REVIEW:

I’ll get right to it. Stranded is problematic.

Not for me as a reader, but rather as a reviewer. How can I get this book into the hands of as many people as possible despite its generic cover and title, unknown author, and spoilery synopsis? Let me give it my best shot.

Of the 155 books I’ve already read in 2021, Stranded is in my top five across all genres. It is also my favorite “thriller” of the year so far. The thing about the cover that grinds my gears is that it looks like Mundane Police Procedural #17, where in reality this book is a well-crafted, standalone, literary fiction novel that happens to have an increasingly suspenseful plot.

Readers follow the single-person perspective of Maddy, a young woman who signs up to participate in a reality series that drops eight people on an island off the coast of Scotland for a year to chronicle how they craft a society together. What follows is an insightful - and maddening - look at human behavior that proves that Sarah Goodwin isn’t just here to deliver cheap thrills.

I listened to the audiobook and spent 11 hours in nature and deteriorating conditions with Maddy and felt rage at characters I haven’t experienced in quite some time. Of all the Survivor/Naked and Afraid/Castaway comparisons swirling in my mind, landing on an adult, modern Lord of the Flies feels the most appropriate. (It’s okay if you hated that “classic.” I did.)

If you’re still with me and are considering adding this to your To Read/Must Buy shelf, please do me a favor and skip the publisher synopsis. I read it for the first time when I was at the 80% mark, and it still managed to spoil what was yet to come. This one descriptive bit is worth sharing for its truth in advertising though: “A gripping, twisty page-turner about secrets, lies and survival at all costs.”

My thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio, Avon Books and the author for the advance listening copy via NetGalley. I enjoyed (new-to-me) narrator Esme Sears’s singular performance and would recommend it for people who prefer the audiobook format.

PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:

Only read this if you don’t mind spoilers!!!

Eight strangers.
One island.
A secret you'd kill to keep.

When eight people arrive on the beautiful but remote Buidseach Island, they are ready for the challenge of a lifetime: to live alone for one year.

Eighteen months later, a woman is found in an isolated fishing village. She’s desperate to explain what happened to her: how the group fractured and friends became enemies; how they did what they must to survive until the boat came to collect them; how things turned deadly when the boat didn’t come…

But first Maddy must come to terms with the devastating secret that left them stranded, and her own role in the events that saw eight arrive and only three leave.

A gripping, twisty page-turner about secrets, lies and survival at all costs. Perfect for fans of The Castaways, The Sanitorium and One by One.