don’t see why we couldn’t just get the whole story. And it’s SLOW. So slow. So so slow. I see others saying it’s fast paced but I do not know where this fast pace is. I see where it should be, but it was still so slow - even when it was action packed.

This is generally my wheelhouse and maybe that’s why I’m disappointed. This just didn’t deliver. Between the multiple POVs there was so much going on but at the same time nothing really happened. It was just weird. Not a fan.

I can imagine this might make a solid audiobook though. If there are multiple narrators adding their emotions to the characters, maybe I could get into this. But in my own head, it just wasn’t there.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ebook copy.

A dystopian novel set at sea? We all knew this was going to be my jam, right? Well, it was. I found it very exciting and wildly entertaining, and when I found out there was to be a sequel, I was extra sold, because I cannot wait to find out more about the world at large (my one minor qualm with this book, actually- I just wanted to know all the things!)

When we meet Esther, she is living her regular life, aboard the Arcadia ship, just as she always has. And apparently, as folks before her have... for over forty-three years. This floored me, because can you even imagine, having to spend your entire life on a cruise ship? Those cabins are tiny, friends! And they're certainly not going anywhere fun- they just hang out off the coast of the former Eastern United States, and I am pretty sure if they try to go anywhere better, they'd be met with certain annihilation.

Anyway, as you can imagine, not everyone on board this ship wants to be there. In fact, pretty much no one does. There are a few options to get off though: in Esther's case, she is trying to earn her way ashore by being a top medic. The thing is, as is the case with so many political entities, this one isn't on the up and up, and Esther's dreams may be over before they begin. Nik, on the other hand, is a member of the rebellion, and he knows exactly how sketchy the Powers That Be™ are. He's under no illusion that he or anyone will be allowed to casually go work on the mainland. And via her sister, Esther gets caught up in the rebellion, even when she isn't quite sure she agrees with it.

I shan't tell you more, but know that this book is absolutely action packed! Esther is never sure who she can trust (and neither is the reader!), and the stakes could not be higher for every last person on the ship. Esther goes through a lot during the course of the story, and faces a lot of morally ambiguous decisions. I could not put this book down, and I am so very excited to get to the sequel, and learn all the things about the world!

Bottom Line: Right up my alley, with an intense, high stakes dystopian adventure with great characters and a very intriguing world.

A good read that takes you to a different type of world where you need to be careful about everything that you do. It's a story about playing the game to survive and go on to a better place.

A cruise ship is turned into a long term community after a virus swept Europe, and the Federated States (formerly the USA) refuses to let the inhabitants disembark for fear of infection. It floats off the coast, hopeful that things will get better for them. The new society on the boat is based around the deck levels and the wealth accumulated on board, and there is an uprising brewing.

This is a great debut, action packed Young Adult thriller. I loved the short chapters with multiple POVs. The relationships between the protagonists were complicated and intertwined, making it a page turner. The world building was really cool, and it sucked me in right away. The Neath sounded like a place I would definitely want to avoid. It did irk me a bit that the ship was called Arcadia, which is the same name for the spaceship in The 100 series which is also dystopian young adult fiction. I also found the dynamic between Nik and Esther pretty odd, but obviously it was foreshadowing. I will be picking up the next in this series when it is released!

This had hunger games vibes but make it a little creepier. The writing wasn't my style, but I can see others finding a lot to love!

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley. Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for the opportunity to review this book. As always all opinions expressed are my own.

This was a solid debut in a new dystopian YA series. I don't think I've ever read a book that takes place on a cruise ship that wasn't a luxurious vacation setting. The description of Snowpiercer meets Hunger Games caught my attention immediately, as I loved The Hunger Games, and while I've only watched a few episodes of Snowpiercer I find it compelling. The author does a good job laying out the dystopian world and the dire circumstances that the inhabitants of the Arcadia find themselves in. Similar to the previously mentioned titles, something bad happened and refugees have found themselves surviving on the Arcadia, some having more privilege and opportunity than others, and everyone is doing their best to make it to the next day.

This is told from 3 POVs, Ester who is training to be a medic and hoping to attend medical school on dry land. The top trainees in her class will be sent to school onshore to continue their training as part of the agreement they've made with the Federated States. Ester is loyal to a fault and trusts everyone to do what they are supposed to and not break the rules. Nik, is part of the rebellion, he's tied to Ester but she doesn't know it yet. Then we have Hyland, the ship's head of security and a ranking officer of the Federated States. He has a personal vendetta against the residents of Arcadia and will do anything to achieve his goals.

This has a solid plot. I did find the pacing a bit too slow for my tastes, but it does pick up towards the end as things start to happen. I feel like this would have been better with 2 POVs vs 3, I don't feel like Hadley's POV offered us anything that we didn't learn in conversation with the other characters. I do feel as if there was a bit of repetition of information that caused the pace to drag here and there, but by the end I was completely invested in the rebellion and what comes next. I do think the character development lacked a bit. I'm hoping we get to see more development of the characters and players in the next installment.

This is a bit on the dark side, but it is dystopian so it is to be expected. There is violence and mention of blood thought it isn't overly graphic. I think it would be great for an older teenage audience, I'd let my 14 year old read it.

