What a twist immediately! A book about a TV reality programme living for a year on an island but NOT in beautiful hot, sandy Caribbean! Ms Goodwin sends her 8 contestants to a remote Scottish island.

I have to admit I nearly gave up on the book early on, but with plenty of twists to the story and beginning to dislike most of the characters I found myself hooked.. Maddy, the main protagonist, is one of the 'good guys' so it seems and her experiences of building her own shelter after falling out with the others is a well told tale.

Loads of twists, strong characters, and a bit of an education about foraging. Whilst there was little humour this didn't detract from an enjoyable read and a 5 star review.

Thanks to Net Galley and Avon Books for the chance to read and review.

She wanted to get away from her life, not fight for it...

Eight strangers are selected to participate in an exciting social experiment- live on a deserted island for one year and build a community. They start out by working as a team, pooling their food and resources, and taking on responsibilities related to their personal skills. But as food and resources become scarce, tensions mount and disagreements spiral out of control. Hungry, exhausted, and facing environmental hardships, the islanders try their best to keep it together until their boat arrives. When the boat never shows, desperation and aggression boil over, and survival seems less likely with each day that goes by...
I feel like I have been saying this a lot, and maybe I have just been lucky, but I could NOT put this book down! There were so many times that I found myself wondering why anyone would want to do this. I enjoyed exploring the darker side of human nature in a survival setting. I am also reflecting on whether the characters were changed by the nature of their situation, or if they were being their true, primal selves. I cannot wait to read more of Sarah Goodwin's work in the future after reading this incredible debut!

This book was an easy five stars! It was so hard to put down! I was so invested in this one from the very first page! It kept my heart pounding and pages turning throughout it all!

This gripping novel has everything you want from a thriller! I found it to be a slow build until about halfway, but that doesn't stop you from wanting to read it. The whole survival mode had me so intrigued, and the characters felt so real. It honestly felt like you were stuck on that island with them (which would be a nightmare)

At times I felt so claustrophobic while reading, the details are very realistic and described so well. I really enjoyed the main character Maddy. She was smart, strong, and very independent. I connected with her the whole time. This was my first book by Sarah Goodwin, and l I can't wait to read more of her books!

I had so much fun read Sarah Goodwin's Stranded. Thank you to Avon book and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this new thriller. The story focuses on Maddy and other reality show contestants who must live together on a remote island for a year using mostly their survival skills and little else. A lot goes wrong and Maddy finds herself wondering who to trust, will she be rescued, and who will survive.

This was a fast paced and darker than expected read and I stayed up late to finish it! I really appreciated that the plot kept moving along, that I was not sure exactly what was going on, and that the end held true to the rest of the book. The book poses a lot of questions about human behavior, trust, and the ethics of a reality show that brings together strangers to live and survive together but is also looking for ratings... what responsibility do reality show creators have to the contestants and how much footage do they hide?

I definitely recommend this for suspense fans and mystery/suspense book clubs.

Once I started I could not put this incredible book down. I ignored everything else, even hunger pains, as I avidly kept reading until I finished. Wow! How is it that this read hasn’t been put on the best seller list? This is by far the best thriller I have read in several years.
The plot thickens immediately as 8 strangers agree to be brought to a deserted island for 11 months, living off the land and what they can find on the island while being filmed for a reality show. Maddy is the focus of this gripping thriller. Your heart will be in your throat and your eyes will be widening as you race through this read wanting to know what happens next.
Sarah Goodwin certainly has clearly mastered making characters come to life through dialogue, description, and taut non stop action. Enough of some character’s backgrounds is shared to help fill in the questions that pop up, further ratcheting up the tension created between characters. Her writing style immediately places you in the middle of the action, as if you are right there observing with your own eyes. My feelings towards the characters were so very real, as my heart raced along with Maddy’s.
I plan to do my very best to promote this amazing read to everyone I know.
My sincere gratitude to Sarah Goodwin for providing me with about six hours of heart in my throat tension. You are truly gifted. Many thanks also to Avon and NetGalley for providing me the amazing opportunity to read an arc of this just published book. This is a must read book for everyone!

Lord of the Flies with adults..... and a twist or two..

It was fun, it was creepy, it was a quick easy read and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

The writing was really good - I could just feel myself on this island. I could feel the cold and the rain and I felt myself tense up a time or two.

I felt like I knew some of these characters in real life. I could just picture this happening and I think this would make a great movie.

The only thing I didn't like about was the fact that I actually didn't LIKE any of the characters. Most of the time i was rooting for the main character, but once in a while, I found myself thinking "it might be more fun if they get her" I am not sure if I was supposed to feel that way, or if I am just a little twisted.. (or both??)

