Esther and May are sisters that have been raised aboard the Acadia, a huge ship that harbors tons of people that have been floating at sea since a virus outbreak over 40 years ago. The sisters each harboring secrets; May is part of a rebellion that aims to free the people from the shop and Esther becomes a part of it without even knowing. Will the sisters be able to work together with their allies and boyfriends to get to land? Or will the Acadia be as doomed as so many other ships that have tried and failed for freedom?

If I had read this book prior to 2020 I would have rolled my eyes. A virus that spreads and leaves people stuck out at sea with fear of them coming back to land to spread the virus sounds absurd. That same scenario happened in my lifetime. People did exactly what the government asked of them and followed all the guidelines no matter what they had to give up in the process. Throw that in with the year being 2094 and more technology, you have this book! It was an interesting ride, for sure!

The Stranded was a very compelling and propulsive dystopian novel, and I look forward to the sequel! At first, I didn't like the multiple viewpoints, but the structure grew on me, and I don't think you could tell this story from a single character's perspective. I do wish there was a bit more background and world-building, but overall I enjoyed this book a lot and I'd recommend it to fans of The Hunger Games. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for early access!

I enjoyed the story and the different characters' points of view. I was confused a few times forgetting who was narrating. I know some readers may also find this difficult to follow. I am looking forward to reading the next book (I really hope there is another book!).

The only thing that bothered me a little was some of the saying the characters would use. I was surprised they would know the common sayings (from now) yet they were being isolated on the ship. I would think they may have had their own sayings that the people on land wouldn't understand what they meant. I guess they still had contact with those who lived on land from them coming and going from the ship. I can't remember any specific examples, but when I came across one, I would always pause and think, how would they know that if they lived on the ship all their lives? Did their grandparents tell them about that or speak in that way? And so on.

I still enjoyed the story and recommend it for all libraries.

This is a YA book for YA readers. I feel like I would have absolutely loved this book as a teen but as an adult, it just didn’t work for me. And that’s fine! I found the pacing really strange. Some parts I flew through and some parts were so slow. It took awhile to really get into the story and know what was going on. I would be interested in reading future books by this author.

For forty years, the Arcadia, once a luxury cruise ship, has been moored on the edges of what's left of America. Its residents are prohibited from leaving the ship, which has turned into a wild city in its own right. Esther, a loyal citizen, has been training to become a medic, one of the only ways to leave the ship behind. Nik, a son of rebellion, desperately wants to liberate the ship. The Arcadia is hurtling towards an ending. But will it be freedom? Or will it be death?

THE STRANDED is a dystopian debut novel that marks the beginning of a duology. It's marketed as a marriage between the 2014 movie Snowpiercer (apt) and THE HUNGER GAMES, which is a bit of a stretch. I find this book a hard one to describe without giving away too many of its secrets. 3 stars.

The novel is split into three points of view: Esther and Nik (as of this review, some editions are calling him Ben), both in first person, and the officer that oversees the ship, Hadley. In this near-future world, war has decimated Europe, and the people that were aboard cruise ships crossed oceans to anchor in what would later become a fractured version of America, unable to return to their home ports yet prohibited from making landfall. For four decades, the passengers and crew have made the ship into a city of haves and have-nots, all of them under the intense scrutiny of Federated States officers and soldiers, most of whom want them gone.

The setting of this novel is intensely interesting. A floating, rusting city with a rigid social classes, it reminded me a lot of MORTAL ENGINES (Reeve.) For me, the setting of the Arcadia is by far the high point of the novel. It gives off a strong dystopian atmosphere, one that's worn down by time and studded with fear of the conditions the people live under.

But, unfortunately, the characters of this novel failed to grab me. Esther, Nik, and Hadley are easily the characters with the most depth, but even then I didn't quite connect with them. The rest of the supporting cast have some intricacies, but they never feel fully realized.

