Book Review: “The Stranded” by Sarah Daniels
The Stranded
Sarah Daniels
To me, YA is allowed to be – and sometimes, even, should be - a bit more formulaic than Adult novels (depending on genre, of course). With a target audience who haven’t been exposed to a ton more books or films or TV shows, you can get away with things being a touch more trope-filled, a little cliché, etc. Not to say there aren’t really beautifully unique YA novels out there, but some are really effective at using the familiar to make something a bit different.
However, it’s on these levels where The Stranded fell down for me. I was excited to dig into this one, the summary promises love triangles and a fight for freedom, all set on a former luxury cruise ship that fled Europe and ended up off the coast of America. It’s now a refugee camp, and has been sitting off the coast of the Federated States for almost 40 years.
Firstly – there was no love triangle? I know some people don’t like them, but I do enjoy them when they’re done well. I don’t mind if stuff doesn’t have it, but there wasn’t really a ‘romance’ as such here at all and it’s advertised as a book with love triangles. There are relationships, but if you’re going off the blurb, don’t expect a romance between Esther – loyal citizen – and Ben – a rebel. I was hoping for something between these two, but it became clear pretty quickly it really wouldn’t work. There’s almost kind of weird hints, but it just feels strange.
The worldbuilding is also a little unstable, and there are points where it just felt like it didn’t quite make sense. A war in Europe somehow destroyed the European continent and made it unsafe, and a virus rapidly spread, but this didn’t reach American shores, but America still broke up into the Federated States and…something else? The cruise ship is overpopulated, thanks to a combination of guests and stowaways, who then had kids on the ship, the kids grew up and had kids, I think? Though that seems like a lot for forty years? There are parts where it’s like only a short amount of time has passed (forty years doesn’t seem that long, does it?) and others where it makes out this has been going on for generations. It’s just a little all over the shop.
I don’t think this is necessarily a bad book, but there were chunks where it got a touch too repetitive, or nothing really happened. We have another POV in the book, from the main antagonist, but this didn’t really add anything? All it mainly was was him grumbling about how poorly he’s been mistreated and how he hates the people who live on the ships. How main character trait seems to be “woe is me”. It seemed at one point like it was building up for him to have an obsession with Esther, but this is, again, brushed aside.
Back to the ship – they came from Europe within the span of a generation, but everything seems a bit off? The ship itself came from the UK, but you wouldn’t know it via the characters, and again with the span of time it’s like there’s no real sense that this is only 40 years? It’s really not a long time at all for all references and idioms and slang to just…die.
There’s also a trope I find I no longer like – controlling a population with a fake virus!!! Partly because of, well…you know. But we know it doesn’t work! We know even if there is a very real virus present people will STILL not listen, and I think it’s just lost its impact as a trope.
Some of this book was fun; the scenes going through the ship, the different sections, the interactions between the gangs, but it all feels overshadowed but what’s come before – The Handmaid’s Tale and The Hunger Games, for starters. Don’t get me wrong; I think when it does things well, it does things really well, but mostly this is one that will be most effective for the Young Adult audience, rather than a YA book you can enjoy as an adult as well, and that isn’t a bad thing.
To reiterate; if you’re someone who has read a lot, especially in Young Adult and/or dystopian science fiction, this book might not be for you. If you’re a younger reader or looking to dip into this genre for the first time, it’ll likely be that bit more entertaining.
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B091YJWLXW/
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Stranded-Sarah-Daniels/dp/172825812X/
Bookshop UK: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-stranded/9780241507964
Review by Elle Turpitt
Twitter & Instagram: @elleturpitt
I received this book from publisher Penguin via NetGalley for review consideration.
