If you were asked to live alone in an island with eight more people for one whole year, with no connection to the outside world, would you do it? This is what this story is about.

Maddy gets an opportunity to be a part of a show, where she along with seven other people--Zoe, Gill, Maxine, Duncan, Andrew, Frank and Shaun along with two camera men to spend one whole year in a remote island. But soon, while on the island, things take a sour turn with friends becoming enemies and one would do anything to survive in the remote island...even if it involves killing them...

The plot sounded interesting and intriguing and sounds so much like I am watching an episode of Lost! Maddy's character actually grew into me--Maddy is socially awkward, introverted and into plants and botany with fair knowledge about the plants in the island and recently lost her parents who were very overprotective towards her. What was supposed to be a team work and developing friendships soon turned into sour and bitter enmity between the group, particularly towards Maddy who was soon casted out of the camp in the island. The descriptions and how the team members survive through eating plants, catching rabbits and eating fish all too well describe the life in an island so far from the outside world. There were twists and turns, with small portions dividing between the time spent on island and the interviewer doing a piece on how Maddy survived. Maddy certainly is an unreliable narrator with flaws so that makes this thriller more interesting and intriguing, I stayed up all night finishing the book, wondering what is going to happen next--quiet unputdownable and you would not be disappointed with the ending!

Overall, I really enjoyed reading thriller--an unputdownable twisty thriller and quiet an emotional one as well that will make you stay up all night!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Avon for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

I'm a highly picky reader, but I really enjoyed Stranded. It felt refreshingly real, with none of that compulsive quirkiness or reliance on plot twists to disguise utter lack of substance that plague so much of current fiction (although to be fair there are some last-minute "revelations" of the not-too-surprising kind). At first I was afraid I'd be getting a 400 page play-by-play of every little thing that went into Life on the Island ("and then we built a hut... and then we built a latrine... and then we dug a fire pit..."), which would have been tedious as hell, but thankfully things speed up a lot after the first hut-building effort. To my unending gratitude, the author also skips the romance. The novel is really all about survival and group dynamics, so if you're looking for a nice fluffy escapist read, keep looking. Life on this island is decidedly unromantic, gross and rough, and the company isn't too nice either.

While I didn't actually *like* any of the characters (they all stayed a little bit shadowy, except for Maddy, who was too whiny, passive and too full of self-pity for my liking), life on the island was so intense that it sucked me in completely -- even though I found the psychology a bit simplistic and the premise itself well on the road to ridiculous. Dump eight individuals on a remote island and leave them to their own devices without any means of contacting the mainland, or supplies, or any kind of medical supervision? For a whole year? For a TV SHOW? Or rather, a *proposed* TV show? Huh.
Also, no-one ever mentions Lord of the Flies?? I mean, if I were stuck on an island in the middle of nowhere with a host of questionable characters, that would literally be my first point of reference.

Still, logic notwithstanding, this was a pretty great read. There were two or three instances where I thought things dragged a bit, with redundant description and explanation and lots of rather lengthy assumption, and the whole business with the witch sadly felt a bit tacked on IMO, but that's just me being me again. The book is so absorbing that it doesn't really matter.

Oh my goodness. Such an easy addictive read.

Take 8 strangers and place them on an island for eleven months for a reality TV show.

It’s not long before the characters show their true colours, the isolation of Mandy arises. And she needs to do everything g she can to survive in the island not only alone, but from the other 7 in the group who have become vindictive towards here.

Without a doubt a page Turner. Just as you think it can’t get any better, you are on the edge of your seat holding your breath!

For a long time, I was fascinated with the premise of reality TV shows like Survivor, until I found that they were more about bitching, backstabbing and forming alliances than actual survival skills and team work. Apparently this is what viewers like to see – go figure! If you are like me, and those things bring back all the bad memories about high school and some workplaces, then you may find this book super stressful to read. If you were one of the popular group who ruled the courtyard and inspired fear in the lesser mortals, you may also find it stressful – eventually.

I love how Sarah Goodwin has run with the theme and explored it all in depth. And be assured, bitching, backstabbing and forming alliances aside, there is plenty of survival to be had in STRANDED. It’s all that reality TV promised but never delivered (perhaps because no ethics committee would ever approve it), and despite biting my nails to the quick I appreciated the mounting tension and breath-holding levels of anxiety some of the scenes induced.