This book is both a debut novel for the author and the beginning of a series. And so while it does have some aspects that are decidedly lacking, I can't deny that I have an interest in what happens for these characters. The book did not take the path I thought it would, and so I continue to wonder what its future holds. Some major pluses and some considerable minuses leave me hovering somewhere in the middle with this one.

Posted to Goodreads on December 15, 2022.

I have been wanting to read this one ever since I saw it on NetGalley, as I am a huge lover of dystopian novels. Safe to say, this one did not disappoint! The plot and the characters were all so interesting!

I have a love-hate relationship with multiple point-of-view books, but this one worked very well. I loved getting to see through all of the different characters' eyes and seeing their opinion on certain things. For a debut novel from Sarah Daniels, I am so impressed.

This book was definitely one of my favorite reads this year and I am crossing my fingers for a sequel because... what a cliffhanger!

I highly recommend this one!! Thank you. NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for this free arc in exchange for my honest review.

I was craving a good YA dystopian novel and I got it!

Talk about a cliff hanger!!!

Ok, enough with the exclamation points.

This story follows the path of two sisters sometime in the future. A virus causes mayhem and panic across the world and governments topple. People are stuck at sea on cruise ships and generations of families live on these ships. Many of them have never been on dry land.

I don’t want to throw any spoilers out there but I loved May and Esther’s story lines running in tandem.

I have a hard time with multiple POV’s in a book and that slowed me down a bit. I was frustrated until about halfway through. Towards the end of the book when it’s mostly Esther and Nik, I feel like the plot really started moving quickly. Then it ends and I said “what the heck I want more”.

I enjoyed the authors story telling and that this is truly a YA novel.

Can’t wait for the next one!

I received this eARC from NetGalley.

The Arcadia was once a luxury cruise ship, but is now a refugee camp for those fleeing an apocalyptic war. Not only are the survivors battling other survivors, there is also a deadly virus.
As you can imagine, with any refugee situation, there are those who have power and those who don’t.
A good premise, I wish there was more of a backsory as to how everything ended up the way it did.

I have had my eye on the debut book ever since Sourcebooks had posted it. An apocalypse on a ship.. umm yes please!

A cruise ship is now a refugee camp after an apocalyptic war broke out. For Forty years the people aboard have been refused to step foot off into land until now. Everyone on board is finding ways to survive.. so can landing finally help or make it worse.

This was such a fun, quick book I didn’t want to put down. I haven’t read a good apocalypse book in awhile. Water our main character is training to be a medic, which will help her when she’s back on land. My only downfall was the name of the ship. Just reminded me too much of Resident Evil since that was also the ships name. But all in all I enjoyed the characters and the struggles of survival and finding one’s footing.

Loved the Multiple POV, the plot in this book was pretty awesome, I loved the comparison to Hunger Games, which was the vibe I was getting. But there were parts that lagged for me, it’s a fast paced read, but it took a little longer for me to get hooked.
Thanks Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you to Sarah Daniels, the publisher, and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my review.

I was intrigued by the setting of this book, but for some reason it was really hard to get invested into the story and the characters. Usually I like a multiple POV perspectives in fantasy and thrillers, but this one did not work for me sadly.

Another YA thriller mystery has an interesting setting (cruise ship). While the plot was interesting, the multi-POV made the book drag a bit for me. Not so much because it was more than one but each sounded the same and didn't really have that compelling of a stake/individual narrative.

I can’t believe this is a debut novel, it’s so good! The suspense is amazing with the rotating POVs leaving you hanging after each chapter and the storyline was so unique and interesting. This book definitely gave me the same vibes as The Hunger Games, which was the perfect mix of nostalgia and the excitement of a new storyline in that type of world! The characters were great and I loved how we got a villain POV with Hadley. The descriptions of the ship and the social divides, politics, and acts of the rebellion were amazing and really helped readers to picture the way people functioned on the ship. Definitely recommend picking this one up!

The premise of The Stranded seemed so appealing, but unfortunately, it was underwhelming.

