Review: Return to Paradise by Simone Elkeles

3.5 of 5 Stars

Publisher: Flux

Goodreads Synopsis:

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 dermined 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.

Review:

I liked this one better than the first.

First of all, I liked all of the new characters. I liked Trish and Erin, and wanted to see more of what was going on with them. Matt was a good character. At first I thought Lenny was kind of annoying but okay, later on, though, after the group thing and when he was just with Caleb, I found myself liking him even more. As well as Caleb's friend from juvie. I liked the relationships that were formed between all of them and wanted to see more of it. There's no doubt in my mind that if she were to write stories based on them, that I would get it.

I'm glad that she added them. I enjoyed reading about them, and Maggie definitely needed some friends, although I don't think she got as close to them as she could have gotten. And Caleb needed some good friends as well, so I'm glad that he got them.

I liked where the story went after the first book. The group thing that they did was good, but I think I enjoyed the bit after it more. Because the trip forced them together, which was good and made them face the problems, but when that ended, they had to choose where they were going, what they were doing. Maggie already knew what she was doing, because she'd progressed from the first book and even more throughout the trip, but Caleb had regressed throughout the first book, from deciding that he was going to do good, to deciding to run away from it all, which is all that he tried doing throughout the trip. After the trip though, Lenny decided to follow him, as he had nowhere to go. Seeing Lenny like that made him realize how pathetic it was, because he was doing the same thing as him, and so he finally chose to go face his problems. Doing that, and later making Leah face what she'd done, helped them all move forward.

I liked this one more, for several reasons, but it seemed more grown up, at least near the end. Because they weren't such immature teenagers as in the first one, although I think the biggest improvement was in Caleb.

Sidenote: The cover on this one, I did not like, at all. I think the faces were put on a little weird and made them look a little like not actual people. Although that might be because the picture behind them looked very fake. I think they could have done much better, especially when compared to the first one.

Review: Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

 3.5 of 5 Stars

Publisher: Flux

Goodreads 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.

Review:

I thought this was alright. I've read Simone's Perfect Chemistry series, and while I didn't enjoy the first, I liked the other two more than this one. I still quite enjoyed it, though.

The characters were their own, as they usually are. But Maggie seemed to have more of her own character than Caleb did. But Elkeles always seems to write different female characters but the males always seem very alike. They have their differences, just enough to make them different, but they tend to always be somewhat stereotypical bad boys. They always have something to do with gangs, or something dangerous, and want distance from the girl, for whatever reason. This bothers me, but I'm not always the biggest fan of bad boys.

Her stories also tend to have the same structure. Something happens to bring them together and break them apart and then bring them back together. I know this, but I still enjoy them. Her stories are a guilty pleasure of mine.

I generally did like this story, and it was it's own. I liked Maggie, for the most part, although she got on my nerves some times, with her embarrassment for example, but she got better near the end when she decided not to run away from things, although it seemed to come to her too fast. I liked Caleb, as well, although he frustrated me when he decided to run away from things at the end of the book. I liked them together, and of course am looking forward to seeing how things work out for him.

Mrs. Reynolds, also, was a very good character, and it was upsetting what happened with her, but it makes sense and there were signs, even if I didn't like it. She also was a reason for them to get together, and she helped Maggie grow up.

One thing that bothered me, though, was the accident. What happened with it afterward. It makes sense that Caleb didn't do it, and it explains why his sister was acting the way she was. But, I don't think it really gave much of an idea that that was what was wrong. Of course, it explains Leah and why she was acting the way she was and didn't want to be near Maggie. But every time Caleb thought about it before we were told what had happened, it didn't show us that the problem was that Caleb didn't hit her. He talked about something not being right and all, but he always said that he was the one who hit her, that he was the one who did that to her. I think that could have been done a little better, while still not giving it away too early.

I enjoyed this book and did want the next book quickly, so I was kind of glad I waited till the next one was out to read it.