The Stranded by Sarah Daniels
Product Details
Web ID: 15697311Highly Recommend!
THE STRANDED – by Sarah Daniels ‘Good evening. It is 17:00 hours on Sunday 24 October 2094. This is the captain of the cruise ship Arcadia . . . . All passengers please be prepared for high seas. Daily reported Virus cases: zero. Days at sea: 15,934 . . . . ‘The Arcadia’s isolation has lasted four decades. Long enough for my grandparents to die and my parents to grow up here. Every generation hoping that the Federated States will finally believe we’re not Virus carriers and let us go ashore. But, even after all this time without an outbreak, we can’t shake the infectious label. Some people in the Federated States still campaign to send us back to the wastelands of Europe, or to some barren, rocky island to be forgotten.’ My Heart! That ending was INTENSE and leaves me hoping for a sequel centered around these bad*** women! Highly Recommend! Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire, for providing me with an eBook of THE STRANDED at the request of an honest review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Brilliant!
Title: The Stranded Author: Sarah Daniels Release Date: January 3rd, 2023 Page Count: 450 Format: Netgalley Start Date: December 26th, 2022 Finish Date: December 31st, 2022 Rating: 5 Stars Review: Imagine being on a ship all your life because of a major pandemic that hit and the people in the reformed world think that if you join them that they will be at risk for the pandemic happening again. People are promised that they may be selected to join the island if they sign up for certain jobs and pass certain tests. This book is told in four points of view. Each point of view is just as important as the other. I feel like if it was only told in any of their perspectives that this story just wouldn't make as much sense. The book was intense. I'd love to read it again after a while if I'm being honest. I am curious to read other books by this author. She definitely has a wonderful writing style. Also, this cover is so wonderful! I bought a copy for myself and my mother and then wound up getting a copy from a book subscription box I was trying out. I'm hoping to find someone to give my extra copy a good home to.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Flat characters, predictable story
The premise of this story really intrigued me. I love dystopian fiction and the idea of a group of people forced into quarantine on a ship for literal generations was ingenious! I wish I loved this book the way I expected to, but even though the worldbuilding was fantastic, the characters were so wooden and the plot was so predictable that I just didn't care what happened. The villain was a revolting person, but he was still the best character in the book, in my opinion, because he had a compelling backstory and showed his teeth; everyone else simply felt like a pawn to further the story with no emotion to back up their motives and actions, and I felt I could see the events unfolding well in advance. I'm sad to say I don't have any interest in continuing the series.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Okay Dystopian YA
It’s been decades since the passengers on the cruise ship Arcadia have floated near the coastline of the Federated States, left isolated because of possible exposure to a deadly virus. In that time, life aboard the ship has devolved to the haves and have-nots, to the upper and lower decks, to gangs and military police. Esther has never stepped out of line and is studying to become a medic with the hopes of being one of just a few citizens who are granted land access. But then she finds herself unwillingly drawn into a plot to rebel against the order of the ship, and is forced to make choices she never thought she’d have to. The author focused this work on three main characters – a rebel, a medical trainee, and the leader of the military police aboard the ship. This was a fun way to get a glimpse into the main three factions aboard the Arcadia. The characters were interesting, and their varied personalities and goals made for an enjoyable cast, but I felt that they were lacking in true development. They all felt like caricatures of typical YA dystopian characters, especially the main antagonist (who was absurdly evil and felt more comic than threatening). The pacing of the work is a bit off. It starts off quite slowly, introducing characters and situating them in their daily lives aboard the ship. Action slowly builds up, then lags, then the last fifth of the book is nonstop. There’s not much conflict interspersed throughout the work; the only real conflict is the commander versus the people of the ship, and again, with him not being a relatable/realistic/engaging villain, it was lackluster. I would have loved to learn more about the rebellion, the people themselves, and some of the interpersonal conflicts that were common aboard the ship. This would have brought the setting and the characters more life. I did enjoy this work overall though I probably won’t continue the series. My thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
So Much Potential
Interesting premise but disappointing follow through. You get thrown into the action right away but there’s not much explanation of what’s going on so I felt lost and confused for most of the book. The characters aren’t well developed either so I couldn’t relate to any of them. I get that the story needs to slowly unfold but there’s no backstory given for how they ended up here, why they can’t leave and what they stand for. DNF at 30%.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Could not put it down
This book may be directed to young adults, but it should be listed as for all adults. I loved this book. I could not put it down. The story is of a people who had been stranded on a cruise ship forty years before and not allowed to disembark due to a horrible virus. People lived, had children, died, fought, loved all on this ship. There is a rebellion. I was totally engrossed in the lives of the main characters. There are good guys, bad guys, in between guys, really bad guys and non stop action, adventure, fear, and suspense. Truly, when I am yelling while reading a book, you know I was drawn into it. My only complaint is that the book ended far too soon. I hope there is more to come. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity of this early read.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Solid, well-written, and layered!
Sarah Daniels’ The Stranded has a nostalgic feel, a harkening back to the dystopian era YA books I couldn’t seem to get enough of ten years ago when The Hunger Games and Divergent were all the rage. And I didn’t mind the revisit one bit. While it’s not perfect and it took me the first twenty percent of the book to learn all the characters, once I committed to the story, I was engaged and entertained. This one does have a slow build, but the pay off is worth the trek. The reader gets the story of the stranded Arcadia from three different points of view: Esther, a sixteen year old medic student with the sole focus of getting herself and her boyfriend Alex off the ship; Nik, a young rebel working behind the scenes with his mother to overthrow the corrupt leadership; and Hadley, the corrupt leader. I enjoyed Esther and Nik’s points of view, but I found myself wanting to skim Hadley’s. Thankfully his chapters are mostly short and quick, but I personally would have preferred the book without his sections. Esther and Nik are flawed and well-rounded, making human choices with consequences, and I appreciated their story arcs. Esther’s transformation from a naive student to someone more integral to the rebellion is believable and compelling. Nik’s determination to protect May, Esther’s older sister, and then Esther because of his love for May, is the heartbeat of the story. While there’s plenty of action throughout the story, it was in the last twenty percent of the book that I suddenly didn’t want to set it down, taking the book with me to read everywhere I went. Daniels doesn’t leave us on too big of a cliffhanger, wrapping up the main climax of the book, but we are left with plenty to ponder until the sequel is released, once again reminding me of my days spent reading and anticipating my favorite dystopian series. A solid story, well-written and layered, I could see this one on the big screen, as well.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Landfall
Exciting and page turning, this story holds your attention throughout. It is a dystopian story about a nation after a deadly virus. Survivors are stuck on ships out in the ocean, while the Federation is on the land and very few leave the ships. People are born there and die there. Rebels form a plan called Landfall to take back the ship and sail to freedom beyond the Federation lands. However, this plan goes terribly wrong. The characters May, Nik, Alex, and Esther young people on different sides. The villain was Hadley the head of the Coalies a savage police force , The rebels were led by Enid, and the Gangs or below ship units were lead by Silas. The Captain even gets in on the action. Some of the characters within the story and their adventures will live, some will perish, some will switch sides and at least on is a traitor. If you want an action packed story this is the one for you. I recommend this story. Thanks to Sarah Daniels for writing the story, to Sourcebooks Fire for publishing it and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read and review
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com