An apocalyptic war and virus are the background for this YA novel set on a cruise ship that has been stranded for decades. I enjoyed the suspense and characters in this one looking forward to the next.

First of all - that cover! It's chilling and I love it!

This YA Dystopian action packed novel was gripping! I was totally invested and read this one in 24 hours, even though it topped out at just under 500 pages.

For being a debut novel, I think this story was really well planned out and creative. Not a boring moment in all those pages.

It's described as a Hunger Games / Station Eleven mashup although I didn't get either of those vibes. It certainly did stand out as a great dystopian action thriller nonetheless.

It's hard for me to imagine such a large floating mega-ship that could carry thousands of people and how these ships could get stranded off the coast of land and be kept there for so long by people living on land, afraid that people on the boat would bring more cases of a deadly virus to land. But once I conceded to let that just be reality, I really enjoyed the story and can't wait to see what happens in Book 2, out later this year.

The Stranded
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 1/3/23
Author: Sarah Daniels
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 464
GR: 3.89

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

My Thoughts: I loved the premise of this story. Apocalyptic war with a deadly virus on board a cruise line. In a way, it built upon Covid, magnified. Being an avid cruiser myself, it gives you pause. The story opens up directly into the plot of conflict. The story is narrated by Esther, Nik, and Hadley, through their perspectives, in an alternating POV. This story does have some darker content, but it is geared more towards a younger reader. I did enjoy the story, although I felt it was a little long. The story primarily focuses on 3 characters, Esther, Nik, and Hadley (there are others, but these are focused). Esther is a naive teenager training to become a medic on the ship with hopes of medical school once on land. Nik is strong and rebellious in nature while questioning the status of things, also desperate to escape. Lastly, Hadley, the not so nice leader, is in charge, using drones and soldiers to keep all passengers inline. This is a slow burn thriller and it takes awhile to get “heated” up. The characters were developed well with depth, mystery, and were intriguing. The author’s writing style was complex, suspenseful, creative, and keeps you engaged. The only con is the length of the book. If you love Hunger Games or Divergent, then I would recommend this book! Out today!!

Summary:
Welcome aboard The Arcadia, a luxury cruise ship departing from Liverpool just as a virus and war destroys all of Europe. The passengers as well as others fleeing Europe jump aboard and sail to the coast of The Federated States, a small piece of the now defunct USA. The Federated States will not let the passengers disembark, for FORTY years. The once luxurious cruise ship becomes a dilapidated, floating refugee camp with well to do passengers living well and the poor living on the lowermost decks of the ship in squalor. There are rare opportunities to earn your way off the ship, through a military training program or a medical training program. We meet Esther, a sixteen-year-old in the medical training program with dreams to finish in the top three of her class and graduate her way to life on land. Nik is a young leader of a rebellion group hoping to successfully get all the passengers to land. These two lives collide changing the course of the Arcadia.

Review:
This is the author’s debut novel, and it is a believable, young adult dystopia. The story is set in a dark future, with Europe gone and the fear of the long dormant virus keeping thousands of people stranded on ships off the coast of the Federated States. The premise of the story is fascinating and all too believable. The futuristic sci-fi tech is well done. The details of life on the ship make the reader feel like they are a passenger. This book leaves the reader thinking; What would it be like to literally grow up on a ship? To never feel land beneath your feet? To graduate and leave your family? This thriller is told from multiple POVs, but Esther’s story is the most compelling. Esther is a teenage heroine struggling with the social and class issues, government and teenage romance all within the ship. This is a fast-paced, thrilling YA novel. 4/5

Note: This book contains violence.
Thank you to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book took me a little to get into, but by about halfway through I was fully invested. I think that this book would be good for fans of dystopian novels. I really enjoyed the setting of an old cruise ship. I also liked that this was told from multiple perspectives including the perspective of the villain.

I felt like the ending left this open to a possible sequel which I would certainly check out as well.

Overall, this is a solid debut even though I didn't love it enough to become a favorite.

The Stranded by Sarah Daniels

This is one of my favorite tropes, any remote setting is but with The Stranded, there’s a few more tasty elements thrown in.

A refugee camp is aboard what was once a luxury cruise ship, the Arcadia has been floating in the ocean just off the coast of what is now called the Federated States for the last forty years. Each level a community that varies in a very classist style.