I'm looking forward to seeing where Ester and Nik and story takes us in the next installment. I think this story and the author have a ton of potential and I'm looking forward to what they have instore for us next.

I've lost interest in this. didn't understand how the politics were supposed to work. Or how there were so many groups of people and classes on a cruise ship.

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC of this book for my honest opinion

What would you do if you were on a cruise ship when a virus and war happened and there is nowhere to go now? Do you make your society out of the levels on the ships? How do you keep people in line and make a way for the young ones to grow up with a future to someday be able to be on land again.

I thought this book was good from the start of the book to the end. There were a few times that I thought it slowed down but for me it allowed me the time to stop and really be able to process everything that just happened so fast. This book you will see the POV from 3 different characters with 3 different roles to play in this new world order. Esther, who is a smart 16-year-old, has her mind set on being a medical cadet so she can get a place in a medical school on land, she follows all the rules. Nik, who is a young adult who is a rebel, wants things to change and isn’t scared to ruffle a few feathers to get the action going to get off this ship which he considers is a prison. Hadley is in charge of keeping all the residents in line, he uses drones and soldiers to get this point across, and that point is you step out of line or else.

I thought Esther was a great character however, I really didn’t see much character development from her until around the end of the book. Nik’s character did have the most development from the way he was seeing and thinking about things. I didn’t like Hadley at all, and I can think of a lot of different ways he could have managed that ship. The plot for the book reminded me a lot of hunger games/divergent, where they have their group of people who are wanting something different, but they don’t know how to get it and things always go off course. The plot was a little slow in some parts then bam you’re in the thick of it and left wondering what will happen next. However, with all the action, drama, tragic heartbreaking scenes, with evil governments, social issues, and truly evil people, will draw you in and leave you wanting to know what happens next. Oh, I must know what happens next because of that ending!!
I will be picking up book 2 when it comes out that is for sure.

I want to thank Netgalley and Sarah Daniels for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I loved the first half of this book. I was in it. The story was fast-paced, I was invested in all the characters, and I was really excited for the plot and to see where it was going. But half way through something was lost and I wasn't really sure what the overall goal was of the Coalies and then what Esther/Nik were fighting for. Because of that I felt a bit lost, but was still excited to see where things went. I was a bit disappointed in the ending, and again I think that was partly because I just didn't know if the goals had been met.

**Did not finish, review based on first 52%**

I was really excited to read this book based on the synopsis alone. I love post-apocalyptic dystopians, and The Stranded by Sarah Daniels is just that, set forty years after an apocalyptic war left passengers stranded on their luxury cruise liner. Now it floats off the coast of what is left of the United States (now the Federated States) hoping to one day dock and let its passengers off. Told from multiple points of view, the story unfolds with a sense of urgency as it follows Esther, a hopeful one day medic, and Nik, the son of a rebel.

What I enjoyed
I liked the setting, everything that happened up to where I stopped reading occurred on the boat. This luxury cruise liner is their home. The main characters have never been on dry land or another boat even. As a result, food and all resources are scarce. Nik and Esther were born on the boat, but to two very different classes which are divided by ticketed passengers and refugees. Refugees had no rooms, slept in the halls, and led a failed rebellion. Now they live in the lowest parts of the ship, planning another rebellion. Exciting right?

Where I wanted more
I struggled with this one. There is so much happening and with the multiple POV as the reader we get a lot of info that the other characters aren't privy to. Where this failed for me is the delivery. This is a long book, full of details that slow the plot down. That sense of urgency I felt on page one did not carry through the rest of the book. I found myself dreading reading because it became a chore. This was why I finally decided to abandon ship *pun intended*

Overall, The Stranded is well written, exciting at parts, and the plot itself is intriguing. I could see myself going back and attempting to read this one at another time, but not right now. If you are a fan of detail heavy plots and multiple POV, you may enjoy this one more than I did.

I loved the premise of this one - in a dystopian future, refugees from a war waged with an infectious agent have been trapped on a formerly luxurious cruise ship for multiple generations. Extremely original, as well as timely, given the current pandemic. The story was fairly action-packed and well-paced. I did find the multiple viewpoints a bit confusing at times, and the ending of the book ending in a massive cliffhanger felt rushed. Overall, a solid 4-star read for me, and I'll be looking forward to picking up the sequel.

Immediately after reading I ordered this title for my middle school library. We had fallen off the dystopian genre for a while, but I think The Stranded will increase interest. So many students have a strong attraction to stories with weight to them. The haves and have-nots will resonate in a way that hits home - especially since so many middle-class students can understand the concept of a cruise ship - which is really a strong metaphor and not too complicated for a middle school student to grasp.

A fun concept that just didn't work for me in the end.

The Stranded takes place on a Luxury Cruise Liner that has been at sea for forty years following a deadly virus sweeping the world. As the passengers become restless the bones of an uprising begin to form. Following multiple POV's you get a sense of the current state of society and how life works on the ship.

