Return to Paradise Review
I am thrilled to say, Simone never lets me down as a reader. Return to Paradise was ten times better than the first book, Leaving Paradise. From start to finish I was engulfed in Caleb and Maggie's world. Without giving away too much, in the beginning of Leaving Paradise, Caleb was known as a long time friend that hit Maggie with a car and ran. After finishing his sentence in juvie, Maggie and him connected in a way that no one expected. Now, Return to Paradise picked up eight months later with an unforeseen meeting between Maggie and Caleb. After getting into more trouble, Damon, his counselor made him join a Re-START program to prevent him from going to jail. That's where he bumped into Maggie, who was there to share her story of getting hit by a drunk driver.
The spark once again ignited between them. Even in their tense situation, the fiery chemistry oozed out of the pages. Maggie, still continued to amaze me. I admire her strength for dealing with betrayal, loss and a limped leg caused by the accident. Also, her determination and good heart made her the ideal person to straighten up bad boy Caleb. He, was the ultimate perfection of a sexy jerk who had moments of sensitivity. I definitely swooned over him and understood why he was angry at the world. He was carrying a secret burden that would drive any human being crazy (Leaving Paradise readers, you know what I am talking about.)
In addition, I also enjoyed all the other characters introduced in the Re-START program. Lenny was grotesquely nasty but, funny in his own weird way, Erin was a quiet girl with heart wrenching issues, Trisha was a talkative, tough girl and Matt was a sweet guy who comforted others. Simone did a lovely job creating a versatile group. Overall, the series ended perfectly. Just the right amount of romance to make my heart smile. I recommend anything Simone has written. She is one of my favorite authors and I always enjoy her story lines and characters.
Return to Paradise Overview
The Sequel to LEAVING PARADISE
From the New York Times Bestselling Author of RULES OF ATTRACTION
Caleb Becker left Paradise eight months ago, taking with him the secret he promised to take to his grave. If the truth got out, it would ruin everything.
Maggie Armstrong tried to be strong after Caleb broke her heart and disappeared. Somehow, she managed to move on. She’s determined to make a new life for herself.
But then Caleb and Maggie are forced together on a summer trip. They try ignoring their passion for each other, but buried feelings resurface. Caleb must face the truth about the night of Maggie’s accident, or the secret that destroyed their relationship will forever stand between them.
Praise for Leaving Paradise:
"Elkeles writes convincingly about family tensions, retreating from painful reality, and teens outgrowing their old skins." —School Library Journal
"Elkeles creates raw emotions, dialogue, and high-school ambience that’s just right… [A] delicate, delicious love story."—Booklist
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Customer Reviews
Disappointed - EllyH -
The first book I read from this author was Leaving Paradise and I was hooked. From then, I searched for her other works to hold me over until Return to Paradise came out. I ended up reading Rules of Attraction before Perfect Chemistry and no matter the order, I still immensely enjoyed both books. I'm sad to say that Return to Paradise didn't live up to my expectations. The first book was good, but the sequel was disappointing. I really liked Caleb and Maggie, but their story in the sequel felt weak. I would rather have seen a different scenario where both Maggie and Caleb had really started to move on with their feelings, but after seeing each other again fell back in love. Caleb should have tried to win Maggie back after leaving her in the first book. Instead, we get the two of them going back and forth fighting their feelings for each other because they think they can't ever work out. I got mad at Caleb for being an indecisive jerk and frustrated with Maggie at one point. The trip to Spain was unnecessary. I really wanted the couple to have more sweet moments together, making up for the lost time. I was hopping for a more satisfying ending, but I suppose my expectations were too high.
Very disapointing - Anne -
I am sorry to say Simone, but this is your worst book. After reading the high and very entertaining standard of your previous books, this one has been disapointing. The story line, compared to the first books is sloppy and falls around all over the place.
Angieville: RETURN TO PARADISE - Angela Thompson - Rocky Mountains
I was so happily surprised (and intensely affected) by Leaving Paradise that I couldn't wait to start in on the sequel, the inevitably titled RETURN TO PARADISE. Honestly, I loved Maggie and Caleb so much that I savored the thought of them back on the page together, dealing with the awkward and ambiguous place they were unceremoniously left in at the end of the first book. I have to say I'm not loving the cover, though. The newer cover of Leaving Paradise struck just the right note, when it comes to the fear and pain and connection between these two characters. The cover of the sequel just doesn't measure up, in my opinion. It probably doesn't help that that's not how I picture either of them and that kissing under the moonlight by a lake (while it may happen in the book) just doesn't really encompass the whole of what's going on in this story. But enough about that. On to the insides.
Maggie has worked for eight grueling months to put Caleb Becker and his inexplicable desertion behind her. She's gone over and over it in her mind and come to the conclusion that if he wasn't willing to tough it out and stay and fight to keep what was between them alive, then she's not going to waste her life crying over the loss. And she's doing a fine job of moving on. Getting ready to leave for Spain on study abroad, Maggie is spending her summer participating in a teen outreach program wherein she travels with a group of other kids whose lives were altered by substance abuse or violence or unutterably bad decisions, giving talks to other teens who might be on the verge of trouble. Unfortunately, Maggie's resolve is put to the test when Caleb abruptly joins the group. Dragged back from wherever he'd disappeared to by his former transition counselor Damon, this trip is Caleb's last chance to redeem himself and avoid being sent back to jail for living with drug dealers for the last several months. Against their better judgement, Maggie and Caleb set out on the venture, unwilling and unhappy trip mates. Of course there are a few other misfits along for the ride and their stories get interwoven with this one, but the focus remains on the emotional damage these two have undergone in the last year and the large chasm that has cropped up between them when once they were so close.
I don't really know how to put this. But this book was a very big disappointment. Where the first was such a wonderfully absorbing surprise, this one meandered on and on until I had to force myself to finish it. The writing was simply not up to par with that of her previous books. But the main problem I had with it were actually the odd changes in the two principal characters. Caleb was rough in the first book. As a direct result of spending a year in juvie, he was necessarily changed by the experience. But he was never mean. Coarse and frustrated and full to the brim with anger, yes. But never mean. In an unpleasantly snarky way. And certainly not to Maggie. That hesitant reserve he had when it came to her was such a highlight for me. But in RETURN TO PARADISE, he is mean. Downright lousy sometimes. I didn't buy it, I didn't like it, and it was painful to read not only because of how it affected the other characters but because it felt inauthentic to me as the reader. Maggie was vulnerable and afraid in the first book. As a direct result of the accident that left her maimed, she was understandably that way. And she does grow a spine in this book. Or at least we're to believe she has. But she seems to waffle back and forth all over the place when it comes to taking what Caleb deals her and that, too, felt wrong to me somehow. These two knew each other better than that. Their connection was real and fine and worth reading about before. And I know there needs to be conflict and tension to provide fodder for a sequel at all, but it just came off as messy and immature here. Which is such a shame, as I truly missed that breathtaking, organic connection from Leaving Paradise. So definitely don't miss the first book. But unfortunately I'd recommend giving this one a pass and just imagining up the ending you'd like in your head instead.
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 05, 2010 11:56:05
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