This is an interesting story. In the first few pages, I had a good idea where the story is going, but as with many great stories, it's how you get there. I enjoyed this story and never felt rushed to just get through it to find out the ending.

I found this novel extremely hard to get into, it is blunt and to the point, traits that really turn me off reading as it makes it feel like a chore.
The story line itself is fantastic and I can see lots of people enjoying it, unfortunately, I am not one of those people,

I thought a long time before leaving a review. I really enjoyed the first part of the book. The second part got really boring and it just babbled on. I know that the author previously explained in a comment to a review on goodreads that he researched the subject and women in a crisis and that are isolated tend to worry about their weight. For someone who never researched it would find that the second part of the book didn't focus on the crisis she was lobbing it focused on anorexia. Which I honestly did not like, its such a heavy subject and should not been mentioned in this book.

This book revolves around Kerryl and how she gets through a plague epidemic. Did this book give me a book hangover? Yes! Did I see the twist coming? No! I've always wondered how I would get by if everyone I knew (and didn't know) died and I was on my own. Kerryl's journey with this was very engaging to me. She went about it almost systematically and as if she was expecting it all to go back to the way it was before the plague. Although some parts were ramblings I feel that being alone that long I would ramble too. She was smart and used her head but you could see her slide downward. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads Synopsis:
Kerryl Shaw has always kept a diary, but this one is different because she knows she's going to die.
A highly infectious and incurable virus spreads worldwide. Seventeen-year-old Kerryl lives with her family on a remote farm. They think they will be safe, but the danger advances. Despite deaths around them, the Shaws survive. However, this changes when a stranger arrives, and it soon becomes apparent he has brought the plague to their door. One by one they succumb, leaving Kerryl alone.
Kerryl is sure it’s only a matter of time before she, too, catches the infection and dies. She decides to record what she thinks will be her final days. She realizes that her diary will never be read, so she imagines a reader and calls him Adam. Loneliness and isolation affect the balance of her mind, until she thinks that only Adam can save her.

My Review:
I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

The book is actually a series of diaries written by a seventeen year old girl named Cheryl (Keryl), aka Paradise Girl. In the first journal, she's living in a quiet world, one being wiped out by infection. She lives with her brother, Lander, their mom, and their grandparents.

I had a hard time reading the purple journal. The story itself was good, aside from over explaining the plot a couple times, but it had newspaper clippings and print offs spliced into the book and although it would be cool in a paperback, in an ebook it came across kind of messy and hard to read, as the font and size of the writing kept changing. After those I assumed I would have a bad time reading the rest of the book, but I was wrong. I'm glad it wasn’t a major part of the book.

The green journal is her present day life, starting two days after the purple journal ends. Her story is depressing and I really liked how she developed throughout the book. The third part is simply named "After", from another viewpoint entirely.

Although I had a rocky start with the beginning, the story really grew on me. By the last third of the book I didn't want to put it down and was excited to see what would happen next. This began as an apocalyptic infection and morphed into something else entirely. I'm glad I pushed through and finished this book because it was a refreshing read. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.

Here's a link to the authors twitter, in case you have any questions.
https://twitter.com/PhillFeathers

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)

Paradise Girl by Phil Featherstone.
A highly infectious and incurable virus spreads worldwide. Seventeen-year-old Kerryl Shaw and her family live on a remote farm and think they will be safe, but the plague advances. Despite deaths around them, the Shaws survive. However, this changes when a stranger arrives, and it soon becomes apparent he has brought the infection to their door. One by one the family succumbs, leaving Kerryl alone. Kerryl is sure it’s only a matter of time before she, too, dies. She decides to record what she thinks will be her final days in a diary. She realises that it will never be read, so she imagines a reader and calls him Adam. As loneliness and isolation affect the balance of her mind, Adam ceases to be an imaginary character and becomes real to her. Communications break down and services fail. Unexplained events build fear and menace: Kerryl hears her name called in the night; she’s attacked by stray animals; she’s molested when she visits the town; she sees a stranger outside her house, who vanishes when she tries to make contact; objects appear and disappear. The climax comes when she finds a text message on her phone. Who is texting her? How? She thinks it can only be Adam, because by now there is no one else left. Another text invites her to a rendezvous at the Bride Stones, a beauty spot popular with lovers, and she leaves for what she is sure will be a meeting with Adam...
OMG. An absolutely fantastic read with brilliant characters. Although a little slow in places it picked up. I didn't expect that. 5*. Netgalley and matador.

This was a great book and had me hooked from the moment I started. The way the book was written as two diaries made it particularly interesting and the first chapter really set the scene well. Kerryl was totally believeable throughout and I felt like I went through all her different emotions with her. At first I wasn't too sure about the premis that the reader was male but this all revealed itself by the end of the storyand I now understand that decision. A wonderful, gripping read. If there is a sequel I will deifnitely be first in line!

Kerryl lives on an isolated farm in a small town in London. She is the sole survivor after a highly contagious infection wipes out everyone in the town. Kerryl works hard to survive and keep the farm running, while slowing succumbing to loneliness.

I love survival stories, especially those that involve a post-apocalyptic world. Paradise Girl, however, barely held my interest. Kerryl's obsession with her weight was a distraction to an already boring story. Definitely an interesting take on infectious diseases that failed to fulfill.

I was really intrigued by the synopsis of this book, I mean, I LOVE a good survival story. However, from the very start of this book it was very hard for me to get through. So, unfortunately, I had to give up on it. I can definitely see why others would enjoy this book, but it just wasn't for me. I just found it somewhat confusing. But if you like the diary/journal writing style, I'd for sure tell you to give this book a chance!

I am falling asleep at my desk today because I ended up staying up way too late last night in order to finish this book. This post apocalyptic, dystopian novel really pulled me in and I couldn't put it down until the bitter end. The author does an excellent job building tension and parts of this story had me genuinely creeped out. I can't say that I "liked" how the story ends but it does tie up a lot of loose end s, with plenty left open to interpretation.

First line: "<i>Introductions are boring, but unless I take time to explain things it will be confusing for you.</i>"

Wow! This was an interesting read which started off slow and steady....and became really complex and interesting quite rapidly! I have to say that the Infection originally made me think about Ebola...not entirely the same thing, but quite scary just the same!

The plot was believable and kept my attention throughout. I did not expect the ending until it started to unravel. It was really surprising, yet not so surprising at the same time, if you get my feel?
I thought Kerryl was a main character that, despite the crazy circumstances, was doing quite well at keeping the pretext of a normal life...until things started to get a bit crazy and she began seeing things that weren't really there.

I think the ending was the most interesting part of the book, simply because it really explains everything so clearly and concisely...

I will definitely consider reading more of Phil Featherstone's work!

Contains spoilers:

This book gave me chills. I was so tense reading it the entire time, and in one go, that my shoulders hurt by the time that I was done. I was that tense.

Kerryl is stuck in a truly horrific situation, with no parallel in any book that I've recently read, or can recall though I do suffer from some memory issues. (No. Seriously) She is a character who is filled with hope, and it was heartbreaking to see that hope start to shift to despair and pain shift into delusion.

The loss of her mother nagged at me, but when her grandparents passed, trying to keep her safe I found myself fighting back tears.

With the reveal at the end of the novel I felt nothing but anger, that someone would use humans for experimentation and in such a cruel way. Perhaps it upset me so much because it felt realistic.

Either way this was a thriller that kept me guessing on what was going to happen next. And you know the writing is masterful when even the times someone is completely alone talking about chores can still manage to capture your attention.