The Stranded is a YA dystopian novel by Sarah Daniels.
Snowpiercer meets The Hunger Games in a gripping near-future dystopian: romances, betrayals, and fights for freedom in a world turned upside-down...
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 . . .
The Stranded is a YA dystopian book being compared to The Hunger Games
and Divergent. I used to love this genre so I was hoping to have a bit
of nostalgia wrapped up in a modern dystopian. Unfortunately, The
Stranded read exactly like the YA dystopians that were flooding the
market over a decade ago. There wasn't a lot of development and there
wasn't a lot of explanation.
The Stranded is told through
multiple points of view. A couple of these views are told through first
person and a third point of view through third person. I didn't enjoy
the change in narrative, and I didn't enjoy the characters either.
This
dystopian world has strict rules, but anyone can get in trouble at any
time - even if they did nothing wrong. People in close proximity to rule
breakers would be arrested while the actual rule breakers got away. The
characters are stuck on these ships because the world got hit with a
virus - but the people who study and earn their way back into the real
world can get vaccines and be taken off the ship. There are vaccines but
they don't give them to everyone because it would cost millions. When
was this written? Did I read this wrong?
Our main character is
studying to earn her way off of the ship, but she totally forgot to
study for an exam that's 65% of her grade so she decides to cheat in
order to take the only remaining spot off the ship. Why would I care to
keep reading? The stakes were so random, the characters were basic, and I
didn't understand the world at all. I held on for 173 pages until I
just didn't have any reason to root for anyone.
If you are a
huge fan of the Hunger Games era books, you might love this. I would
100% believe The Stranded was written 10 years ago when there was no
longer a market for it. I was hoping for a modern take on the YA
dystopian genre, and I guess that's my fault.
Review copy provided by publisher. This is a review of my reading experience.
That's too bad. I was hoping this one would be really good. I do like a fun dystopian read. But all those change in POVs is never my favorite thing, and I'm so tired of reading books with unlikable characters.
ReplyDeleteSame. It wasn't a fit for me.
DeleteHmmm. Interesting. I'm sorry this wasn't a win for you. I think I might still enjoy it. Dystopian's aren't my go-to genre, but I do love them.
ReplyDeleteI think you would like it, Jenni.
DeleteSounds like it could have been good if it had been done right.
ReplyDeleteIt was an interesting premise but definitely not what I was looking for.
DeleteAwwthat's disappointing. It could have been better, sounds like, if done differently. The POV changes would annoy me too.
ReplyDeleteIt was a struggle to reorient myself each chapter.
DeleteShoot, how disappointing. I thought this sounded interesting too, but now I'm not so sure.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think there is an audience for this, but I was super frustrated.
DeleteDang, that's a shame! The premise sounded so good too.
ReplyDeleteIt is funny how this genre kind of came and went. I suppose there just wasn't a ton of development. Without layers of something different they all just start to feel the same. What a shame this one didn't rise to the challenge!
ReplyDelete