Thank you to the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

For Maddy who didn't feel like she fitted into the normal everyday life, this she felt was an opportunity where no-one knew her and where she hoped she wouldn't be judged and would be able to fit in.
Wow, she was so wrong... a great storyline that kept me turning the pages.
A must read
Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Sarah Goodwin for an ARC in return for an honest review.

What a fun read!

Maddy had an overprotective upbringing and the untimely deaths of her parents have left her reeling. She needs a change and signs up for a reality Survivor-type show where 8 contestants (four men, four women) are left on an island off the coast of Scotland, where they will live for one year. It’s an experiment to see how they will survive, and no one is voted off. But alliances are soon drawn, and Maddy, having few social skills, becomes the scapegoat for everything that goes wrong. If you wonder what would happen if society breaks down and it's survival of the fittest, this is a prime example of mob mentality.

The book opens with Maddy sitting for an interview for a tv show. She’s painfully thin and bedraggled, after unspecified criminal charges and time in prison. Things obviously have gone terribly awry, and not everyone made it back from the island. Maddy tells her story, and what a story it is!

Please note I hate camping or rustic anything. My idea of roughing it is making reservations at a luxury resort where I will just have to make do without my Tempur-pedic mattress. But, still, I loved the setting and the descriptions of how the group uses their skills to forage and provide shelter and food for themselves. The second half of the book was riveting and unputdownable, and the ending...well, I needed to talk about it!

As an aside, you do not have to be a fan of camping or roughing it in order to enjoy this book. My husband and I were huge fans of the show Survivor in its early days, and he would always joke (not really joking...) that had I been on the show I'd be the first voted off the island. My fellow survivors would hate me and couldn’t get rid of me fast enough.

However, I do like living vicariously, and there was the Survivor nostalgic factor. Plus, this story was unique, which I appreciate. So many books are a variation of the same theme but this was different and I will likely remember it for that alone.

At the 50% mark, winter is setting in and conditions deteriorate rapidly after a surprising discovery. The tension ramps up, and I simply could not put the book down. I was glued to the page to find out what would happen and who would survive. I was at 95% at the end of a very long car trip where I would ordinarily be ready to get out of the car, but I found myself urging my husband to run an errand so I could finish the book. He wasn't buying it. It’s been a long time since a book has affected me this way.

Is it perfect? No. Told in the 1st person POV, we only hear Maddy’s story with no input from the others. It left me wondering why she was ostracized and if she was an unreliable narrator. But that also works in the plus column because it left me as a reader uncertain. Secondly, foreshadowing annoys me, and there was too much “if only I’d known how much worse it would get…”. To be fair, it DID get much, much worse, but I didn’t need to hear it repeatedly. So, this isn’t a book for book clubs! Just read it, accept it as a purely entertaining read, and move on.

One things for sure, you would never find me being on one of those survival shows. I love my creature comforts and would be the first to say plodding through a Forrest or taking an RV trip sends shivers down my spine.

Reading the book Stranded reinforced that view. To me, placing myself not only in the wild but with people who I didn’t know seems to be an exercise in stupidity. The main character of the story finds herself the eventual pariah of this motley group of eight left on an island close to Scotland, meaning this is no tropical oasis.

Things start to go wrong almost immediately as the division of duties and tasks seem to be inequitable and groups start to form eventually leaving Maddie out, seemingly because of her what one might call her common sense concerns.

The group, particularly their leader, comes to hate Maddie infusing this animosity into all. Eventually, she is thrown out of the camp left more or less to fend for herself.

Meanwhile time passes and various occurrences happen which start to boil over and tragedy in many forms stresses the group to a breaking point. Will Maddie or anyone make it out alive?

This was a somewhat interesting tale reminding me of Lord of the Flies but it did have many plot holes which decreased the enjoyment level for me. For a new author, it was a good effort but this book left me with more questions than answers.

Jan and I discussed all of the details plus the various omissions and inconsistencies of the story. Jan liked it a tad more than me but for the enjoyment level, we both agreed that this book managed to hold our interest.

Bottom line is point me in the direction of a Four Season hotel and I will be a happy “camper” This book convinced me I am not a roughing it girl.
Thank you to Sarah Goodwin, Avon, and NetGalley for a copy of this story.

This one was not I expected and I think that threw me off. While it is well written and definitely stands out, it was branded as a thriller and it didn't really feel like what I think of a thriller. It was more like lord of the flies meets contemporary adult fiction, not bad, but also not what I was looking for when I started it. I also had a really hard time with how mean everyone was to Maddie. I get why the author did that, but I wasn't a fan. overall it was pretty good, but not a favorite read for me.

I love these types of thrillers, with a locked type area and bad people, but not sure whom! This one was definitely another love for me! Kept me on the edge of my seat, full of suspense, and shocked me! Well written, fun plot, with lots of great thrills and chilling chills! I highly, highly recommend this one, my favorite type done superbly!