In a nutshell, STRANDED explores what happens when you put eight strangers together on a secluded island and let them sort out their own pecking order. If it’s one thing that the TV version of Survivor has shown us, it may not necessarily be the cleverest who win points, but the ones who can get the majority votes, even if they rule with bullying and threats. Maddy, with her history of a sheltered childhood, overprotective parents and home schooling, was never going to be well equipped for this type of power game, so as soon as she calls out the head bully, her fate is sealed. And if you think that someone in the group would stick up for the underdog, then think again – because suddenly Maddy finds herself out in the cold, fighting for survival. And the wilderness is the least of her problems ...

STRANDED was one of those books that totally took me by surprise. I was lured by the wilderness setting and found myself with a gripping, adrenalin-fuelled and tense read that was hard to put down. At times, it was also immensely frustrating as the voice of reason was overruled, time and time again. Even though Maddy was perhaps ill equipped for negotiation and getting her point across, it was easy to see how anyone could easily end up in her position. And once the die was cast, there was no going back. “Wow, that escalated fast”, I kept thinking, not realising that much worse was yet to come.

STRANDED is a book that speaks to both our inner survival instinct as well as addressing the question: “If the world as we knew it ended tomorrow, how well equipped would you be to survive?” It also confronts the theme of herd mentality and how easily we fall for power rather than reason. It’s a LORD OF THE FLIES, adult version, and just as brutal. For those easily triggered, some scenes may turn your stomach and give you nightmares, but then the end-of-the-world scenario isn’t ever going to be pretty either, is it? I loved the background information about all those skills necessary for survival our ancestors knew but most of us have long un-learned: foraging, how to grow a crop in the wilderness, how to build a basic shelter and most of all, how to be part of the natural environment and work with it. It’s a clever, original and heart-pounding story that will keep me mulling over some of its themes for a long time to come.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Eight people are taken to a remote Scottish island to live for a year for a reality TV show. A great premise for an exciting story! The narrator is Maddy, who wants to escape from her unsatisfactory life after the death of her parents. Relationships quickly become fractured and Maddy finds herself an outsider, banished from the group. When the boat that is supposed to return them to the mainland fails to arrive, things get a whole lot worse! This is a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat to the end. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

This is a book where the premise is very familiar to me. Strangers marooned somewhere and left to survive. There are numerous tv shows, and books, of the same genre out there. But this one did not seem so familiar once it really got going.

The question here is what would happen if you were left to survive after an apocalypse? Would everyone get on with each other, would they manage to forage enough to keep themselves alive, and would they all make it through to the end?

All of those questions are answered in a brilliant way as you continue through the pages. I recommend this to anyone who loves survival shows or books.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.

A captivating and addictive book to read. I literally couldn't put this book down and was hooked right until the last minute. Amazing idea for a reality tv show and although not the first time someone has written about one going wrong, this was really well executed and written. Look forward to reading more by Sarah Goodwin.

I love a locked room mystery so when I came across Stranded I was intrigued. Eight strangers are chosen for a new reality TV show to live and survive on a remote island with limited resources. What could possible go wrong? Eighteen months later a woman turns up in a fishing village asking for help. She’s one of the original eight, where are the others?

This was a pretty interesting book that ticked a lot of boxes for me. An isolated setting, an air of mystery as well as the added bonus of social interactions and human conflicts. A bit like Lord of the Flies. This was a slow burn with mounting tension throughout the book that I really enjoyed. One of those books where you can’t help but picture yourself in a particular scenario and ask “What would I do?” 3.5⭐️

Lord of the Flies - Reality TV Edition. Eight strangers are chosen to survive on an island for one year, but what started out a a co-operative community turns into a nightmare as personalities clash and supplies begin to run out.

This book was impossible for me to put down. I stayed up until the wee hours of the night engrossed in the story. I watched as our group of contestants slowly devolved from civilized people to selfish factions. Goodwin managed to make the story wild but also believable.

A great read, especially if you like survival stories and reality TV drama!

SURVIVOR meets LORD OF THE FLIES in STRANDED. That is undoubtedly how STRANDED will be described. But that is way too simplistic a description of the book. Goodwin is amazing at creating a sense of time and place. And at first I thought her characters to be too stereotypical, but those ideas were banished about halfway through. As we follow the "reliable" narrator through her tale, we wonder "are her perceptions correct"? Or is she truly a person with character traits that justify at least some of the other characters' actions (not going to go further - it would be a spoiler). I ended up totally fascinated.

