The setting of the book was really interesting. Held under Draconian government rule the inhabitants of the Arcadia live in a nightmare. The Arcadia was once a luxurious cruise ship... until 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. The story jumps from one character to the next. Ben is a rebel, planning something big to liberate the Arcadia once and for all. We follow Ester and Nik as they lead the forefront of the underground movement to rid the ship of their oppressors. Fast paced and well written, ending with an obvious nod to a sequel.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the opportunity to read this book! Unfortunately The Stranded just wasn't for me. I'm not sure if it was my attention span or if the pacing was just too slow, but I could never really get hooked into the story.

This one was not my usual style, but I am for it! This one was great and had me turning the pages! Awesome debut.

This is a great dystopian novel about a remnant of Earth's surviving population stranded on a ship for decades after a devastating outbreak on land. You have a society of different classes on the ship, as well as the ruling body of land-dwellers who control the fate of the ship dwellers. Those on the ship want to integrate with the survivors on land, but are repeatedly denied the opportunity due to the (unlikely) risk of contamination, The main characters are Nik and May (cadets of the rebellion, working behind the scenes to free those living on the Arcadia), and Esther and Alex (medics-in-training that don't want to jeopardize their educational pursuits). The characters push-and-pull on each other, and their individual choices have dramatic effects on each other and on the living situation of those on the ship. This is a great novel with a lot of moving parts, working together to reach an inevitable collision between the two sides. A fully engaging read that left me hanging because I just have to know what happens next!

Pacing in the first third was super slow and left me confused at times. Also, sorry to say, but Esther is unlikeable with her dithering and anxiety. Overall though, it is a decent book, best for those rainy days when it’s too much effort to get off the couch.

The Stranded is a crazily realistic story that transports you to a dystopian world with little hope for the future. In Stranded, we are introduced to the Arcadia - previously a large cruise from Europe. 40 years after a world war and deadly virus has decimated the Earth, the Arcadia is now packed with refugees and floating listlessly off the coast of what was previously the United States. The dwellers of the Arcadia are divided by class, with those who paid for first class seats still able to access the boats decks and what amenities are left quite easily, leaving the crew and the lower class dwellers "The 'Neaths" to scramble for food and space. The Ship has not been able to negotiate a landing for the refugees aboard and as the resources dwindle the ship dwellers are spinning toward mutiny

Esther is an Aracadian hoping to make it off the ship via her desire to study to become a doctor. She is unwittingly dragged into the ship rebellion. It's chaotic and exciting and the perfect Ya novel. If you like dystopia, new worlds and strong heroines, The Stranded is for you! . #sourcebooks

It was a full-speed ride from start to finish with almost no room to breathe. We were tossed from one POV to other POV from each characters and I enjoyed it a lot!
Reading The Stranded was a little confusing for first few chapters as I tried to figure out both the world building and the characters, but it got easier the longer I read, and before I realized I have finished it! It was intense and heartbreaking, and I like it a lot. My fav characters are probably Nikhil and May!
Overall, it was amazing suspense dystopian!

New read read this author before, but I definitely will in the future. Such a chilling book, and such a great book. I was engaged from the very beginning

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy. I am always all-in for dystopias, abandoned/falling apart locations, and thriller vibes, so I was excited for this. Unfortunately, I did struggle a bit with the world building. I'm not sure if I missed something or if it wasn't communicated, but I didn't understand why certain things were happening.

In particular: why would they punish people for being near the flyer drop? Even in a world where extreme censorship exists, wouldn't the people in charge realize their own allies could unwittingly be in a bad place at a bad time?

I also struggled a bit to understand why the characters were doing what they were doing. We were tossed straight into the plot, but I didn't really know what the characters wanted or why they had chosen the sides they had (and what the background context was to those decisions and the world).

In short: I struggled to suspend my disbelief and understand some of the context of the book.

Ultimately, I started skimming the book after a few chapters, hoping to get to some answers that would anchor me to the story - and then I eventually DNFed because I still felt confused. I may circle back and try this again at another time, because I strongly believe sometimes it's not the book but the reader. But on this first attempt, I struggled.

pace was really sloww so I had to DNF but the plot was great so I will pick this up again for another try

Unfortunately this wasn't my cup of tea. The world-building was too weak for such a solid concept and the pace was also way too slow. Other readers could end up liking this, but I was disappointed.