Maddy spent her early years being homeschooled by her mother. When she went to university, it was freeing for her but she still had problems with not being accepted by her peers as she was so socially backward.

Maddy has decided to interview for chance to be on the reality show called Last Refuge. After being accepted, she learns that she and 3 other women and 4 men will live on an island off the coast of Scotland for a year. There, they will build their own hut, forage for their food and cook it over an open fire. It is to see if they can essentially build their own society and get along.

They soon learn that growing and catching their own food is not an easy task which leads to hunger and anger and resentment.

When I first started reading this book, I wondered if I have gotten in over my head. Why? Because I don’t care to watch reality shows and I know I would never leave my creature comforts to do something like this. Oh, but after I got into it, I felt as though I had creepy crawlies all over me. The plot is so real and the descriptions of the tasks necessary to maintain life for them were so intricate and really very informative. But when the tension builds, tempers flare and things get dangerous. Maddy is very intelligent and while she may not be the most outgoing person, she is resented for her knowledge of the plants on the island and her determination to work hard. She has always hated bullies and she is presented with several here. It gets cold and food becomes scarce. Couple that with some greedy and lazy people and you have a recipe for disaster. This is a scary book with some really gross spots that may have readers cringing but it’s about doing everything you can to survive. This is a keeper and one you won’t soon forget.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

While successfully getting me to hate some of the characters and having interesting survival moments, Stranded doesn’t have enough thriller moments for me.

Following the death of her parents, Maddy auditions for a reality TV survival show. What starts off as a couple of disagreements on how to run the camp turns into something much worse. Maddy and the rest of the contestants must struggle to survive.

I give this book credit for tapping into a couple of the things that annoys me most, people being mean on reality TV (lol). Misogynist men deciding their work is the proper work and the work others are doing isn't. I really hated some of these characters.

Including found footage or another way of viewing, Maddy would have added to the book. This would help us understand why the other contestant treated her so poorly. Furthermore, it may have raised some doubts on Maddy's trustworthiness. This also would have given us a chance to learn more about the other islanders, as some of them are bland and interchangeable. I felt next to nothing when some of them died.

I do think this book could have been more thrilling? In the second half, there are a number of scenes that are genuinely heart-racing, but I wish there were more of them. The survival chapters can be a little long. To mix things up, it would have been nice if there had been a wild animal or a storm to contend with. Apparently, only rabbits live on the island with no other predators?

It has some good points related to misogyny, behaviour people accept to belong to groups, and needing someone to dislike.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes reality tv shows like survivor or anyone who wants a thriller that is original.

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

Talk about a book that would make a great movie! Seriously, this book played out like a movie in my mind while reading this. But I digress...

Eight people, equipped with cameras on their chest are left on the remote island of Buidseach Island. Local fishermen tell tales of the island being haunted by a witch. It's hard to get to but makes the perfect stage for a reality survival series. WE have all see that show right? Survivor this is NOT!! But the eight people must survive because they have been stranded! They will live off the land for one year with a care package thrown in here and there. What could go wrong?????

Well, things do go wrong. People being people form alliances, they develop a group mental mentality, they will do whatever they need to do to survive, until the boat comes to get them off the island. But what if the boat doesn't come?????

I loved this book. It sucked me in and had me reeling with how events played out. The synopsis was not fooling around when it described this book as "A gripping, twisty page-turner about secrets, lies and survival at all costs.” This book had an underdog character that I rooted for and felt appalled at how she was treated. Bullies and those who would go along with the majority lest they become bullied as well.

This was so good! If this is not on your radar, it needs to be. This book is a chilling, gripping, and emotion evoking page turner. There is a sense of tension throughout. My pulse was pounding a couple of times (woohoo I love this!) and the pace was spot on. BTW -If you have a rabbit, you will want to give it a hug after reading this book. Plus, you might think twice before agreeing to be on a "survivor" type reality show. Just sayin.... that will never be me!

Quite the clever tale.

A MUST Read!

Thank you to Avon Books UK and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

When I started this book, I didn't think it was much good. The foreshadowing "If only I knew what was to come..." at the end of every chapter grated, and the main character Maddy's martyred attitude got on my nerves.

But somewhere about a third of the way in, it completely hooked me and I literally could not put it down. I read almost the whole thing in one evening. The unfair treatment of Maddy went a bit too far to be believable at times - but then I suppose Maddy could be an unreliable narrator herself - but as the stakes were raised and everything got a bit Lord of the Flies, I just had to know what happened next.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Wow! That was intense. I hardly read a more claustrophobic and chilling book in my life.