The premise is very catchy, a virus that has swept the nation forces this group of people to live aboard a ship for many years; bringing with it the need for enforcers of rules that are hard to follow and those that would break them for freedoms sake. The lack of positive virus testing is a bone of contention amongst the refugees and added to the story; Why can’t they land if there has been no viral activity in years?

There’s three POV and I like the way this showed a look at each main element of the story. The added insight into each area made for a richer reading experience.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed and feel there’s a sequel in the making!

My thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for this gifted copy for review.

This is a non-stop actioner that your Grade 7’s and up will devour. It is 2094. The Arcadia is one of a group of former cruise ships that have been anchored off the coast of the former United States for 40 years, after a world-wide pandemic and a destructive war. They have never been given access to land. Entire societies have grown up on each ship, and a totalitarian government on land is starting to use its power to clamp down on possibility of rebellion on the ships. Esther and May are twins, both with an opportunity to leave the ship for further education on the mainland. May has been drawn into the underground rebellion on the ship, and Esther finds herself accidentally pulled in, too, as she comes to realize that nothing, and no one, is what it seems. There are multiple point of view narrators here, including the sadistic leader of the government forces on the ship, which adds to the tension in the novel. This is a banger of a book! When I was reading it during silent reading in my classroom, and gasped at a particularly dramatic scene, my class was totally intrigued. This is a must-get for intermediate/secondary libraries. There is some very nasty violence, but I have found that my students have a much higher tolerance for that than I do. You could totally tie this in to conversations around refugee ships like The St Louis, who were refused access to North American ports. Thanks to @NetGalley and @sourcebooksfire for the e-arc. #Bookstagram #NetGalley #TheStranded #AvivaAndFriendsRecos @sarahdanielsbooks

During an apocalyptic war, many people fled their homes after viruses were unleashed. Some chose to quarantine on cruise ships and seek refuge off the coast of, what is now known as, The Federated States. Now, there are whole generations of people who do not know what life is like on land. Enter, Esther whose one goal is to become a medic and attend school away from the gangs and military control of her cruise ship home. However, when she encounters Nik, her whole life changes.

The premise of this book really appealed to me, post-apocalyptic comparison to Snowpiercer! I really liked the strong characters and the world building of the future. I struggle with YA at times due to the big themes mixed with juvenile thoughts and responses but that really is the nature of YA. I flew through this book and look forward to seeing what comes next!

I really enjoyed this book. I have been on numerous cruises and I couldn't even imagine living on one for any extended time period.
The setting was a character in itself. I loved the description of the "neath" people
Some of the characters, I wish had more back story....I really thought that Hadley would have met up with Celeste right at the end, but that wasn't the case.

The setting is perfect. I kept wanting to know more about the European conflict that set them all adrift. I hope that there is more to the story and we can find out more about the Federated States.

OVerall this is a great dystopian book told from a fresh perspective. Basically it was ripped from the headlines, if you followed the Diamond Princess' saga in Japan.

This one jumped out at me. Passengers of a cruise ship kept in quarantine on the ship for forty years, Covid gone to horrific levels. They say, “The Hunger Games meets Station Eleven.” Don’t try to set my expectations high or anything.

With The Stranded, Sarah Daniels is plunging into the uber-competitive market of YA. There are some big names and fabulous authors in this genre. It is one where an author can easily get swallowed up. A new author here needs to stand out to be the next one.

I have had some great experiences with YA books. I have also had some blasé experiences with YA books. On the occasions when I venture into the genre, I am looking for something different and special. A book that will whisk me away into a new world, a place I could return to again and again.

Daniels can write, her story works. In my opinion, she ticked off all of the boxes for a good YA book. The ardent fans should appreciate The Stranded. I was looking for more. The stars of this genre don’t tick off the boxes, they create new boxes that the readers didn’t even know needed ticking. They create something that goes above and beyond, the best ones give you that Calgon moment. I was not taken away.

