Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles
April 2007 by Flux
Paperback, 303 Pages
Borrowed- Compliments of Public Library
Book Synopsis
Nothing has been the same since Caleb Becker left a party drunk, got behind the wheel, and hit Maggie Armstrong. Even after months of painful physical therapy, Maggie walks with a limp. Her social life is nil and a scholarship to study abroad—her chance to escape everyone and their pitying stares—has been canceled. After a year in juvenile jail, Caleb’s free . . . if freedom means endless nagging from a transition coach and the prying eyes of the entire town. Coming home should feel good, but his family and ex-girlfriend seem like strangers. Caleb and Maggie are outsiders, pigeon-holed as "criminal" and "freak." Then the truth emerges about what really happened the night of the accident and, once again, everything changes. It’s a bleak and tortuous journey for Caleb and Maggie, yet they end up finding comfort and strength from a surprising source: each other.....(Goodreads)
Review
Its been a long year for Caleb, sitting in juvenile detention normally isn't on the to-do list for any 16 year old, but when you make that choice to drink and then get behind a car...bad things can happen. That night bad things did happen, hearts were broken, life's were destroyed and Maggie lost a lot more than a spot on the tennis team. Caleb and Maggie each spend time in their own prisons and that time is up, time to straighten things out, time to come back and move on but Caleb cant move on with his old life because everything and everyone including himself has changed. The friends he thought would always be there aren't and the family who was once a close unit is shattered, hiding behind an illusion of perfect family. Nor can Maggie seem to regain the courage to use her knee again or find her inner confidence, her strength or even her worthiness outside of being a tennis player, the only thing that drives her is a chance to get out of Paradise.
Fate has a funny way of working out and when Maggie and Caleb find themselves working together it isn't pretty. Maggie is angry, frustrated and ultimately scared of Caleb, while he is frustrated and feeling guilty about her. Over the course of weeks working together they find that in each other is the only place that makes sense. A confusing and passionate romance begins to develop and just when things for the doomed couple start progress a huge monkey wrench called reality steps in.
Im torn on my reactions to Leaving Paradise, while I loved the premise and the set up of this story and I like the fact the Elkeles always seems to choose characters with flaws to break past the typical stereo-type of a gang member, a bully, a "freak" or a rich kid, what I didn’t like after investing into these characters was the trick. I felt like I had been duped, suckered into feeling a certain way about Caleb and Maggie and then finding out half way through I had to adjust those feelings. Something felt missing for me in this story, while the writing showed charisma, I felt things were rushed and had no idea how point A went to point B so fast. It seemed like the plot was pushed to end so quickly that it skipped over details, conversations and depth. By this I mean the scenes just jumped everywhere and to many issues were presented with no resolve.
Overall I thought it was mildly entertaining, kind of like watching a Lifetime teen movie with over use of the f- word and cheesy makeout lines..
Rating
Leaving Paradise is recommended for mature (16 and up) teens and adults, although I would not recommend this to adults in particular. Content includes: Underage drinking, sexuality- mild to semi-graphic, graphic language, teen angst, prescription drug use, depression, loneliness and juvenile detention references.
3/5- YA-Romance
I really loved this story, but I can understand your points, for sure. It's my favourite Simone Elkeles book though! Loved the honest review, Tina :)
ReplyDeletei prefer perfect chemistry, i wouldn't say it's as good but it held it's own and i know what you mean, it did feel like i had to completely change what i thought within seconds!
ReplyDeleteO great honest review. Doesn't sound like my sort of thing but I love how you wrote about feeling duped.
ReplyDeleteIt's Maggie ARMSTRONG not Anderson... but everyone makes mistakes :p
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip Anon
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