Apocalyptic war and a deadly virus forced passengers on board the Arcadia to reside on the former luxury cruise liner for decades. Now, the ship floats off the coast of the Federated States, and no one is allowed to disembark without special permission for fear of spreading the long-dormant virus. Wealthy passengers reside on the upper decks, while the impoverished lives on the lower levels.

Esther is a training medic, studying hard so she can try to get off the ship and secure a job on land.

Nic is deep into planning a rebellion.

Hadley is the commander, in charge of keeping order on the ship, and will do so at any cost.

This YA thriller is fast-paced and has multiple POVs.

I thought I would enjoy it more than I did. It lacks character development. Many of the characters were merely caricatures of good versus evil. Especially Hadley. He’s identical to every villain in a poorly acted budget action film.

I’m not sure why I thought the virus would take up more pages, but alas, it was only mentioned a few times. Maybe it will play a larger role in the next instalment, but I don’t think I’ll be continuing the series.

The last 80 pages were top-tier action, but again, not enough to motivate me to stick with the series.

Some YA books can be enjoyed by all ages, but I’d only recommend this to those that really adore YA. It reads on the younger side, even though it has some darker content.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://booksandwheels.com

Esther is a med-student, but instead of being at university or a hospital, her classes are on the ship she and her family live on---the same ship she’s lived her whole life on. Nik has also spent his full life on this ship, but he and his family are on the side of the rebels, the group planning to take the ship ashore and liberate all of the passengers. After the war, the ship has remained off the coast of the Federated States, but now Esther and Nik are forced to work together since Esther’s role as a do-gooder are going to try and do some good for the other side. A YA novel set in a dystopian future, the book moves fast, not always clear on why everyone has been stranded out to sea (other than perhaps a vague political threat). At times, a little difficult to follow just due to the hectic running around and the chaos of the scenes. Definitely held my interest, so I will likely read the second book, coming out next year.

Special Note: Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a YA Snowpiercer on a cruise ship. I don't now...I've tried to read it twice now, and each time can't seem to get invested in the characters or the plot. The worldbuilding feels off to me and I can't quite wrap my head around what and why anything is happening.

Sorry to say this isn't for me.

I went into this book based solely on what the cover looked like. I envisioned a spooky, haunted cruise ship and that is not at all what this book is about. The story is set in the future after a pandemic. Families who were already on a luxury cruise ship were awarded the chance to stay in their purchased rooms and live out their lives safe and away from the sickness on land. After 40 years at sea, the refugees on the ship are becoming restless and anxiously awaiting their turn to return to land. Gangs run the bottom levels of the ship, drones are constantly monitoring peoples' actions, and one wrong move could mean death. When a certain group of people attempt a mutiny, it brings disastrous consequences to everyone on board.

I really wanted to like this book, but it took me FOREVER to read and I was so glad when it was over. The chapters were written from multiple POVs and it was very hard to keep the characters straight. Nothing really happened for the majority of the story, and by the time something did happen I was too confused to care. This just wasn't for me!

⭐️💫 I loved the cover. I loved the synopsis. I just really didn’t love the book.

I was really looking forward to this one, but I was disappointed. A YA dystopian book set on a ship at anchor where no one can leave to prevent a virus, a rebel group is secretly operating to take over. I think it’s a great idea for a book, but the story never came together for me. I didn’t think that the backstory was explained well and I was left confused.

Themes: 🚢🦠

My thoughts: 🤔🫡🥱😞

@netgalley
#netgalley
#goodreads
#readersofinstagram

I thought the beginning of the book was just a lot of information and could be toned down but as I got into the story I couldn’t put it down and the. It ends, looking forward to a possible series! Very interesting concept! Worth a read!

The Stranded is going to be the next big hunger games. The story takes place on the Arcadia, a ship outside of the Federated States. Generations have lived on this ship because Europe is a wasteland and the Federated states are worried about a virus that hasn’t been seen in recent history.

Buckle up, it’s a doozy!