*3 Stars

This book was so much fun and gave me all the Hunger Games/Divergent vibes except imagine this occurring on one large ship. The residents on the Arcadia have been on it for 40 years, after becoming a refugee camp and prohibited from ever making landfall. It has spent over 15,000 days floating along the coastline of the Federated States which is what is left over of the USA after disease and apocalyptic war has ravaged the states. A rebellions is planned and underway to free the residents of the ship and get them back on dry land. It was such a fun read, and played out in a way that I would love to see this adapted to film in some way. I also am hoping that there is a another book to follow. The ending could leave it as is if it wanted, but it also leaves room for more fun…..I would love to see where it goes.

I loved the premise of The Stranded, so I was really excited to get this chance to read it. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations.

The start of the book was not interesting enough to get me to care about the characters’ ambitions and lives. It felt like too much information was just being thrown at me, and far too quickly.

I also thought the characters themselves fell flat and lacked thorough character development, and the multiple POVs got confusing after a while.

However, even though I do think the idea could’ve been executed in a better way, I think the book still has the potential of being enjoyed by some young adults.

I usually struggle with books wi th this many character points of few, and I will say I personally did have a little bit of issue with that it this book needed the different perspectives to tell the full story. It has been a while since I have read a good dystopian book so I was so excited to finally have one to read.

I wish there would have been a little more backstory on the virus and the different ships as well as the federation, but since this is a series that could always come out in book two.

The beginning of this book did remind me of snowpiercer but I am glad that no one was eating bars put of bugs... at least not that we know of.
I am really excited to read more from this author and continue to read more of this series!

The Stranded by Sarah Daniels is a dystopian novel set on the cruise ship, Arcadia. It's noted as being a mix of Snowpiecer and Hunger Games. I agree with Snowpiecer but I disagree with Hunger Games. The Arcadia floats on the out skirts of what is now the Federated States. The luxury cruise ship has sat for over 40 years with each level of the ship becoming a makeshift community that goes from ticket holders to the rougher gangs below.

There is continual testing for a virus that swept through civilization and even though no virus has been indicated in decades, they keep everyone stranded using the excuse of potential dormancy. The goal for our MC, Esther, is to become a medic and finally make it to land but all of that changes when she's unwillingly dragged into the rebel cause.

There are multiple POVs that give insight into the Federation, rebellion and medic side of things which was pretty interesting. The gangs and overall rebel goal are also intriguing and I feel book two will show their future and answer additional questions some readers like me would have. I felt the majority of what occurred could've happened in a much shorter book as well.

The world building, history and plot ideas were captivating and kept me going to find out what the final climax would be.I actually feel this would make an exciting tv series. The characters, however, had something missing for me. I didn't connect with them or feel for their plights the way I normally would. Overall, I enjoyed the read but I didn't connect the way I had hoped.

Thank you Sourcebooksfire for the gifted digital copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All thoughts are my own. I recommend for those who enjoy dystopian reads to check out other reviews for this novel! True rating 2.5/5.

None of the refugees aboard the hundred year old, ocean going liner Arcadia have a terrific life. The ship was designed to hold only seven hundred passengers, and in the four decades since it's been moored off the coast of the Federated States, the population has bulked out well past that capacity. Resources are scarce even with regular shipments coming from the States, as the opportunity to stop becoming refugees is weighed, measured, and adjudicated against what seems to be a continually moving set of goalposts. The publicly known ones involve a viral threat, which may well be laying dormant within the populace, so they are regularly tested, vaccinated, poked, prodded.

Esther's family is doing well, however. She's in the top two slots of her medical training class, her sister is about to graduate off the ship for permanent citizenship on the mainland, and the future looks pretty bright. She and May will be the first people in the three generations who have occupied this vessel to leave it. She intends to keep her eyes on the prize and her nose clean … but events conspire against her.

First, there is an illegal leaflet drop that announces one of the other refugee ships has been cleared and shut down. Where are all of its people? No one knows. Can this be for real? Well, the Federated States personnel see that drop as nothing less than an act of terrorism, and they begin to lock down the ship under martial law. During this fracas, Esther is taken against her will into the lower decks where the criminal classes, the poor, and the gangs dwell, and forced to treat a toxic gunshot wound on am unknown man … he's masked and unrecognizable, but he calls her by name in a moment when he swims back up into lucidity. Who is he? Why does he know her? And although his people seem to let her go, will they let her live possessing whatever knowledge she has?