The Arcadia was once a cruise ship, an apocalyptic war happened and now the ship contains refugees from the war. The ship houses different types of groups inside, the have and the have nots. Esther dreams of being on dry land and she wants to become a medic to help fulfill this dream. Meanwhile, Nik has other plans and his plans drags Esther into his chaos. For forty years the ship has stayed near the new Federated states and the refugees are condemned to stay on the ship. A dystopian thriller with compelling characters and plot. An imaginative pager turner.

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for this ARC, I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was an entertaining book, which can be recommended to readers who enjoyed The Hunger Games and Divergent. I’m assuming that a sequel is in the works? Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Since this book's publication date has been pushed back, I moved it back on my own reading pile. I look forward to sampling it soon. I have already started buzz about it through reader's advisory at my library for readers who enjoyed The Hunger Games and are anxiously awaiting the release of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes movie.

When I read this book, I will post a review on Goodreads and tag NetGalley in the review there.

Screenwriters, please make this awesome book into a movie!!!

The Stranded is an action-packed, edge-of-your-seat dystopian thriller about people that are trapped on a ship for many years. They are being quarantined because of a virus that isn’t even a threat anymore and they are being detained and controlled by a corrupt government. The people on the ship have separated themselves based on wealth- some have a chance to attend school, some receive military training, gangs run wild and others scrape by on whatever they can get their hands on. Nothing is as it seems and everyone seems to be living lies. Some of the ship’s residents have joined forces and become the rebellion and are trying to take down the government and find freedom and survival. I love the combination of old relics and futuristic technology throughout this book! The plot is deep and full of surprising twists too. I couldn’t put it down (except I had to for work) and I was not ready for it to end! Thank you NetGalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don't do this often, but I did not finish this book. The description had Nik and Esther working together, but I got 25 chapters in and they still are not.
It is a very detailed - very long book.
I think it would probably be a great TV mini-series, but it is just too long. I read for my students, and they will not read a book that is 464 pages.

After reading the description of Sarah Daniels' "The Stranded", I was immediately excited by the idea of this near-future dystopia. Heralded as a mix of "The Hunger Games" and "Station Eleven", this book had the potential to be something great.

Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. I found that there were a lot of plot holes that caused certain expanses of the book to happen dreadfully slowly while other portions occurred much too fast. Many elements did not add up and there was a lack of depth to the character arcs.

While I did enjoy certain aspects of this book, I simply feel it was missing something essential for it to be great.

This not-so-distant-future dystopian novel takes recent real events and fleshes them out to the worst possible scenario. A horrible disease has ravished the world while the Arcadia, a pleasure cruise, sails the seas. Decades have gone by and peoples lives have gone on all while stuck aboard the ship, unable to dock for political and world health reasons. What emerges over the years is an unfair class system, and a brewing rebellion is finally ready to take action. Cool technology and strong characters await this plot-driven novel!

I thought “The Stranded” by Sarah Daniels was an interesting book but overall it was just an okay read for me. I didn’t have any expectations going into the story other than knowing it’s dystopian and intrigued by the idea of being quarantined on a cruise ship.

The story picks up in the year 2094 off the coast of the Federated States (a split of the US) with the survival of inhabitants and their descendants who were on a cruise ship 40 years ago when war broke out in Europe. The ship fled to the States where they hoped to find refuge but instead were forced into a martial law quarantine for 40 years. The story revolves around the rebellions attempt to free the people of the ship.

What I really did like about the story was the author’s use of multiple POVs (which I’m not usually a fan of). We get to see a naïve teenager learn the truth of her life, a young rebel, and the commander of the ship’s security forces (also known as the bad guy). I like that we get to see the development and frustration of each of the characters and I think the author did a fantastic job moving seamlessly from character to character to portray the events happening.

There’s plenty of young love, heartbreak, and betrayal in the story and that definitely kept my interest, but overall there was nothing super exciting about the story. I noticed the author mentioned this is a duology so I’d probably read the next one since the ending left me with so many questions.

This was a lot more YA fantasy than the creepy drama stuff that I like. Perhaps suitable for a younger person or one that likes a fantasy series. As I go back and read the summary, I know it was my mistake. I got more of a locked room mystery vibe at first.

It was still perfectly splendid! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.