Genre: Survival/Realistic Fiction
The Arcadia was once a beautiful cruise ship, but then a terrible war broke out on land and those aboard the ship were forced to stay, survive, and raise their families. It has now been 40 years and the Arcadia is starting to break down. Esther and her family have always lived on the Arcadia because her grandparents were honeymooning when they got stuck there for life. Esther is training to be a medic so that she can hopefully be granted passage to land. There’s another medic who is also vying for one of the top two spots and he has made it very clear he thinks they would be even more likely to get off the ship if they were married, but Esther isn’t sure that’s the path for her at the moment. Meanwhile, Nik, works with a rebel group who desperately wants to take over the ship so that they can get out from under the terrible Coalies, or military presence, on the boat who uses brute force to keep the passengers in line. When Nik gets hurt, Esther is abducted by the rebels in order to treat him, but this throws her unexpectedly into the rebel cause whether she wants to be in it or not. The intel the rebels are getting suggests that big changes could be coming for the Arcadia, and not in a good way. Can Esther and Nik put aside their differences in order to help save the people on board? How much are they willing to risk in order to protect those they love?
Fans of books such as Avalon and Divergent will enjoy this title because even though it has a realistic feel to it there’s definitely futuristic undertones. The premise of the refugee cruise ship seems so crazy, but absolutely believable at the same time. The characters are all well described so that it’s easy to see what motivates each of them and why they have so many unanswered questions. There are some brutal truths in this and not everyone is guaranteed a happy ending, but throughout the danger there is always hope that eventually things will turn out better than the way they started. Recommended for those looking for a fun adventure story with a unique setting.
Young Adult Book Reviews 