I needed to read a good thriller hence picked up this advanced review copy. I loved it, it did remind me of “The Hunger Games” however in a more realistic, less gory, and actually quite relatable way given how current events unfold recently, the Pandemic and unrest in Afghanistan then Ukraine. It is mysterious and isn’t easily predictable. Initially I thought I would be lost in the many characters (in truth it wasn’t that many), that didn’t happen. I found myself hurtling (like a ship - pun intended) towards the end of the book, unable to be distracted from it. This is an unputdownable book. I was worried that there will be a cliffhanger, however, the author written the ending in such a way that satisfied my need for a closure yet leaving it open for a possible sequel. I hope I’ll have the privilege to read the advance review copy should there be a sequel too. Many thanks to publisher Penguin Random House for this copy via netgalley.

Published last year, this is a book which – I have to be honest – passed me by as I had yet to discover just how good Young Adult reads are now and which I am delighted to have been introduced to. Tense, satisfyingly complex and highly credible, the book tells the story of some of the key players onboard the Arcadia – a former cruise ship that never reached its destination due to the outbreak of a biological war and which over the course of forty years has changed from a floating pleasure palace into a city where the passengers and crew have morphed into a new society with all that entails. It is a cold, late autumn evening when we meet medical student Esther who is studying hard for exams in the Lookout – a cheap café with a great view of both the sea and the nearby coast. Finishing up for the night, Esther goes to leave but is startled by a sudden leaflet drop – something that is illegal under the strict laws of the ship. As those around her scramble to escape, another girl falls and Esther overrides her conscience to leave her to the mercy of the Coalies – the brutal onboard law-enforcers. Behind the drop are Nik and May who rapidly flee the chaotic scene only to be pursued by Coalies, resulting in Nik being shot. After Esther – who is blissfully unaware of her sister’s involvement in the drop – argues with May about her strange behaviour, she decides to visit boyfriend Alex but on her way is grabbed by a bunch of men who throw a hood over her head and drag her away to provide the urgent medical attention that Nik needs. At the same time, Hadley – the tyrannical leader of the Coalies responsible for enforcing law on the ship’s community – starts to investigate the leaflet drop and vows to bring those responsible to justice, brutally showing his deputy just how he intends to enforce it. Having completed tending to Nik, Esther is returned to the ship’s market, where she meets Alex who cannot help but notice that she has been injured by those who took her and takes her back to his to clean up. Trying her best to focus on passing the exams that she hopes will be her route to leaving the ship, Esther is soon dragged into the secret underground world that Nik and May inhabit – a world of gangs and rebels determined to overthrow Hadley and the Coalies to allow those on board to finally leave the confines of the ship. Putting her trust in Nik and older sister May, Esther quickly starts to learn the truth as to what has been going on, not just onboard the Arcadia but on the other ships full of the Stranded and within the mainland Federated States, and starts to help them. Can the rebels overthrow Hadley to bring about a new start for all onboard and what will he have in store for them if they can’t? The story is told through the narratives of several of the main characters and in particular Esther. Hardworking, studious and loyal to the Federated States when we meet her, her run-in with the shady gangs controlling the Arcadia’s underworld when she is taken to attend to Nik not only put her in immediate and very grave danger but are the trigger for her discovering that the older sister to whom she looks up is not who she thought she was. As Esther becomes more and more involved in the cause for which Nik and May are prepared to sacrifice everything, she is forced to question the destiny she has always believed to be her own and has to start to consider in whom she can place her trust. In the cruel and inhumane Hadley, author Sarah Daniels has given the rebels a nemesis with no redeeming features. Twisted and bitter following a romantic relationship that did not pan out the way he wanted it to, he takes enormous pleasure in acts of enormous cruelty and imposing more and more severe laws upon the residents of the ship. With the Coalies under his firm control and a wealth of technology at his disposal, ultimately he is a coward who relishes the power he has and who believes that by asserting his authority over the weakest of those for whom he is responsible will gain his own freedom to return to the mainland. At times very bleak, this is a story that almost creeps up on the reader as you try to work out just whose side everyone is on and the little details from earlier chapters flare up into major parts of the plot further on. I absolutely loved it and would highly recommend it for its target audience.

It’s been a while since I’ve read Dystopian, which is surprising to me as it used to be one of my favourite genres. There aren’t really any that have caught my eye recently. So when I saw The Write Reads doing this tour, I signed up straight away because it was the perfect excuse to get back into the genre. I loved this book from start to finish and I found it really hard to put down. I got completely lost in the story and I found the world building amazing. The author has done a great job at painting the lives of the different groups of people aboard the Arcadia cruise ship that has been stranded at sea for 40 years after a deadly virus was released. It can be a bit slow towards the beginning as we learn about the upper and lower class passengers, how life is run in 2094 and what actually went wrong in the world that resulted in everyone, well nearly everyone living aboard these cramped cruise ships. All of this information we get is totally worth it though. It felt like I became a part of the life on this ship and could picture everything and everyone in this eerie and deadly world. As well as having amazing world building, there is great character development and also a lot of brutal action that helps pick up the pace of the book. I could really feel that these people are fighting for their lives and a better future, that’s how consumed I was by this book. I’m also a big fan of multiple povs and I LOVE that we get to see this world from so many eyes around the ship. Esther and Nik are my absolute faves though and I can’t wait to see them in action again. One thing I would have liked because I love a good deadly disease (fictionally), is more about the virus. What it is, what it does and where has it gone? I’m hoping there is more of an explanation in the next book. Overall, The Stranded is such a gripping, unexpected book full of action, betrayal, rebellion and even has some very slight romance in and I loved every word of it. It checks all of the boxes for me and I can’t wait to start the next one to find out what happens in this twisted world!

What a fabulous rollercoaster of a novel. I was immediately drawn in the dystopian world of the Arcadia. Great story telling with lots of energy and protagonists you can relate to. Highly recommend.

A pacy, gripping read that plunges you into this near-future dystopia from the first page. The Stranded combines completely believable world-building with characters you'll root for. Can't wait for the next in the series!