I enjoyed the use of multiple POVs, the pacing and how the story both wrapped up nicely while allowing for the possibility of a future adventure.

I don't even know where to start with this book! I love YA dystopian novels and this one did not disappoint! The premise was so good and so original! Esther, May, and Nik are stuck on a boat, and have been since their grandparents boarded the ship 40 years ago. This novel was a quick read with lots of twists and turns. I loved that it switched between the main characters. I couldn't stop reading this book and I am dying for the sequel!

This book was so good! There are multiple perspectives told from four teens throughout the book about people who had been stranded on a cruise ship forty years before and not allowed to disembark due to a horrible virus.
After bio-weapons create a pandemic, thousands of refugees are stranded on cruise ships and not allowed back on to land. Forty years later, a group of rebels works to gain their freedom from the life they know. There was a high level of suspense and dystopian feel and would recommend this to anyone!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This is my favorite read to date from NetGalley!!! The story follows four teens in a post-apocalyptic world surviving on z cruise ship decades after a pandemic has torn apart the United States. The balance of young love and riveting action that keeps you on the edge of your seat is perfection. You won't want to put it down! I got to the very last page and all I wanted was more, another book to see what happens next.

The events of The Stranded take place in a dystopian future. After bio-weapons create a pandemic, thousands of refugees are stranded on cruise ships and not allowed back on to land. Forty years later, a group of rebels works to gain their freedom. Esther was born on the ship Arcadia, and her one chance to escape to land is to be at the top of the class to become a medic. Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worse before she can do so. She's always been loyal to the Federated States, but after meeting rebel Nik, she realizes that things aren't what they seem. The intriguing premise of this novel pulled me in right from the beginning. Lots of action, set in a creepy dystopian world-- it's right up my alley. I greatly enjoyed this journey, and am excited to see what happens next.

I rarely find that I can’t finish a book and this was one of those rare cases. The setup was too slow.

What a unique & adventurous read! Amazing what can happen all on a cruise ship.

Dystopian adventure where generations of people are stranded on cruise ships begging the government to allow them to land. Trapped, enslaved, starved ...and no closer to being allowed on land, what would you do?

This book was excellent! Full of a wide variety of characters and heart-pounding action.

My only problems: lack of LGBTQ rep, a few typos and some slow bits.

Will definitely read the next book.

When I first started reading this book I did not know it was going to be a duology. So currently kind of sad that I finished the book, and now have to wait for the second book 😅.

I absolutely loved this book, and it was something I wasn't expecting. In the past few years I have found that I love any book that happens on a ship. It is just a different atmosphere that I'm not used too.

Right from the beginning I loved this book. It just threw you in from the start, and absolutely captivates you. I can't wait for this bookto come out and for more people to read it.

The Arcadia, a cruise ship turned refugee camp, has been floating in the Atlantic for 40 years after it escaped an apocalyptic bio-war in Europe. The Federated States (a fraction of what once was the USA) has been keeping the passengers of the ship quarantined and under Martial Law for fear of spreading the deadly virus, but what they don’t know is there is a rebel cause brewing to free all the citizens of the Arcadia once and for all.

This book had such an interesting concept. I love dystopian novels and this one did not disappoint!

I also very much appreciated that the author was inspired by events during the pandemic, but created their own world and story from that inspiration. I’ve read too many books this past year or so that feel like I’m reading a play by play of exactly what happened in real life. So thank you for the creativity!

The world building was phenomenal. I truly felt like I was on The Arcadia from the first chapter and I understood how this future world worked.

I also very much appreciated the three different perspectives. We got to see everything from the rebel, law enforcement, and normal citizen’s point of view, which added so many wonderful layers to the story. All of these characters felt so real and fleshed out. I could related to each and everyone one of them.

I did struggle near the end when all the action was happening and it was flipping back and forth from Ester’s and Nik’s perspective. I had trouble being able to tell who’s point of view we were in. Yes, each chapter was labeled with a name, but for some reason during that part I would find myself getting lost in the middle of the chapters.

I also, wish there would have been more backstory about what happened to get the world to where it is now. There was some, but I feel like it would have made the story so much stronger if we knew more about the past. I’m always a sucker for backstory, though, so that might just be me.

All in all I really enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel (at least there better be a sequel, because it left us on a huge cliffhanger!). I would recommend this book to anyone who likes YA sci-fi/fantasy, YA dystopian fantasy, or YA action/suspense. It really reminded me of the “Legend” series by Marie Lu, the “Matched” trilogy by Ally Condie, and it had a similar vibe to “The Maze Runner” series by James Dashner. So if you enjoyed any of those series I think you would enjoy this book as well!