Suspenseful and addictive once the story gets going. Read it in a single sitting. Excellent use of characters and plot to keep the reader hooked.

Oh my gosh! What a brilliant book! I was hooked from the start and found myself unable to put it down. I read it in one afternoon! The characters, the setting and the storyline were all believeable and you quickly find yourself immersed into the story. Thank you for letting me read this.

This is a gripping, twisty page-turner you won’t want to put down.

Eight people arrive on remote Buidseach Island off the coast of Scotland to participate in a realty style TV program. They’ll live there alone for an entire year with only a two-man camera crew who remain in an ‘out of bounds’ area solely in case of emergency. The participants are responsible for everything: food, shelter, latrine—even charging the solar-powered camera they’re supposed to wear everywhere.

It’s billed as a social experiment: How will a few strangers survive if the world as we know it ends?

Eight people means different skill set and different personalities, and some of those personalities are going to clash.

Working relationships deteriorate quickly. Is anyone surprised? In normal life, all it takes is getting cut off in traffic, or being belittled by a coworker for some people to turn savage. In no time, this challenging adventure descends into a Lord of the Flies fight for survival.

Eighteen months later, one single woman shows up in an isolated fishing village, desperate to explain what happened and why so many died on the island.

The author’s skill is in isolating Maddie, her narrator, and generating sympathy for this bookish, home-schooled, socially awkward introvert, while, at the same time, making us distrust her. Maddie is resourceful and has bush foraging skills to admire. The many descriptions of the island is fauna botany were vivid and authentic. I really felt like I was there with Maddy seeing her struggles.

But she also harbors a disturbing paranoia that hints strongly of an unreliable narrator, and that part of the tale keeps us guessing. We feel her growing isolation, anger and fear of the other participants on the island.

Stranded is a gripping debut that kept me on the edge the entire time. Great book with a surprise ending. You’re going to want to read it in one sitting. Look for the release next month.
Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for the opportunity to review it in advance.

I actually enjoyed reading this book! Liked the fact there was a timeline and we read different exerts from the past to the present of the telling of the story. It’s makes want to read to the end to find out what happens at the end.

Maddy is a young woman who has signed up for a survival reality TV show. She, and seven other participants, must survive on a deserted Scottish island. However, it is only eighteen months later that Maddy is found. Now she wants to tell her truth about what really happened on this island.

I had a little trouble getting into the story, but once the protagonists were on the island, I was hooked. I wanted to know what really happened to Maddy and the others.

As I read this book, I had an uneasy feeling growing inside me but only because the characters were detestable and unfortunately so close to reality. I can imagine real human beings behaving like that in similar conditions and that’s where the uneasy feeling came from.

This is Sarah Goodwin’s talent: you read this book as if you were on the island, but from an omniscient point of view, even though Maddy is the narrator.

Most of the time, I can tell how a book is going to end. I couldn’t with this one and I liked it.

Stranded is a really good thriller.

I give it 4/5.

I recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Sarah Goodwin for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

What happens when strangers embark on a reality television survival experience? This book dives deep into the daily realities of living on a deserted island, as well as the mental challenges of a group of strangers forced to rely on one another. I’d recommend this book to fans of reality shows, survival books, and thrillers. The writing is atmospheric and packed with escalating tension from beginning to end.

Stranded by Sarah Goodwin

A group of people take part in a social experiment for a TV show . They get taken by boat to a remote Scottish island and have to exist on a few items brought with them and their wits.
Wow ! I cannot say just how much I loved this book. I've read lots of books this year , and this has to be up there with the best of them.
It centres on slight misfit Maddie , but she has the determination to survive.everything that comes her way , and the people who are out to harm her.
I can imagine this book as a film , or even better a TV series.
Excellent does not give it the credit it deserves. READ IT .

Loved this terrifying, pacy thriller set on an isolated island off the coast of scotland. Like a cross between Love Island and Lord of the Flies with a dash of The Beach and Blair Witch, this is a perfect autumn read - but definitely not one for when you're home alone!!!!

Stranded has such a unique plot! The book is dark and twisty from the start and I had to keep reading to see what was going to happen!

Wow ! Wow ! Wow! I definitely lucked out when I was approved for this instant favorite ! Stranded is a thrilling psychological thriller that will pull you in from the first chapter !

Sarah Goodwin is a creative genius and I have become a super fan !

I would highly recommend this book to all thrill/mystery book lovers