The premise of The Stranded seemed so appealing, but unfortunately, it was underwhelming.
Synopsis
Apocalyptic war and a deadly virus forced passengers on board the Arcadia to reside on the former luxury cruise liner for decades. Now, the ship floats off the coast of the Federated States, and no one is allowed to disembark without special permission for fear of spreading the long-dormant virus. Wealthy passengers reside on the upper decks, while the impoverished lives on the lower levels.
Esther is a training medic, studying hard so she can try to get off the ship and secure a job on land.
Nic is deep into planning a rebellion.
Hadley is the commander, in charge of keeping order on the ship, and will do so at any cost.
Review of The Stranded
This YA thriller is fast-paced and has multiple POVs.
I thought I would enjoy it more than I did. It lacks character development. Many of the characters were merely caricatures of good versus evil. Especially Hadley. He’s identical to every villain in a poorly acted budget action film.
I’m not sure why I thought the virus would take up more pages, but alas, it was only mentioned a few times. Maybe it will play a larger role in the next instalment, but I don’t think I’ll be continuing the series.
The last 80 pages were top-tier action, but again, not enough to motivate me to stick with the series.
Some YA books can be enjoyed by all ages, but I’d only recommend this to those that really adore YA. It reads on the younger side, even though it has some darker content.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️
Expected Publication: 03 January 2023
Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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