In fact, the young man she treated, Nik, is a high ranking member in the rebellion, a seditious group that seeks to throw off the yoke of Federated States oppression. He is tied to Esther's family through her sister May, who has been leading a double life as a rebel. The two of them hope to speed the process of rebellion along, unaware that doing so will throw their worlds out of a comfort zone and into danger.

Commander Hadley of the Federated States hates being aboard this ship. He was given the role as a booby prize, a reprimand for poor duty. And he longs to get away from this rotten vessel and its worthless inhabitants. To this point, he's been applying a heavy hand to maintain order, but he's fast discovering that if he can ease his hold and allow a little anarchy to intrude, then he might be able to clear the vessel all the faster. That would mean all the inhabitants relocated into forced labor prison camps, the ship destroyed, and a reinstatement back into useful service. If terrorism and rebellion flourish, then maybe he can cut down his sentence by a couple of years. And if the terrorists and rebels won't do it themselves, then maybe he can work some shadow ops to make it look like the situation is getting out of hand …

All the while, Esther's life is being throw into disarray. Her boyfriend and fiancé Alex has found her talking to suspicious persons, her sister is getting angrier as she approaches her inevitable departure, her teacher has her under a microscope, and due to that leaflet drop and subsequent illegal medical operation, the stable world she has known is coming apart at the seams. Will she be able to adapt to her new world, or does Esther stand to lose everything she's strived for? And even if she does her best, how will Esther cope with changes being forced upon the ship and all its occupants? Sarah Daniels' The Stranded grapples with xenophobia and coming of age narratives while spinning a dystopian YA science fiction novel set in the cramped and overpopulated close quarters of an ocean going anthill.

One of my favorite science fiction conceits is the generation ship. Typically, narratives around this concept take the form of several generations following launch (and possibly a disaster or two) where people have come to assume the ship is the entire world, possibly forgetting they are on a traveling vessel at all. Cultures fracture into sects, often based on deck locations, and bizarre politics mingle with adventure stories in the finite boundaries of what amounts to little more than a pressure cooker.

While no one aboard the Arcadia has forgotten they are on a ship, Sarah Daniels nevertheless plays with the generation ship concepts in The Stranded. The author mates these with a dystopian world view, which holds a dark mirror up to the situation in our own world where war, disease, poverty, and other socioeconomic and political factors have rendered vast numbers of refugees displaced from their home nations to camp along the borders of the new countries they wish to call home. Too often, such people are lumped together, their individuality and humanity stripped away in order to more easily consider what is to be done. Refugee camps, asylum seekers, and other categories are somewhat easier to make wait because we can erase the human issues, looking at faceless groups instead of impoverished individuals.

The occupants of the Arcadia, the Oceania, and the other ships in the book have fled Europe following some devastating wars. The Federated States were not involved in these and therefore feel no real compunction to take these displaced persons into their populations. But they don't want those ships to go to The Enemy, either. So they've made these floating camps dependent upon the throttled resource offerings and made them wait, and wait, and wait. However, the author keeps us from dehumanizing these people by presenting us with characters worth our emotional investment. Some are generally good people in a bad situation, others are greedy people trying to claim dominance through whatever means they can. As with any group, there are good apples, bad ones, those who tow the party line, and those who buck it. Unfortunately, the party line here—the hardest workers will be rewarded—is one big lie for all but a handful.

Esther's journey is one of discovery, about the lie she's been living as well as the lies she's been told both by the authorities she trusts and the family she holds beyond reproach. She undergoes the classic maiden's journey, a coming to knowledge and an application of that knowledge. The stakes start out seemingly small, but recontextualization reveals how big they are.

Daniels' writing style is clean and compelling. The opening half of the book includes some action, some character, some worldbuilding, and some intrigue in good proportion to one another. Though the cast of characters is surprisingly large, we only have three points of view throughout the book. Esther gets the biggest chunk of the prose. Nik gets the second largest chunk, and the antagonist Hadley gets the final portions. This keeps us moving between three distinct social classes, the well-to-do ship occupants, the lower end ship occupants, and the oppressive Federated States occupiers who want everyone killed.

