The Stranded (The Stranded, 1)

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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. The story primarily focuses on 3 characters, Esther, Nik, and Hadley (there are others, but these are focused). Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. Based on the Diamond Princess at the start of the Covid pandemic, this story explores what might have happened had the passengers not been allowed to leave - for decades. For example, Esther’s boyfriend Alex is clearly made of red flags from top-to-toe but the book doesn’t give us time to believe in him as someone who is NOT made of red flags from top-to-toe which makes Esther’s commitment to him and everyone else’s willingness to just trust him a bit frustrating.

Stranded, book 2) by Sarah Daniels The Exiled (Stranded, book 2) by Sarah Daniels

The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. He’s legitimately terrifying—this mixture of entitlement and grievance that renders him ruthless, unpredictable, and absolutely irredeemable. Hadley, a ruthless sadist, and the ‘Coalie’ commander on the Arcadia, has very personal reasons for wanting the Arcadia and her inhabitants destroyed. 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.How Daniels created a post-apocalyptic world, added some swash buckling antics and some dangerous situations all within 480 pages is beyond me. In the past she's been an archaeologist, a bookseller, and worked in a (probably) haunted night library.

Sarah Daniels - Penguin Books UK Sarah Daniels - Penguin Books UK

The characters’ emotions are described in evocative and intimate language, endearing them to the reader: ‘The ring (she) gave me weighs down my hand. Secondly, I only publish reviews of books in the subgenre where I’m best known (queer romcom) if they’re glowing. She has grown up in the uniform of the Federation, but when she is thrown in the opposite direction with Nik, the more she learns about them, the more she questions what is right or wrong, how do we save the people and their future for the master that is Hadley, or will the be Stranded? Maybe it will play a larger role in the next instalment, but I don’t think I’ll be continuing the series.The Stranded manages to weave current social and political undertones alongside a future that is bleak yet could be sadly realistic. The setting of book really reminded me of the Titanic, an enhanced, unsinkable (properly this time) version of it, that’s how I pretty much envisioned.

The Stranded | Sarah Daniels | 9781728258126 | NetGalley The Stranded | Sarah Daniels | 9781728258126 | NetGalley

Cruise ships now bring with them a lot of COVID 19 related baggage, and it makes for a highly original setting and premise for this dystopian thriller. Further disclaimer: Readers, please stop accusing me of trying to take down “my competition” because I wrote a review you didn’t like. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The Arcadia is currently a sort of panopticon, run under a martial law imposed by officers from the Federated States, ostensibly to protect citizens from the gangs that previously threatened the ship, but mostly about enforcing control.Forty years ago after a devastating war, the luxury cruise ship Arcadia becomes banished from Europe and all the occupants are now stuck. Unfortunately, The Stranded read exactly like the YA dystopians that were flooding the market over a decade ago. They spend most of the time arguing with each other, the plan to save the ship and get the people off of it is absolutely ridiculous and this did not need to be nearly 400 pages long. It starts off quite slowly, introducing characters and situating them in their daily lives aboard the ship.