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and statements are my own.

The Stranded by Sarah Daniels is the first novel by this author. It's about the Arcadia, a once luxurious cruise ship that became a refugee camp after being driven from Europe by an apocalyptic war. When events throw Esther and Nik (the two main characters) together, their lives, and the lives of everyone on the ship, change forever.

I think it is a good debut dystopian novel. The story contained good action and a very interesting premise. The story had satisfying twists, and it was scary to think this could happen in our future. There are some parallels to today and the virus and laws trying to stifle people's civil liberties.

I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 and would recommend this story to other dystopian readers.

#NetGalley @SourcebooksFire

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this galley.

When I first saw the cover of this novel, I was getting “Ghost Ship” kind of vibes. What it turned out to be, instead, was a fantastically fast-paced and action-packed near future dystopian, with well thought of characters and a fantastic story.

The Arcadia is a massive ship that traveled 40 years ago from Europe to become stationed and helped by then America, now the Federated States, when a virus broke out. The Federated States do not allow the citizens of Arcadia onto the mainland, unless for certain work opportunities. The atmosphere on the ship is grim, with various class discrepancies, and citizens of the ship are subject to many inequities and frustration.

The story is told from three perspectives. Most will speak of Esther and Nik, but to me the most interesting perspective of our villain Hadley. Hadley is the anti-rebel out to seek and eliminate any forms of rebellion on the ship. I’ve said it time and time again, a good villain is the main element in bringing together the protagonists of a story, and Hadley is an excellently sinister and well written villain. Then there’s teenaged Nik whose mother is a pioneer of the rebellion, and also teenaged Esther who is the rule abiding citizen studying hard to become a medic. When Esther, always on the straight and narrow, is kidnapped by the rebellion to help save a certain prominent rebellion member’s life (no spoilers!), she finds herself inadvertently engaged in the rebellion.

The story had great twists and turns, and it kept me turning the pages. I loved that the book clearly ended in an open-ended sort of manner, leaving the door open for a part 2 (and eventually more, I would hope, as a fan!). Highly recommend this YA dystopian!!!

I can see why people love this, don't get me wrong. I, however, did not like this, hah. This book is pretty fast paced, which I appreciated as it was one of the few things keeping me going. The characters are all pretty irritating, and the world just felt under baked--I really needed more world-building or lore, because I found myself asking a lot of questions/being confused and the answer could have just been world-building. I felt like the characters sort of lost me once it felt like every interaction was just bickering. And their plan to save the ship/get off of it was...not great. I wanted to love this, this was one of my most anticipated upcoming reads, but while the book had a strong start it nearly immediately lost me. I would love to check out more from this author, though, because their ideas are great and hopefully are just executed a little better going forward.

I don't typically read YA, but this cover had me RUNNING to the summary. Nothing like a great cover to pique interest. Once I saw that The Stranded is a near-future dystopian thriller, I just had to give it a read and it did not disappoint.

The Arcadia cruise ship turned refugee camp during an apocalyptic war, floats off the coast of what once was the USA. Residents of the Arcadia have spent forty years longing to make landfall, but are forced to remain trapped on the ship, fighting every day just to survive. A plan of liberation from a secret group of rebels is about to change the lives of everyone aboard.

This book was action-packed with some very unexpected twists. An absolute home run debut about a world so terrifying and intense that I can't wait to read the next books in this planned trilogy!

Expected Publication: January 2023
ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

Based on the Diamond Princess at the start of the Covid pandemic, this story explores what might have happened had the passengers not been allowed to leave - for decades. I was expecting a fast paced read, racing through ship's corridors and taking on the oppressive regime the ship was under, but what I got was a very slow paced, frustrating story.

I found myself wondering about family, and culture, because on this ship that had been afloat for approximately 40 years, there was no mention of Grandparents, or where their family that had got on the ship had come from - the ship was said to be from Liverpool, but I saw no mention of differing accents, or British culture.

The characters are all annoying, sorry. They spend most of the time arguing with each other, the plan to save the ship and get the people off of it is absolutely ridiculous and this did not need to be nearly 400 pages long. I was so bored, and I can't see myself picking up the sequel.

