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johanna_b 's review for:
The Stranded
by Sarah Daniels
I bought this one after attending YALC last year in London where I got to see the author speak on a dystopian panel but I'd put off picking it up until now. I read this one coming off the back of another dystopian which I loved so maybe my expectations were too high but regardless this one fell short.
It's told from three different POV's. First there's Esther who has been training all her life to become a medic in order to leave the ship where she and thousands of others have been stranded ever since a virus in Europe forced them to leave. Next there's Nik, the rebel who wants to liberate those on the ship once and for all. And finally there's Hadley, whose sole purpose was to go around torturing people for fun and for some reason we need his pov?? A little background, two things that really turn me off of a book are torture and vomit. More so the torture but the author managed to fit BOTH of those things together into a single paragraph just seven chapters in! I wanted to put this book down right then and call it a day, but I didn't, which turned out to be a mistake.
You may already have gathered that I didn't like Hadley, but the other characters didn't have much going for them either. Nik at least knew what he wanted and so had drive but he started to become really unlikable towards the end when he repeatedly took out his anger and frustration on Esther for things she couldn't control without ever (in my memory at least) apologizing. Esther was the best out of the three of them but her character still felt very shallow. As for the plot, it started out slow and the torture scenes interspersed throughout didn't help at all, but I was able to enjoy it more when the action started to pick up and I thought the final battle scene was really well done. Sadly though, this just wasn't enough to save the rest of the book.
I don't plan on picking up the sequel but I think that there are definitely people out there who would still enjoy this book. The plot is solid and the action enjoyable, but I would just be wary of the unlikable characters. Happy Reading :)
It's told from three different POV's. First there's Esther who has been training all her life to become a medic in order to leave the ship where she and thousands of others have been stranded ever since a virus in Europe forced them to leave. Next there's Nik, the rebel who wants to liberate those on the ship once and for all. And finally there's Hadley, whose sole purpose was to go around torturing people for fun and for some reason we need his pov?? A little background, two things that really turn me off of a book are torture and vomit. More so the torture but the author managed to fit BOTH of those things together into a single paragraph just seven chapters in! I wanted to put this book down right then and call it a day, but I didn't, which turned out to be a mistake.
You may already have gathered that I didn't like Hadley, but the other characters didn't have much going for them either. Nik at least knew what he wanted and so had drive but he started to become really unlikable towards the end when he repeatedly took out his anger and frustration on Esther for things she couldn't control without ever (in my memory at least) apologizing. Esther was the best out of the three of them but her character still felt very shallow. As for the plot, it started out slow and the torture scenes interspersed throughout didn't help at all, but I was able to enjoy it more when the action started to pick up and I thought the final battle scene was really well done. Sadly though, this just wasn't enough to save the rest of the book.
I don't plan on picking up the sequel but I think that there are definitely people out there who would still enjoy this book. The plot is solid and the action enjoyable, but I would just be wary of the unlikable characters. Happy Reading :)