I’m pleased to be part of the blog tour for The Stranded by Sarah Daniels- dystopian YA
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 . . .
Thank you Write Reads Tour and Penguin Random Books for my copy
Review
I enjoyed The Stranded by Sarah Daniels- a YA dystopian fiction that feels relevant today.
I received a copy of this book for a free and unbiased opinion.
There is so much in the news at the moment about illegal immigration and refugees, that this book feels like less sci-fi and more contemporary. The Stranded plays with our views on what is a refugee and challenges our assumptions.
Esther and Nic are the first-person narrators- they are the latest generation of ship people on the Arcadia. The Arcadia is one of many cruise ships that fled Europe, forty-years ago after a massive biological war rendering it inhabitable, expecting to be given safe refuge in The Federated States. But instead, they find suspicion, hostility and are stripped of their humanity. The ship people are literally just left to float in limbo on the sea and not allowed to move to another country that might be more accepting.
The other point of view character is Hadley, a citizen and officer of the Coalies and I have to say I found him terrifying. Hadley is the ordinary man following orders and rhetoric.
The world-building is really intricate, the author skilfully creates a whole new society on what is essentially a ship. I loved how the Federated States see the ship people as ‘European’ despite their race or religion which gives this book an authentically diverse feel. The author also creates a new class system among the ship’s residents for example Esther is a descendant of a ticket holder which is higher on the pecking order whereas Nik, the son of a rebellion leader, is a descendant of a Punjabi family who fled to the boat for sanctuary. But there are also the Neaths who live in the underbelly of the ship.
This is YA, so there is a romance at the heart of the book but this doesn’t overpower the story in any way but in fact, progresses in a realistic way given the nature of the book.
I couldn’t understand why the Federated States didn’t just let the ships sail away to another country but this is explained in the sequel The Exiled ( Review here)
Perfect for fans of
Dystopian science fiction. This has a real Snowpiecer vibe.
Series Book Lover 