Wasn’t aware that it was a YA novel when I started it (I went into reading it without reading the synopsis) but I really enjoyed this book! It reminded me of the Hunger Games and I couldn’t put it down. I loved the setting of the book—a cruise ship that has held generations of passengers due to being stranded at sea when a virus hits Europe. Years go by as the passengers on the ship stay anchored right off the coast of the US (which is no longer the US). I especially loved how the author incorporated class systems into the ship and loved the floating flotilla.

I cannot wait for the next one! This copy was given to me thanks to NetGalley!

This is a debut YA book by Sarah Daniels and the premise just grabs you from the beginning. Forty years ago after a devastating war, the luxury cruise ship Arcadia becomes banished from Europe and all the occupants are now stuck. Anchored off the US coast which is now The Federated States. Not the same and under harsh rule and the occupants are not allowed to leave the ship.

This book is compared to both Divergent and The Hunger Games so how can it not be awesome?

Not so much a spoiler: It IS awesome. We have three alternating POVs: Sixteen year old Nik who is trying to help cause a rebellion: A act to liberate the Arcadia. Also sixteen year old Esther who is trying to just study and be a doctor. She gets dragged into the rebellion. And of course we have a POV of a baddie: Hadley. Boo!

In true expert YA fashion this one blends action, drama, evil governments, social issues. and high tension. Being older now I tend to gravitate towards more adult books so I am pretty picky about what few YA books I read and this one just checks the boxes! If I were to nitpick at all I would say it may have been too cumbersome with the three POVs. I think it would be paced better with less. But still a great book for a debut author. Highly recommended!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a cool concept, but I DNF because it wasn't drawing me in after 20%. If you need a good dose of secret plots and youth rebellion, this may be for you. Like another review stated, there is not much about daily life living aboard the ship, which is what I was interested in. It just jumps right in to shootings, arrests, and double-crossings. There are also multiple points of view which might annoy some people and made it harder to get attached to the characters.

I really wanted to love this one, but it didn't quite happen. Being stranded on a cruise ship is my actual nightmare so I was super excited about the premise but it never quite hooked me. I did enjoy the multiple points of view, particularly the villain's, but overall my feeling with this one is that I was left wanting more. I will keep it in mind for recommending to library patrons though, as I can see this book absolutely working for people who want slightly different things than I do out of book like this.

"The Stranded" is the story of a post-apocalyptic society set upon an old cruise ship, the Arcadia. Once upon a time, a virus outbreak shut down the world, and those on ships at sea were unable to return to their countries. Although the ships came to rest in port, they remained closed societies, where your only hope of getting off is becoming a medic or soldier for the nearby country.

The heart of the story belongs to two sisters--Esther, the medical student, and May, serving in the military unit--coming to a critical moment of adulthood on the ship. In addition, there's a mysterious protest afoot against the political regime in control of the ship, and its captain. Think Hunger Games meets a kind of Titanic.

What's good: The book is interesting! I enjoyed imagining the refitted old ship done up as the heart of a new society. The futurist tools deployed against a rotting shell of a ship make for a fascinating contrast.

What's iffier: It took me a little bit to identify and remember some of the alternating points of view at the start of the book. I felt at least one of the plot points was a bit obvious, but other parts were less so.

With gratitude to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to review an ARC of this book.

A brilliant YA dystopian book, a stellar debut for Sarah Daniels!

The story's background had me instantly intrigued. Thousands of people living their whole life in a stranded cruise ship, denied landfall to the Federated States (a fragment of the former USA) where they fled to after a catastrophic war in Europe released a deadly virus.

The background sets the tone about the conditions the ship residents face: discrimination, scorn, outright hatred from the government and the people of the Federated States. Their treatment gets worse and worse through the years. Not only they aren't allowed to set foot on land, but they are systematically opressed, imprisoned and killed. Sarah Daniels creates a world where the worst of humanity has surfaced and become the new normal.

As any self-respecting authoritarian regime, they allow some of the opressed people to cling on to hope for a better life. Esther trains to be a medic, dreaming of being one of the select few. So does her boyfriend Alex. Her sister, May, will be a cadet. Other people are scheming to rebel against the opression. One of them is Nik who knows brutality first-hand. Enid and Silas, the gang leaders of the ships' bowels.

Conflicting loyalties are a big theme of the book. What's worth risking and what's not. Who's worth risking everything for.

Most characters aren't black or white, but shades of gray. The rebellion's leaders aren't good people. You won't even like most of them. The "enemy of my enemy" mentality is prevalent out of necessity.

There is darkness and pain, but also hope and the power of sheer will.

The Stranded is an intriguing adventure, which is to be continue in Daniels' sequel book. I can't wait for it !

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC!