A world ravaged by a virus and thousands of people have been kept on large ships off the coast, in the fear that generations later they are virus carriers. The resistance is rising and fighting for their opportunity to have a life on land.

Really tense moving plot, great setting and characters I was rooting for.

I'm not always a fan of speculative fiction but I loved The Hunger Games series so this appealed to me. Having been on one cruise in my life, I can now say I'm pretty sure I'd be skeptical of another! Yes, I realize the book takes place in 2094 but people were evading "the virus" so it hits pretty close to home! I enjoyed the strong female characters, Esther and sister, May and also liked the multiple points of view as they gave varying perspectives. Good guys, bad guys, hunger, drones...what's not to like? It's an action-packed, fast-paced read and I'm actually exhausted after racing through it. But now I can't wait for a movie version to be made!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

I honestly wasn't sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed this novel! Perfect for YA and I was completely hooked from beginning to end.

DNF @ 50% - I couldn’t get past the juvenile plot and storyline. I would definitely consider this on the younger side of the YA spectrum of books. it was a copy cat of snowpiercer but for a younger generation and on a boat. I would definitely give this a try for younger age groups (around 10-14).

I received this book as an ARC and this is my review. Plunge yourself forty years in the future for this dystopic story. The characters are interesting and the situations are dark and dismal. This is a debut novel for Sarah Daniels and she does a masterful job of creating a nightmare that is believable and terrifying. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy horror and appreciate an exciting but deadly premise.

(2.5 stars)

Based on what goodreads says is two stars (it was ok) and three starts (liked it) this is a solid in between. I really liked the setting of the ship and the beginning starts off with a lot of action and hooked me immediately. Unfortunately, as the book goes on and our characters reveal more of themselves, I started to lose interest. The three separate POVs didn't make much sense to me - there's Hadley the bad guy, Nik the main boy character and a rebel, and Esther the main girl character who's just kinda some how gets wrapped up into all this. Usually in these kinds of books the POV is told from the romantically interested parties but in this Nik seems to be dating Esther's sister and Esther has her own boyfriend. Hadley's POV didn't really add much for me personally, I think I would have enjoyed this more had it been told just by Nik and Esther and maybe if Esther's sister got a POV chapter here or there.

The plot here is pretty standard, run of the mill YA dystopian band together to fight the man type scenario. In a genre where there's a lot of the YA dystopian band together to fight the man type scenarios, this one kind of just fades into the others for me but it's not bad by any means.

For me, it just had a bit of a predictable plot and some not so likeable characters but I can definitely see the appeal in it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of The Stranded in exchange for an honest review!

This is a young adult distorts book. The people that f this book have been stuck on a luxury boat for 40 years sent away from Europe which had an apocalyptic war and they are now moored by the coast of the Federated States. This book is told with three different view points. One of Ester who is a medical student hoping to be sent to the Federated States to practice medicine, Nik who is a rebel hoping to liberate the boat and Hadley who is the bad guy tormenting the citizens of the ship.

Mi really enjoyed this story! There was a lot going on, and it all came together in the end. I was interested right from the beginning and would have read it in one sitting if I hadn’t started 10:30 at night. I can’t wait for the second part of this duology comes out!

SUPER interesting and inventive world which is my favorite thing in speculative fiction!! Really looking forward to more from Sarah Daniels

An excellent debut YA thriller novel. I have gotten away from YA in the past year or so because I felt I was growing out of it so this was a refreshing read for me. I loved the dystopian setting and the Hunger Games feel. A great first novel for this author and I will be looking forward to more.

It was entertaining but not the best in this heavily populated genre. I put it down a few times but in the end did finish the book. Interesting concept, could have been better.

I lost interest in the story and didn't end up finishing it. I don't read a lot of YA, but I do enjoy the dystopian angle, but this was ultimately more action-y than world-building. I think others could enjoy it though.

I would Sourcebooks and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC.

I really wanted to like this book, but sadly I didn't enjoy it. It was slow paced and it took me a bit to figure out what was going on. We are just thrust into the story and get to explore the story without much background on what was going on. The concept was what drew me to this book, but unfortunately there wasn't much in the actual story that I enjoyed. I didn't connect to the characters or the story.

A fun, fresh take on the dystopian genre!

The story starts with a bang and only goes up from there. Daniels has created a cohesive, wonderfully contained world reminiscent of The 100. The pace is fast, the world intriguing, and I especially appreciated the themes of how constricting paranoia can be and the dangers of sacrificing freedom in the name of safety. We saw a lot of tech that’s been in other stories, but it all has a fun twist or unique compilation.

I’d highly recommend The Stranded for lovers of dystopia, ship settings, and uprisings.

Thankful to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

-A

This has been out over a month now and there are lots of helpful reviews out there already, so I'll just recommend this to YA and sci-fi fans. This is a fun one.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

I enjoyed this book. There were a few things about it that were just kind of "meh" but overall it was an enjoyable read. This was definitely a slow start for me. It took me a bit to really get into the story. Normally, I don't mind books where each chapter is a different character, but for some reason, I had a hard time keeping up with these characters in the beginning. I couldn't get a feel for who they were and what their story was. It took about a third of the book for me to finally keep up with who was who and what was what. Right at the 50% mark was where I felt like the book really picked up and I couldn't stop reading.