Structurally speaking, the book is divided into two major sections. The narrative could easily support three such divisions. Chapters present a first person viewpoint for Esther and Nik, and a limited third person view for Hadley's sequences. The plot takes place over several days, some of which can be handled by a simple chapter break. Larger breaks in time include a "message from the Captain" recording the date, the news of the day, the number of reported Virus cases, and the number of days at sea—which is nearly 16000 as the book opens.

The author demonstrates an ease with establishing a modest scope and scale and then expanding upon it as the narrative flows. This effectively mirrors the way a young person's perspectives open during those sensitive coming of age moments. From the start we see Esther, Nik, and Hadley's worlds as a conglomeration of stereotypes, rumor, and rumor control. As the narrative progresses, we watch the first two's worlds open up and the latter's worldview narrow in.

As antagonists go, Hadley is a pretty unforgiveable one. We can understand him to a degree, but we are never encouraged to sympathize with his perspective. He's gone past the point of sympathy, into a near mania when we meet him. In that way, he's perhaps a tad more one-dimensional than some readers will prefer. However, as unforgivable, irredeemable pricks go, he's certainly an effectively drawn one.

The Stranded is an intriguing character study and a slice of dystopian fiction with an unusual premise. The generation ship angle adds some cool material for the author to play with. The characters are effective and interesting. The stakes they face are appropriately personal and real, developing organically. The mix of action and intrigue is well done. The worldbuilding is certainly amenable to further works set in this place. I'd be interested in works that might explore some of the history as well as the present and future of this place whether or not they center on these characters or new ones. All told, a fun, fine read.
None of the refugees aboard the hundred year old, ocean going liner Arcadia have a terrific life. The ship was designed to hold only seven hundred passengers, and in the four decades since it's been moored off the coast of the Federated States, the population has bulked out well past that capacity. Resources are scarce even with regular shipments coming from the States, as the opportunity to stop becoming refugees is weighed, measured, and adjudicated against what seems to be a continually moving set of goalposts. The publicly known ones involve a viral threat, which may well be laying dormant within the populace, so they are regularly tested, vaccinated, poked, prodded.

Esther's family is doing well, however. She's in the top two slots of her medical training class, her sister is about to graduate off the ship for permanent citizenship on the mainland, and the future looks pretty bright. She and May will be the first people in the three generations who have occupied this vessel to leave it. She intends to keep her eyes on the prize and her nose clean … but events conspire against her.

First, there is an illegal leaflet drop that announces one of the other refugee ships has been cleared and shut down. Where are all of its people? No one knows. Can this be for real? Well, the Federated States personnel see that drop as nothing less than an act of terrorism, and they begin to lock down the ship under martial law. During this fracas, Esther is taken against her will into the lower decks where the criminal classes, the poor, and the gangs dwell, and forced to treat a toxic gunshot wound on am unknown man … he's masked and unrecognizable, but he calls her by name in a moment when he swims back up into lucidity. Who is he? Why does he know her? And although his people seem to let her go, will they let her live possessing whatever knowledge she has?

In fact, the young man she treated, Nik, is a high ranking member in the rebellion, a seditious group that seeks to throw off the yoke of Federated States oppression. He is tied to Esther's family through her sister May, who has been leading a double life as a rebel. The two of them hope to speed the process of rebellion along, unaware that doing so will throw their worlds out of a comfort zone and into danger.

Commander Hadley of the Federated States hates being aboard this ship. He was given the role as a booby prize, a reprimand for poor duty. And he longs to get away from this rotten vessel and its worthless inhabitants. To this point, he's been applying a heavy hand to maintain order, but he's fast discovering that if he can ease his hold and allow a little anarchy to intrude, then he might be able to clear the vessel all the faster. That would mean all the inhabitants relocated into forced labor prison camps, the ship destroyed, and a reinstatement back into useful service. If terrorism and rebellion flourish, then maybe he can cut down his sentence by a couple of years. And if the terrorists and rebels won't do it themselves, then maybe he can work some shadow ops to make it look like the situation is getting out of hand …

All the while, Esther's life is being throw into disarray. Her boyfriend and fiancé Alex has found her talking to suspicious persons, her sister is getting angrier as she approaches her inevitable departure, her teacher has her under a microscope, and due to that leaflet drop and subsequent illegal medical operation, the stable world she has known is coming apart at the seams. Will she be able to adapt to her new world, or does Esther stand to lose everything she's strived for? And even if she does her best, how will Esther cope with changes being forced upon the ship and all its occupants? Sarah Daniels' The Stranded grapples with xenophobia and coming of age narratives while spinning a dystopian YA science fiction novel set in the cramped and overpopulated close quarters of an ocean going anthill.

