Leaving Paradise

Leaving Paradise

by: Simone Elkeles

Caleb Becker spent the past year in juvenile detention.

Maggie Armstrong spent the past year in hospitals and physical therapy.

Two teens who were scarred one fateful night are going to have to face their greatest challenge yet- meeting up with each other again.

What happens when the person who damaged you for life… becomes the person you trust the most?

My rating ****

Ever since I have read “Perfect Chemistry” I set a goal to read all the books by Simone Elkeles. I love her work. One of the best things about this book is that told through the alternating perspectives of Caleb Becker and Maggie Armstrong, which brings the story to a full circle. What I love about the characters in Elkeles’s stories is that none of them are perfect. All of them are painfully real and misunderstood. I guess I’m a sucker for the troubled cases.

I think it only took me four hours to read this book. I couldn’t put it down! With every page the book became more intriguing, mysterious and confusing at the same time. The characters went through so much and at the end of the day they have nobody else but each other, which in my opinion was a little bazaar since throughout the book you are convinced that Caleb is the reason they ended up that way.

What made that story for me were the supporting characters. The mother that would sacrifice everything for her daughter, the mother that cares only about appearances, while having a secret of her own, the sister with a secret, and my personal favorite, an older lady, that keeps everybody glued together.

What I disliked about the book was the ending, and I know there is a sequel coming this summer ( “Return to Paradise”), but I wish I would’ve gotten the closure I needed in this novel.

“Leaving Paradise” is a beautiful, captivating, mysterious and sexy novel. It made me laugh and cry uncontrollably. Loved it!