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The Stranded by Sarah Daniels – #TheWriteReads #UltimateBlogTour – Book Review
About the Book
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 . . .
About the Author
Sarah Daniels is an ex-archaeologist who escaped academia and now writes stories from her home in rural Lincolnshire. Her work has been published in various online magazines and has been nominated for best British and Irish Flash Fiction and Best Small Fictions.
If you want to contact her, you can do so at the following locations:
Website: http://www.sarahdanielsbooks.com
Instagram: @sarahdanielsbooks
TikTok: @sarahdanielsbooks
Twitter: @sarahdanbooks
What I Thought
I’m so very glad that dystopian ya fiction is making a comeback and was so excited to get into this one and it really doesn’t disappoint. This is a rip roaring fast paced thriller with our protagonists in constant danger.
Esther, so close to escaping the Arcadia and heading to university on land gets drawn into a rebellion she never knew was sleeping in the same room as her. Esther is dedicated to her studies, and to helping others, and her loyalty to the regime that will see her head toward a better left, is severely tested time and again. She is not a chosen one but she chooses to do the right thing, even when it hurts. And boy is there a lot of hurt in this book.
Nik has grown up an integral part of the rebellion and he has his biggest role still to play. When he ends up needing a medic, he and Esther get thrust together and start to realise all the ways they are connected.
I am so glad that this is a Duology and that the second book is out because I need more now.
Author Sarah Daniels has created a cast of morally grey characters with complex relationships and a situation that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The ship itself is as much a character as it is a hostile setting.
We get a third point of view character – Commander Hadley who really gives President Snow a run for evil bloke of the YA novel award.
With echoes of Demolition Man, The Hunger Games and Divergent, if you are a fan of white knuckle rides you need to pick this up.
Thanks to The Write Reads and the publisher for the #gifted copies of this and the second book in the Duology The Exiled. I’ll be sharing my thoughts on the thrilling conclusion next week. See what everyone else on the tour thought too.
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Academy Arcanist by Shami Stovall – Spotlight
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60839624-academy-arcanist?
Blurb
Hopes. Dreams. And literal nightmares out to kill a young boy.
Gray Lexly, son of a candlemaker, wants to escape his life of old-world technologies and study at the prestigious Astra Academy, a school for arcanists—those who can wield magic. But Gray has a major problem. Every night, as he sleeps, he’s visited by monsters. When they injure Gray in his dreams, he wakes with the same wounds in real life…
On the night Gray might finally die in his nightmares, he is saved by the kind and mysterious Professor Helmith, a powerful arcanist. She offers to protect Gray and invites him to attend Astra Academy.
Before that can happen, Gray must bond with a mystical creature to become an arcanist himself. Will he bond with a unicorn? A pegasus? A kitsune? Whatever he bonds with will determine his magical abilities, so he must choose wisely.
About the Author
Shami Stovall is a multi-award-winning author of fantasy and science fiction. Before that, she taught history and criminal law at the college level, and loved every second. When she’s not reading fascinating articles and books about ancient China or the Byzantine Empire, Stovall can be found playing way too many video games, especially RPGs and tactics simulators.
If you want to contact her, you can do so at the following locations:
Website: https://sastovallauthor.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GameOverStation/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SAStovall/
Email: s.adelle.s@gmail.com
This is a YA with magical school trope but with echoes of Fourth Wing with the creature bonding and trials. Do check out what other people on the tour thought.
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The Boy Who Made Monsters by Jenny Pearson – Blog Tour Book Review
About the Book
There are a lot of different types of monster. Some live at the bottom of lochs, some are found far out at sea and some swim about in the depths of your mind and these can be the scariest monsters of all – if you let them.
Benji McLaughlin is a visionary. He believes in things that other people think are impossible, like that he and his brother Stanley will be happy in their new home in Scotland, and that the Loch Lochy monster exists, and that his parents will come home safely one day, even though they’ve been missing for months.
When he finds out that his Uncle Hamish’s Loch Lochy tourist business is struggling, and it looks like Benji and Stanley might lose another home, Benji’s not worried. He has a plan. If he can show everyone that the Loch Lochy monster exists, people will flock to come and see it, and the business will flourish again.
Together with his new friend Murdy and Mr Dog, the best dog in the world, Benji sets off to capture evidence of the monster, even if he has to get a little creative. But Benji might end up confronting more monsters than he expects.
About the Author
Jenny Pearson has been awarded six mugs, one fridge magnet, one wall plaque and numerous cards for her role as Best Teacher in the World. When she is not busy being inspirational in the classroom, she would like nothing more than to relax with her two young boys, but she can’t as they view her as a human climbing frame. Her debut novel, The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates, was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award and selected as a Waterstones Book of the Month.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/J_C_Pearson
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/J_C_Pearson/
What I Thought
The Boy Who Made Monsters follows Benji and his brother Stanley up to a Scottish Loch to live with their uncle after their parents go missing. The story is told from eleven year old Benji’s perspective and as such I would say this is on the younger end of middle grade.
Benji is an entertaining narrator who despite all the upheaval in his life is willing to go all in to help his uncle’s ailing business and he takes us along for the ride with a lot of humour. I can’t help thinking that this is also a note to us all to look out for the people we think as coping well when something difficult happens. Under the surface all may not be well and their flippers may be paddling wildly.
The topic of grief is approached with sensitivity and we get to see a few different ways that individuals cope with it. The relationship between Benji and his brother Stanley was well developed, from standard sibling fights to fighting for your sibling.
Benji’s new friend Murdy McGurdy was a delight although I have to admit that I think Mr Dog was my favourite character, there is one illustration included in the book that made me want to give him the biggest boop.
There is a good mix of adventure and emotion in this story and I think it’s one that you would get even more from reading for a second time.
This is the third book by Jenny that I have read and enjoyed and she really is a master at mixing humour with the more serious experiences children may have to face.
See also my review of Freddie Yates here.
Thanks to Bee at Kaleidoscopic Tours and the publisher Usborne for the gifted copy. Opinions are all mine. Follow the tour by using the hashtag #TheBoyWhoMadeMonsters
kirstyes 