Another part where this book fell a bit short for me, was character development. I thought the world building was actually pretty decent. You get a good sense of the breakdown of the ship and how things are run. Esther leaves a little to be desired. In the beginning, she's just a good girl, doing what she needs to do to get by and escape the ship life. When her world gets turned upside down, it's like she just goes blank. She has no concept of what's going on around her. Then at some point after halfway, she flips a switch and tries to be more of a bad ass. It was a drastic personality switch that I wasn't sure was believable. After that big time death, Nik just gets angry and hateful. He had seemed playful and kind of jovial before, but then that death happens and he suddenly wants to like, hurt everyone and be mean.

And then there was Alex. I just straight up did not like that character. I especially did not like that bit at the end with him. He claimed to have been in love with Esther, but the way he treated her! Nope. Not buying it. You do NOT treat someone you claim to love the way that he did.. I almost wished Nik had killed him at one point. He was shady as hell, and it just didn't seem to fit the kind of person that Esther would have been with. I know that she had her doubts about him and marrying him, but man... he was just a douchebag.

In general, I thought the story flowed well. Even with the slow, rather confusing start, the movement of the plot worked in the end. I felt like maybe the end of the book was a bit rushed. Maybe I'm just used to long books too, and this could have used a few more pages. Once it got moving though, it moved! There was no stopping it after the incident with May.

I'll definitely be picking up book 2 when it comes out. There was nothing that would prevent me from letting my 11 year old read this and it'd be something I'd recommend for a quick read or for people that like a good dystopian world. I'll be excited to see what happens in book 2 and we aren't on the ship anymore. The idea of the US being split into 2 countries was interesting and I want to see how she develops that concept.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Stranded was a fun dystopian book to jump into. Now I've never been on a cruise ship before, or any boat really, so I have absolutely no idea how I would feel if I was trapped on one for years. Years people. Forty years to be exact but still, I have no idea what I would do if I was in that situation. So, it was definitely interesting to see what everyone would be like and how they would possibly escape.

Throughout the book, we get a fair amount of action which left me on the edge of my seat at times. There was definitely plenty of tension to go around as well. Whether it was between the soldiers and the rebels or with something else going on. All I really wanted to know is if Esther and Nik would make it off the ship or not. Seriously, it was constantly on my mind.

Besides that, I think the villain was okay. I can't really complain about Hadley. He was just okay in my eyes. Then again, I feel like the rebels weren't being very rebellious either. Like things felt too simple and I'm not exactly sure why. Still, it was entertaining to a point.

In the end, it did feel a bit rushed and kind of chaotic too. Somehow, I enjoyed it all and I'm very happy that I got the chance to jump into this. Will definitely be on the lookout for another book by Sarah!

I really enjoyed this book, I couldn't put it down. Definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys young adult dystopian.

An interesting idea but questionable direction.

“The Stranded” takes place 40 years after disaster where the only hope for survival is on former cruise ships as they navigate strict order and rebellion all the while keeping their eyes on the shore ahead.

There’s an even amount of strengths and weakness in this story and unfortunately I feel the scales tip to the latter in my over all feelings towards the book as a whole.

The characters are fine but fall into roles that once recognized make them somewhat predictable as the story unravels and while I was at first surprised at making the main character the sister outside of the rebellion it quickly became clear what was being set up to ruin that surprise and making it par for the course for what was to come.

I think the plot was different but I wish more info was given as to the why they ended up there, we get bits and pieces of expiation but without that the stakes involved in these plans and changing loyalties are somewhat muted because I’m not sure what they are truly fight for? Yes living under the thumb of corruption is awful but throwing in the shops and the fear of the land itself is still iffy to me making it all rather meh.

An okay read for a summer afternoon but not something I wish to pursue further.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

This is a Young Adult novel set in a dystopian future where people fled land for a ship when a deadly virus hit the world 40 years ago. Sounds a bit too close for comfort ay? It's hard to imagine at this age (I'm 36) that a couple of teenagers could lead a revolution even though I readily ate that sort of plot up when I was younger (Harry Potter, Hunger Games, etc). This was a bit slower paced than I was expecting, and I felt the details of the world building/setting the scene were lacking a little, but not a bad debut.

"The Stranded" is a dystopian read that follows the passengers of the Arcadia, an ocean liner that has been sheltering refugees who sought safety after a biological war broke out forty years ago, one that killed millions in the first week. Border walls were erected, the union was fractured, and those who were on the ship were never allowed to leave. For the last few years, a resistance has been brewing and they are ready to execute their plan, no matter the cost.

Wow! This is truly a unique book to freshen up the dystopian genre, which seems oversaturated with the same storylines. The author delivers a fantastic, action packed plot. Told from multiple points of view, with well developed and strong characters, it was very easy to get lost in the pages and become fully immersed in the danger and adventure. This book encapsulates everything one would expect from a story set in 2094, including a changed landscape, futuristic dialect, fancy gadgets and amazing technology. Without a doubt, this is my favorite dystopian read of 2022! Please tell me there is a sequel planned!

I would like to thank Sourcebooks Fire and Netgalley for providing me an advance copy ahead of its January 3, 2023 publication date in exchange for an objective review.