One of my favorite science fiction conceits is the generation ship. Typically, narratives around this concept take the form of several generations following launch (and possibly a disaster or two) where people have come to assume the ship is the entire world, possibly forgetting they are on a traveling vessel at all. Cultures fracture into sects, often based on deck locations, and bizarre politics mingle with adventure stories in the finite boundaries of what amounts to little more than a pressure cooker.

While no one aboard the Arcadia has forgotten they are on a ship, Sarah Daniels nevertheless plays with the generation ship concepts in The Stranded. The author mates these with a dystopian world view, which holds a dark mirror up to the situation in our own world where war, disease, poverty, and other socioeconomic and political factors have rendered vast numbers of refugees displaced from their home nations to camp along the borders of the new countries they wish to call home. Too often, such people are lumped together, their individuality and humanity stripped away in order to more easily consider what is to be done. Refugee camps, asylum seekers, and other categories are somewhat easier to make wait because we can erase the human issues, looking at faceless groups instead of impoverished individuals.

The occupants of the Arcadia, the Oceania, and the other ships in the book have fled Europe following some devastating wars. The Federated States were not involved in these and therefore feel no real compunction to take these displaced persons into their populations. But they don't want those ships to go to The Enemy, either. So they've made these floating camps dependent upon the throttled resource offerings and made them wait, and wait, and wait. However, the author keeps us from dehumanizing these people by presenting us with characters worth our emotional investment. Some are generally good people in a bad situation, others are greedy people trying to claim dominance through whatever means they can. As with any group, there are good apples, bad ones, those who tow the party line, and those who buck it. Unfortunately, the party line here—the hardest workers will be rewarded—is one big lie for all but a handful.

Esther's journey is one of discovery, about the lie she's been living as well as the lies she's been told both by the authorities she trusts and the family she holds beyond reproach. She undergoes the classic maiden's journey, a coming to knowledge and an application of that knowledge. The stakes start out seemingly small, but recontextualization reveals how big they are.

Daniels' writing style is clean and compelling. The opening half of the book includes some action, some character, some worldbuilding, and some intrigue in good proportion to one another. Though the cast of characters is surprisingly large, we only have three points of view throughout the book. Esther gets the biggest chunk of the prose. Nik gets the second largest chunk, and the antagonist Hadley gets the final portions. This keeps us moving between three distinct social classes, the well-to-do ship occupants, the lower end ship occupants, and the oppressive Federated States occupiers who want everyone killed.

Structurally speaking, the book is divided into two major sections. The narrative could easily support three such divisions. Chapters present a first person viewpoint for Esther and Nik, and a limited third person view for Hadley's sequences. The plot takes place over several days, some of which can be handled by a simple chapter break. Larger breaks in time include a "message from the Captain" recording the date, the news of the day, the number of reported Virus cases, and the number of days at sea—which is nearly 16000 as the book opens.

The author demonstrates an ease with establishing a modest scope and scale and then expanding upon it as the narrative flows. This effectively mirrors the way a young person's perspectives open during those sensitive coming of age moments. From the start we see Esther, Nik, and Hadley's worlds as a conglomeration of stereotypes, rumor, and rumor control. As the narrative progresses, we watch the first two's worlds open up and the latter's worldview narrow in.

As antagonists go, Hadley is a pretty unforgiveable one. We can understand him to a degree, but we are never encouraged to sympathize with his perspective. He's gone past the point of sympathy, into a near mania when we meet him. In that way, he's perhaps a tad more one-dimensional than some readers will prefer. However, as unforgivable, irredeemable pricks go, he's certainly an effectively drawn one.

