Honestly this book made me want to avoid cruise ships for the rest of my life. The idea that these people have been stuck on the boat for years is absolutely brutal. I enjoyed this book but I would've enjoyed less switching between character perspectives.


Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book, I think it had great storytelling. It held my interest well.

I liked all of th different character POVs, however I didn’t like the change from first person to third person. I found that really confusing and hard to mentally switch between the two.

Thank you NetGalley for this book exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited for this - I love Sci-Fi and Dystopian and this sounded like it had the vibe that I love in that genre.
Unfortunately I just didn't love this. While the concept sounds really cool, I just found it to be lacking in explanation and detail. Things I thought would be important were just kind of glossed over and barely mentioned. The relationships were weird and I wasn't sure who I was supposed to be rooting for. I also really struggled with the character descriptions - maybe I just missed them, but I really didn't know what anyone looked liked.
And the villain was so cliche and when he was first introduced I never got the impression he was an adult. I honestly thought that he was a Young Adult and was going to be an opposing love interest or something.

This seems like a great idea and concept for a story, but I found it to be lacking in a lot of areas. I don't know if I;ll pick up the next one.

The premise of this book is amazing...a mysterious plague has hit the world and people are stuck on a cruise ship. What???!!! I enjoyed the characters and the setting, but wish the plot was a bit more fast-paced. I will be purchasing this book for my school library and have encouraged several students to read it.

I feel like maybe I'm just burnt out on new YA? I have my OG authors that I've been reading since the beginning but as an adult who loves young adult I keep coming up short on the new YA authors I try. I think this one would be a win for true teen audiences as it definitely skews younger and I'll definitely recommend it to teen patrons looking for something unique and dystopian. As for myself I think I'll keep with my tried and true for a while and give the new to me authors a break.

I’m not a dystopian fan, so you know this book has a great hook. Coming through the pandemic, this story feels like it could leave the fantasy realm and become reality.

This may be a spoiler, and I apologize if it is, but the description says this story is after an apocalyptic war though I read it as a plague of sorts wiping people out.

Told from multiple POVs, you get a good feel of what’s going on throughout the ship at any moment.

If you like YA dystopian, you’ll probably like this book. I did although I was screaming at the characters a great deal.

The concept of this book was very interesting to me, but unfortunately it fell short. The idea of a dystopian world where people are protentially being kept prisoner on a cruise ship seems super creepy and opens up a lot of oportunity for horror. I guess it's my bad that I was expecting something this book was not. Otherwise, I enjoyed the relationships between the characters and the "Big Brother Is Watching" energy the people running the ship was giving off.

I liked the thought behind this novel but it did not hit home for me. I did finish and wanted to like it but I found the writing a bit underwhelming and the execution of the story to be the same.

Unfortunately this book felt like a bit of a letdown to me. While readers who love dystopian stories will likely still be entertained by this new addition to the genre, it felt underwhelming overall. A bit too long, it had a good premise but delivery ultimately fell flat for me.

DNF at 25%

This YA Dystopian caught my eye so quickly and held on to it until a couple of chapters in.

We are following a few different POVs on a cruise ship decade after a pandemic took over. The idea is giving snowpiercer meets the titanic in a way and I wanted this to slap so hard.

It really fell so flat for me. The characters just continued to annoy me and I felt like I wasn’t making any progress in the story. Sadly a big disappointment for me.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of The Stranded by Sarah Daniels.

I loved the interesting setting for this dystopian thriller. It will definitely appeal to our YA readers and we've purchased it for our school district.

For fans of dystopian thrillers, this is a must read. Set in the future, after biological warfare has devastated Europe and a disagreement about borders has fractured the US, thousands of people survive and thrive on an old cruise ship off the coast of The Federated States. May and Esther are working hard to get good grades and get off the ship with jobs on land. But they live under harsh rules and restrictions with the ship controlled by one man. There’s a rebellion brewing.

I enjoyed the book. It took a couple chapters to get my head around some of the futuristic things and understand the world of the ship. But it’s such an interesting concept! As a frequent cruiser, it’s easy to visualize the decks and cabins and narrow stairways and walkways. Tons of action and a little heartbreak as well. Great read!

Okay if you have been craving a good dystopian in this very fantasy heavy world we are in the read this book!!! It has all the good dystopian points, and I found myself dying to pick it back up. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Standard Plot for a YA book. Dystopian, tension and love triangles. This has it all. Can these kids save the day and manage not to hurt each others feelings in the process?

I truly wanted to like The Stranded, especially considering how real the plot made it seem like it could be - while expecting the obvious tropes of YA fiction to boost the story further. But in a story that felt perfectly timed with the world outside, it was too predictable and the writing was a bit stilted. Still enjoyable, just not what I had been hoping for.

I really enjoyed this! While it has the typical dystopian YA feel, that’s exactly what I want to reach for sometimes. It kept me interested, and I enjoyed that it was 40 years in the future. Most dystopian books I’ve read so far are centered around the world ending event rather than how humanity is surviving in the future. This was a good read, and I’d definitely recommend it for teens or others who enjoy a nice YA dystopian book.

What I learnt from reading this book is I like my apocalyptic reads to be more about what destroys the world and how people survive while it is happening.
This book is set 40 years after the end of the world and there are only brief snippets of how the world ended and it left me feeling dissatisfied as I want to know more about the world during the end and how did these people end up on a cruise ship.
This book is part of a series so maybe we will learn more as the series continues.
From the first page though there is lots of action but I found myself getting lost trying to keep up with all the characters and who was on what side of the rebellion. And you don't really understand what the rebellion is about until the last 50 pages.

A pretty standard YA romp, albeit in an interesting setting. I don't know that I'm interested enough to read a second installment in the series.

Interesting start to a new series, though the premise is a bit samey: rebel kid and rule-follower, dystopian future, fighting for survival. The floating refugees on earth is an interesting angle and we'd definitely give the second book a chance, but it feels very of its genre.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of The Stranded by Sarah Daniels.
This book is a fast-paced dystopian novel that will be easy to recommend to teen readers. Sarah Daniels does a great job imagining a future where people are stranded on cruise ships for 40 plus years. The hierarchy, the control of the world leaders, the unknown possibilities of what lies on land. My only complaint with this book is that it is the first book of a trilogy and now I have to wait for the next book!