I think I had realistic expectations for The Stranded going in. I assumed it would be a faced paced YA thriller, with a dash of dystopian nostalgia. Unfortunately the characters felt flat and the story felt lengthy and slow.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

The Stranded
by Sarah Daniels
Pub Date: 03 Jan 2023

The premise of this book sounded intriguing...for forty years people have been stranded on a ship due to a virus. The world building and character development however just didn't fully deliver. We have three main narrators: Esther, a medic in training, Nic, the son of a rebellion leader, and Hadley, "the evil guy"...I was just hoping for more overall, even though the last part of the book did pick up the pace with the suspense and an ending that leaves you wanting to know more. I would be willing to take a chance on the next book.

3 stars

It’s been a while since I found a good dystopian that hooked me from the beginning. THE STRANDED by Sarah Daniels delivered so many things that I look forward to in these kinds of books — an apocalyptic event, bleak and hopeless atmosphere, and the threat of revolution, all set within a perfectly oppressive and claustrophobic former cruise ship floating in the middle of the ocean.⁣
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The Arcadia has been afloat for 40 something years after an event forced people to either board, or stay aboard, cruise ships. Supplies are brought from land through by the Federated States, which was once a part of the former United States. Every year, a small handful of ship residents are able to relocate to land for work or school, much like Ester and her sister, but residents aboard the ship have had enough. With the threat of revolution in the air, Esther’s chances for finally getting off the ship are threatened. ⁣
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The story switches between the POV’s of Esther, Nik, and Hadley, and while each one is fighting for something different, their causes eventually force them together. I really enjoyed getting inside each of their heads and seeing not only what drives them, but also their weaknesses and the thing that would prevent them from wanting to leave the ship. There’s action, danger, and intrigue as the ship is thrown into chaos, and residents lives are in danger, Esther’s and Nik’s included. ⁣
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Bottom line — a great first installment that delivers plenty of adventure and intrigue, while also giving the reader plenty to think about. I can’t wait to see how the story continues in THE EXILED. Thanks so much to @netgalley and @sourcebooksfire for the digital arc!

This was such an unexpected wild ride. I found the premise and setting so refreshing. It really made me think what it would be like to be stranded on a cruise ship for extended amounts of time. I feel like I would get cabin fever easily. So, I don’t know how these characters survived decades aboard one especially in such disrepair. This book follows multiple characters POVs with one viewpoint being the main villain of the story. I really enjoyed seeing the ship through the eyes of such different characters. I do wish there was just a little more backstory of the world and some of the side characters. However, this is a first book in a series so I’m hopeful that we will find out answers as we go along. This book ended on a cliffhanger. I can’t wait for book two!

Title: The Stranded
Author: Sarah Daniels
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Rating: 4 out of 5

Welcome to the Arcadia.

Once a luxurious cruise ship, it became a refugee camp after being driven from Europe by an apocalyptic war. Now it floats near the coastline of the Federated States - a leftover piece of a fractured USA.

For forty years, residents of the Arcadia have been prohibited from making landfall. It is a world of extreme haves and have nots, gangs and make-shift shelters.

Esther is a loyal citizen, working flat-out to have the rare chance to live a normal life as a medic on dry land. Nik is a rebel, planning something big to liberate the Arcadia once and for all.

When events throw them both together, their lives, and the lives of everyone on the ship, will change forever . . .

I enjoyed this dystopian read—not sure I’ve read anything with a setting quite like this. Esther is more than a bit naïve—sometimes willfully so—so focused on her pie-in-the-sky dreams of the future that she closes her eyes against reality. The setting and the tangle of rules and micro-cultures on the ship were the most fascinating parts of this story for me, but I liked the main characters, too. Lots of action here, and I’m looking forward to reading the next book.

Sarah Daniels is from the UK. The Stranded is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review.)

When a global pandemic broke out that turned into a war, the passengers on the cruise ship Arcadia were not allowed to make landfall. Forty years later, the ship remains in the water near the Federated States—part of what was once the United States—and the refugees and their descendants still live onboard amid corrupt leadership and law enforcement. Esther is focused on one thing—excelling at her medical studies so she can earn a coveted spot in a medical school on land. Nik is part of the rebellion trying to liberate the ship. When the two of them are unexpectedly brought together, they realize that they will have to risk their lives to try saving the people they love.

The premise of the book is imaginative and compelling, and I enjoyed the descriptions of the ship itself and the ways it’s transformed in the past forty years. Unfortunately, I felt that the development of the story didn’t live up to its potential. I never got a clear understanding of how life on the ship operated, what exactly was at stake, why anyone wanted to go on land when the Federated States were painted to be the enemy, and what the exact goal of the rebellion was. Though I understood liberation as the ultimate goal, I don’t feel that it was clearly explained what liberation would entail, what it would mean for passengers, what would happen to the enemy after they were defeated, and what would happen next. It felt as though there was more action than plot in a book that needed plot to make complete sense.

Perhaps some of my confusion will be cleared up in the next book in this series, but I don’t feel invested enough at this point to continue reading. I would recommend this to readers who love action-packed YA stories and don’t need a strong plot to hold their attention, but the lacking character development left me wanting more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.