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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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Straight Expectations by Calum McSwiggan – The Write Reads Ultimate Blog Tour Book Review
About the Book
The brilliant debut novel from author, presenter and LGBTQ+ advocate Calum McSwiggan!
Seventeen-year-old Max has always been out, proud and just a little spoiled. Frustrated by the lack of romantic options in his small-town high school, during an argument with his lifelong best friend Dean, Max lashes out and says he wishes he had never been born gay.
Max gets more than he bargained for when he wakes up to find his wish has come true – not only have his feelings for boys vanished, but so has Dean.
With his school life turned upside down and his relationship with his family in tatters, Max sets out on a journey of rediscovery to find a way back to the life he took for granted, and the romance he thought he’d never have.
A deliciously romantic YA debut that’s What If It’s Us and One Last Stop!
Add it to Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61335651-straight-expectations
About the Author
Calum McSwiggan (born 21 May 1990) is a British YouTuber, blogger, and online radio presenter. McSwiggan creates video content on LGBT+ issues, mental health, and sex and relationships.[2][3][4] He began creating YouTube videos in 2013 and began hosting The Calum McSwiggan Show on Fubar Radio in 2017.
What I Thought
This is a modern and gay version of Big with our protagonist Max wishing away his gayness in a fit of frustration and being transported into what his life would have been like if he was straight. The absolute horror! (There is a Freaky Friday reference made in the book but I chose Big because the switch here only directly affects the one person).
The switch does take a little time to happen but I think it’s important for the plot that we spend time with the characters in their present reality first. We also get a slightly extended resolution which, for me, allowed more time for everything to be wrapped up leaving this as a very satisfying stand alone read – not that I’d be against reading more books featuring these characters.
I think fans of Simon James Green and Heartstopper will eat this up both because of the humour, and in that it features a whole diverse cast and I loved how intersectionality was addressed too with Max being forced to face up to his white gay privilege.
I really appreciated how all the side characters were explored as individuals in their own right and not just in terms of how they fit into Max’s life. And gosh this is the second YA book I’ve read in a row that features the parents!
Fans of musicals will also be in luck reading this and I don’t think I’ll be alone in desperately wanting to see the drag versions of Mean Girls and Little Shop of Horrors become a real thing.
Thanks to The Write Reads and the publisher for access to the gifted eARC. Opinions are my own. Do check out the tour to see other people’s views.
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