The Stranded is an intriguing character study and a slice of dystopian fiction with an unusual premise. The generation ship angle adds some cool material for the author to play with. The characters are effective and interesting. The stakes they face are appropriately personal and real, developing organically. The mix of action and intrigue is well done. The worldbuilding is certainly amenable to further works set in this place. I'd be interested in works that might explore some of the history as well as the present and future of this place whether or not they center on these characters or new ones. All told, a fun, fine read.

The year is 2094. It has been forty years since the countries of Europe annihilated one another with war and the use of biological weapons that let loose a deadly virus across the continet. As fighting broke out, the mega luxury cruise line ship, the Arcadia, set sail from Liverpool with both paying customers and non-paying occupants on board. Now Europe is uninhabitable and ships like the Arcadia are posted off the coast of North America. The new government, the Federated States, refuses to let those on board ashore for fear the passengers will bring the deadly virus ashore.

Sixteen year old Esther and her friend Alex are medical students. In the entirety of their lives neither of them have ever set foot on land but they have been promised off the ship by the government if they pass and complete their studies. Esther's older sister May is a military cadet with the same promise of freedom at the end of her training. Unbeknownst to May's family, she is part of a rebellion plotting an uprising to overtake the Arcadia. When May's handler, Nik gets shot by a poisonous bullet Esther is recruited to save his life. Now Esther finds herself a part of the rebel team. Can the passengers free themselves from their floating prison or will they remain stranded?

Sarah Daniels has written and extremely exciting, unique, edge of your seat story. The chapters were short but action filled which made the book fast paced and move quickly. I don't recall any down time or lulls in the stories timeline. There are five main characters with three point of views. The inside of the Arcadia is describe in great detail, I could almost smell the mold and feel the moisture from the ocean's mist. The Stranded ending was satisfying enough it could be a stand alone novel and yet Daniels left enough unsaid to create a second installment.

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Decades after the spread of a virus in Europe, cruise ships still linger in the harbors. Filled with generations of people - forced to stay aboard, never touching ground.
A rebellion has been rising for years - a quiet tide, inching closer and closer.
Esther studied for years, beside her boyfriend Alex, to be become a medic; desperately hoping to gain entrance to med school in the Federated States. Following every rule only to be snatched from her home. Brought to the side of a young man shot, bleeding out and poison in his veins.
Esther can't go back - she finds herself consumed with terror of the Coalies. May, her sister, drags her in farther.
Creative world building, human rights - just very well done and had me obsessed.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for an electronic ARC of this novel.

Esther, a teenage medical cadet, is one of The Stranded, who grew up on an exile cruise ship that was left at sea during her grandparent's era when a virus broke out on land. Destined to be on a ship that's out to sea with no end in sight, Esther is relying on her high academic scores to lead her to medical school and to finally get off the ship. Her older sister, May, is also striving to get off the ship by entering the military. Nik, a part of the rebel forces who is working against the Federated States (a fractured United States), who has control over the ship, is working to overthrow the authority and lead the boat to freedom. Who is loyal to the Federated States and who is willing to risk themselves to overthrow their power?

The Stranded, by Sarah Daniels, has an interesting premise - it's kind of a mixture of Snowpiercer, Station Eleven, our own unfortunate time, and the Hunger Games. Ruthless people out for themselves, different warring factions, makes it an interesting read. It was entertaining but not super deep. It's part of a planned duology so I'm interested in seeing what happens.

I've been craving a YA Dystopian like the golden days of Dystopia. Stranded sounded like it would be like that. And it was a little bit. Can you imagine generations stuck on the Titanic? You know, (spoiler alert) if it hadn't sank. The whole premise reminded me of Scifi Dystopia like Across the Universe and The 100. But the more I read and thought about it, the more ridiculous the plot seemed. And then I started picturing that ridiculous Disney Channel show, Suite Life on Deck. And now I'm left with more questions than answers. You're close enough that you can see the land and make out the skyline? And you're still on a boat decades later??? Sounds fake but ok. I had to quite reading because I was irritating myself with questions. Maybe they get answered later in the book. I'm not sure I care enough to find out. Maybe I'll pick it up again if there's an audiobook.

I am very indifferent about this book, it wasn’t bad but it just wasn’t my cup of tea, I’m not a sea lover so maybe just the idea of being stranded on a cruise ship just trying to survive to get to land just kinda freaks me out, but like I said it wasn’t horrible just not my cup of tea.