Right from the beginning the story captured me with its dark and sinister vibes. Maddy is an odd person. She had an overprotective mother who hardly let her step away from her side when she was a child. Still as an adult she urges her to move back home where she can take care of her. Maddy never learned properly to socialize and be comfortable with other people. She hates her life and she hates herself. So she decides to leave her comfort zone and apply for a TV show about a social experiment. Eight people are going to live on an uninhabited island in Scotland and are totally left alone. Maddy gets a place and she meets the other seven people on the day they are shipped off to Buidseach Island. At first Maddy thinks that she made a few new friends. But soon things get worse and she finds herself alone and fighting for survival.

I found this book absolutely nail-biting. Eight people who did not know each other are going to stay on an Island without contact to other people. They have to organize themselves and built a shelter and have to find their food. Every one of them has a special skill. There is a carpenter, a butcher, a fisherman and Maddy herself is a kind of botanist. She knows a lot about plants and which one you can eat and better not. Maddy thinks that everything will be fine but things are getting south pretty soon. Suddenly she is on the outside and has to fight for herself. The group is meant to stay for eleven months on the Island. But when the time is finally over nobody comes to get them. And then things get really ugly.

For me this is a clear 5 star read. The book was so intense and gripping and frightening. There is maybe a bit too much detail on all the foraging that Maddy has to do. Bud I see the necessity when you suddenly realize how much work and effort it takes to produce your own food. There are also a few loose threads at the end concerning the TV production. I did not understand properly how they could let escalate the situation like this. This bothers me a bit but I don’t care enough about it because the book was just soo good. We are close to Maddy all the time and you can really feel her desperation and the unfairness and her self-doubt. She is a remarkable character. She is a weird one and obviously lacks the ability to make friends or even make people care about her. But we only see her point of view. In my experience when somebody always has problems with other people, gets cut out from groups etc. it is probably not always that all people are mean. Maybe it is you. I guess there is something odd about Maddy. But still, the dynamic on the Island turns against her in a way that is not acceptable. It is so frightening to see how extreme situations can bring out the worst in people.

I am sure this book will finds its way into my top 5 books of 2021. It was just so intense and chilling.

Are you a long-time fan of the Survivor series? Secret or not-so-secret fan of 'Naked and Afraid?' Speculated on whether you could be a contestant in 'Alone?' Then this is the book for you. Four men and four women are dropped on an island off the coast of Scotland -- for an entire year. And they all are wearing body cameras. Our narrator is Maddy -- a bit of a loner in real life. Lived a sheltered life growing up and has recently lost both of her parents in an accident. There are three timelines feeding us information: 1)After Maddy escapes from the island. 2)What happened on the island. 3)Her life and prep for the show (think, rating manipulation). Reading this book is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. You can't not look. The thin veneer of civilization peels away pretty quickly when rations are short and magic mushrooms are readily available. I am so impressed by this debut. There are some spectacular details to be discovered when you read this one all the way to the end. Will be looking for more titles from Sarah Goodwin in the future.

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review. Available now!

Wow! I read this way to quickly, I really didn't want it to end. It's an amazing story. I was just wondering if Maddy was written in the author's image? While reading this you do tend to form your own opinion. But I came out on Maddy's side.

It does bewilder me to think that eight rather unremarkable people can crumble under the weight of uncertainty. Also, how their personalities change to the point of not only destroying themselves but those around them. How people conform to the majority in the sight of unforeseen issues. How we put our individual survival ahead of what we believe.

I guess to be realistic we never know until we are put in that position. Hardship, struggling due to starvation pushing all our own beliefs out of the window.

The book is an incredible story of survival, discrimination, paranoia, stereotypes and the breakdown of common human decency in a very stark light.

Is this who we really become once we are removed from our creature comforts.

Great book. Loved it!


*ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley

Amazing novel from a debut author. Couldn’t put it it down, once I started. The group dynamics were beautifully characterised, and the lead character was compelling. Lots of twists and turns in the plot, and an excellent ending. Highly recommended. Looking forward to Sarah Goodwin’ next book.

Wow! Shocking!
Contestants are taken to a remote island - for a year. Tasked with providing their own supplies yet only allowed to bring so many items onto the island, all eight must determine what they cannot live without.
Maddy desperately wanted to be selected for this challenge - after her parents' sudden deaths, Maddy felt removed from life, wandering and aimless.
After the drop off, along with two cameramen to live in a cabin on the island for technical assistance, the hierarchy is clearly established - the leader, the lazy, the judgmental. Though Maddy spends considerable time foraging food, few see the merit. Eventually Maddy is forced to live on her own, though her food continues to be stolen.
And of course the others begin dabbling in homebrew.
This book does an amazing job answering the question - what is only a few of us survived a catastrophic event? Would the human race survive?