Ultimate Blog Tour Review: The Stranded by Sarah Daniels

Hey everyone!
Today is my stop on the ultimate blog tour for The Stranded by Sarah Daniels, and I am excited to be sharing my review with you all.

A massive thank you to @The_WriteReads and @PenguinPlatform for allowing me to be a part of the tour.

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Book Blurb:

Welcome to the Arcadia.

Once a luxurious cruise ship, it became a refugee camp after being driven from Europe by an apocalyptic war. Now it floats near the coastline of the Federated States – a leftover piece of a fractured USA.

For forty years, residents of the Arcadia have been prohibited from making landfall. It is a world of extreme haves and have nots, gangs and make-shift shelters.

Esther is a loyal citizen, working flat-out to have the rare chance to live a normal life as a medic on dry land. Nik is a rebel, planning something big to liberate the Arcadia once and for all.

When events throw them both together, their lives, and the lives of everyone on the ship, will change forever…

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My Review:

The Stranded begins with Esther. While on her way back from class, she has stopped in The Lookout (the ship’s cafe) when an unexpected leaflet drop happens just outside. These leaflet drops are illegal, and anyone in the area is now in danger of being arrested or worse, just for looking at them. Esther gets herself out of there, but this drop is a little more close to home than Esther realises. An interesting start to the story that provokes a lot of questions about the Arcadia, and life aboard the ship, and I needed answers.

The story is told from the POV of Esther, Nik, and Hadley, and although we don’t get any of the story from her POV, Esther’s sister, May, also has an important central role within the story. Four very different people, with a collection of different views and roles aboard the Arcadia. As the story unravels, we learn more about each character and also their backgrounds. Esther, Nik, and May were all born aboard the ship and it’s all they’ve ever known, but Hadley knows what it’s like to live on land. His story is at the core of the problems aboard the ship, and also the reason for his desperate need to punish anyone he can.

The characters are all brilliantly written, and feel completely real. As well as our main characters, there are some very interesting side characters. Enid is a personal favourite of mine. It also has characters that you just love to hate. The relationships between characters are all very complex, it’s like one giant spider web where everyone is connected in some way, and that adds a lot of different feelings and emotions to the story.

The concept of a cruise ship being quarantined at sea for decades because Europe went to war, sending missiles carrying biological warheads across the continent to each other is truly a terrifying thought. Unfortunately, there are some current leaders of European countries that I wouldn’t be shocked by if they did something similar to this. I think that’s part of why this story works so well though, because actually it’s not too far-fetched.

The entire way through, this book is filled with danger and excitement. I’m not usually a big fan of sci-fi but with this story I really enjoyed it, possibly because of how it works alongside the thrilling elements of the book, and made this a story that really sinks it’s claws in to you. There’s also some very emotional scenes, one of which is absolutely heartbreaking, and it caught me completely off guard. It then comes together in an explosive showdown, a battle between good and bad, and a fight for freedom. Left on a bit of a cliffhanger, I now can’t wait to continue the story with The Exiled.

I give The Stranded a 4 star rating!

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About The Author:

YOU CAN FIND SARAH HERE:
Website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, GoodReads

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