I was lucky enough to read an advance copy and it didn't disappoint. This is a real page-turner, with relatable characters and lots of twists and turns. You get completely absorbed in the world of the cruise-ship, with all its villains, the shady dealings of the underworld and a heroic band of ship-dwellers who are trying to mount a rebellion. Sarah Daniels' imaginative world-building is quite mesmerising. I've no doubt this book will be a best-seller. If you loved 'Station 11', this will be right up your street.

The book opens with Esther on board the Arcadia describing its layout along with a general background to how she and the thousands of other different passengers are living on the once luxury cruise ship. For forty years people have been stranded on the ship making lives for themselves, which at times resembled a ‘Mad Max’ type environment but at sea not land. I thought the whole premise of the story was unique and well imagined, due to the exceedingly well written descriptions and dialogue which enabled me to clearly picture the unusual set up perfectly. Having watched many dystopian/fantasy/sci-fi series on television, I personally feel this would also make a fabulously unique series too, full of action, interesting characters and well narrated dialogue. Even each level to the ship had its own life and could make a subject in its own right. The action and tension in the last 100 pages is fantastic and really had me on the edge of my seat. The cliff hanging ending leads into the next book “The Exiled” superbly and I’m happily reading it now for continuity and can safely say it’s shaping up t be another blockbuster story of survival. #TheStranded - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a hefty book and I lost motivation to keep reading it a few times. I was seeking a young adult dystopian romance but this lacked the romance. You see I quite like the end of the world, impassioned love stories because I think it’ll be the last thing on my mind at the end of the world. But also because these are the classic ‘Love conquers all’ metaphors. This book had all the ingredients. It had the jaded male teen. It had the good girl. It had a rebel girl who was the good girl’s elder sister. It had the love-hungry teen. There looked to be a love triangle and a sibling clash. Instead it was a plot-driven book with little depth and no deeper message of worldly politics. The story couldn’t be translated to a different scenario, time or place. It was just what and where it was, nothing more. There was no universal lesson. The story and the characters will be forgotten. I don’t think this is one that will build a similar fan base to the Divergent series, for example. I received this book through Netgalley for review consideration. All opinions are my own and they are completely honest.

As someone who works in the entertainment industry, I know a few people who were stuck at their jobs on cruise ships when Covid19 hit. A few of these people were stuck for months, moved into the guest cabins but not allowed out to socialise or go anywhere. Inspired by stories like these, Sarah Daniels paints a picture of 40 years having passed, with people still stuck aboard ships with a repressive regime, rampant gangs and a threat of an outside virus. It’s a brilliant premise and I was excited to read more. There’s no doubt that this is a strong and interesting premise but perhaps because of my high expectations, I finished The Stranded feeling a little disappointed. Firstly, I felt the book could have been improved with a lot more world-building. What was presented was interesting, but it all felt a little flat. We know little about the virus which started everything off and I also struggled to picture the layout of the ship particularly well. I couldn’t really understand how this ship was still in liveable condition after 40 years at sea and how the inhabitants were able to have technology or food. There is a brief explanation of the oppressive land regime giving them the essentials, but I didn’t really get why this was done or what currency was used to barter anything. If this had been set maybe a few years after the world-ending event, I personally feel it would have felt a lot more realistic. The chapters alternate perspective, from medical-student Esther, revolutionary Nik and Officer Hadley. The perspectives and narrative voices were all quite distinct, but I didn’t really feel that I empathised much with these three or any of the other characters presented. In fact, the most interesting one was the evil character Hadley which confused matters a little. The bad characters all felt very stereotypical, making evil decisions for the sake of it which didn’t make them feel real. The good characters also made some very confusing and odd decisions at times and Esther in particular I found to be very annoying. The plot was also a bit too convenient, there’s a ‘good’ character that gets shot multiple times with no real consequences and then if that happened to a side-character they would die instantly. New technology is randomly introduced to fix problems without any real backstory in how it was procured or why it would be on the ship in the first place. I also really didn’t understand what the rebels plan was – the end plot in particular just seemed silly and I have no idea what would have happened next if the plan had gone ahead. The virus is very much side-lined which seemed a shame, especially with the virus count being included in the Captain’s speech at the top of chapters which led me into thinking that the numbers may start to climb. The Stranded is a duology with an abrupt, cliff-hanger ending but I’m not sure this first instalment has done enough to warrant me wanting to pick up the next one I’m afraid. There’s a brilliant premise under there but it’s covered by a convenient plot, flat characters and vague world building. Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin Random House UK for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.