Paradise Logic left me underwhelmed and a bit frustrated. The premise had potential, but the pacing felt uneven and the characters didn’t fully resonate with me. I found myself skimming through parts, wishing the story had delivered more depth and emotional impact. While it wasn’t terrible, it just didn’t click for me, making it a disappointing read overall.

This was the most fun I've had reading a book in a while! The writing style was hilarious while poignant, the story seemed realistic while the main characters thoughts were so unhinged. Go in blind without knowing a plot. I loved it.

This brand of absurdity is not my personal taste, but I could definitely see while reading where this audience lives and how it would appeal to a wide array of readers. I appreciate the ideals it tackles and how society places such harsh expectations on partners, relationships, and sexuality. What does it mean to be a girlfriend and how does that change? Should we be expected to change ourselves based on our partners? A 5oruh provoking read for sure

Afraid to admit I might just be a normie after all. I did appreciate the overall absurdity but a lot of Reality's (our main FMC) shenanigans got repetitive and annoying.

Nonetheless! I will always appreciate a story that just goes for it, full balls to the wall!

perfect for people who love weird-ish books, and i thought i was one of them... but i don't know now????

Im so sorry to say that this book just didn’t work for me. I had such high hopes based on the book cover (obviously) and the description. While I love a weird book and an unhinged female character, this was a bit much for me. It took too long to take off for me and once it did, it felt more like a chore to get through. I don’t feel right even rating it since it just wasn’t my cup of tea but it wasn’t a terrible book. Just odd.

I really had no idea what to expect from this one but I was pleasantly surprised! I was initally drawn in by the bizarre cover and I stuck around because the premise was interesting. I enjoyed this one more than I anticipated. It's definitely the weirdest book I've read in a while; it felt like a fever dream and definitely lived up to its strange cover. In particular, I found myself deeply engaged by Reality as a narrator, crass and frank and darkly hilarious. I was immediately hooked by her unhinged inner voice and had to see where her quest took her. I think there's some excellent commentary on misogny and gender roles, if you can wade through the nonlinear narrative and frequent sexual content to find it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC!

I wish I had a time machines so I could not read this book. This was the first book in a long time that I really did not care for unfortunately.

I truly don't know what I read but it was an interesting wild ride. I am not entirely sure I would consider myself a fan of this weird lit fic book. I am a lit fic girlie but I didn't feel as connected to this one.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a book that immediately left me wondering what I had just read. I knew based on the cover I was in for a surreal and unhinged ride of biblical proportions, yet I really had no idea what I was in for.

Paradise Logic follows 23-year-old Reality Kahn, a New Yorker who enjoys making zines and works as a waterpark commercial actress, but most importantly, is on a quest to become the perfect girlfriend. The entire book felt like a fever dream — Reality meets the man (Ariel) she decides will be her boyfriend, and follows the advice of the insanely outdated magazine Girlfriend Weekly to make him fall in love with her. Reality never questions the advice or absurdity of her situation, and this leads her to places one would not want to imagine themselves in.

The writing emulates the chaotic nature of the book, and though sometimes it was hard to follow, I enjoyed Sophie Kemp’s style and voice. The style portrayed Reality’s unhinged inner monologue well, especially toward the end of the book when things escalated. Another thing I enjoyed was that each character was a caricature of some sort, even if Reality was the only one who constantly got called “weird.” Sometimes there were interactions between Reality and Ariel that had me wondering if it was even exaggerated. The story felt pretty true to what modern dating feels like, and Kemp basically likens being a girlfriend to being a part of some cult that women are supposed to aspire to.

In all seriousness, this book really was a cautionary tale of what happens if you don’t decenter men (you will lose your mind!). If you’re up for a funny, weird girl, lit-fic fever dream of a book, this would be perfect.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

Not really sure how to wrap my mind around this book but it’s definitely one for those who like the weird girl books. It talks a lot about themes of patriarchal pressure in the women and honestly it’s always great to read about this.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this early! This was a delightful lil romp--I loved following Reality in her journey. Charli XCX (probably) said it best, it truly is so confusing to be a girl :*)

I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed this book! Reality was a touching character that spoke to me even though we could not be more different. Kemp describes universal human experiences in a new way that ensured I kept coming back for more. Looking forward to more from Kemp!

Paradise Logic is a weird girl fever dream. We follow our favorite water slide actress on her journey to becoming the perfect girlfriend. The best way I can describe the vibe of this book is that weird gross felling you get when you go into a gas station or venue and the floor is strangely sticky and your shoes make that horrible noise when you walk but you have to pretend like everything is fine. All of that to say if you like a weird girl book this one is wild! Thanks NetGally and the publishers for the ARC and I can’t wait to see more from this author.

This is an extremely tough book to review. I have no idea what I would “rate” it. It’s obviously very clever and, quite frankly, it was way too clever for me. A lot of it went over my head, I think. I liked the author’s voice and cadence and I really enjoyed certain parts but, overall, this wasn’t for me. I don’t think I was necessarily the intended audience. The main character is 23 and I think that’s more who would like this book.

I will say this, I think this is a bit of a feminist manifesto even if I didn’t completely grasp it.

i tried. i kept picking it up and putting it down. i really don't like to dnf arcs, but i probably should have trusted my instincts when i saw this cover.

i can't really tell you what it was about except there's a girl that desperately wants a boyfriend and it was hypersexual in a weird, offputting way. i felt like i was on fanfiction.net in the early 2000s and i'm reading about Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way, only she's calling herself a jizz receptacle. i see a lot of 4 & 5-star reviews and i really want to know what happened in this but not that badly.

This story was unlike any other narrative I've read. Something along the lines of "Sorry to Bother Your" meets "Barbie"? A wild ride, altogether.

Paradise Logic was, first and foremost, hilarious. Reality's narrative was funny, but also compelling when the readers notices or interprets things in a way she doesn't. The magical realism aspects of it could have been a fun touch, but did end up being a little confusing to me.

The Garden of Eden has never looked so dysfunctional and so hilariously weird.

I suppose this book won’t be for everyone, but it hits (in wildly bizarre ways) on the knowingly idiotic quest to be the perfect girlfriend, and all the loaded implications that come with that.

What makes this so deeply funny and also so alarmingly accurate is that we’re looking at someone who wants to be the perfect girlfriend, full stop. Not the perfect girlfriend because she’s found the love of her life, or even the perfect girlfriend because she’s got a shot at the seemingly perfect boyfriend.

The gentleman (and I use that term loosely) in question is undoubtedly not worthy of this sort of dedication from a partner, and yet he somehow becomes the undeserving beneficiary of the fact that women are inherently inclined toward attempting to actualize as their best selves (especially through the lens of a male partner) even if said male partner is mostly actualizing as a self-serving, myopic idiot.

It’s funny, it’s disturbingly accurate, and it really hits for me as someone who feels that not every book that makes a statement needs to teach an overt lesson to either the central character or the reader.

Her name—Reality Kahn. Her goal—to become the greatest girlfriend ever. The reader’s job—to understand a novel written from the point of view of a main character who is taking a heavy dose of hallucinogenic drugs and has the mental acuity of a loyal Labradoodle.

Whether or not the reader will embrace the rat-a-tat-tat writing style of novelist Sophie Kemp likely depends on whether they are under 25 years old and living in one of the new hip neighborhoods of Brooklyn. It will help even more if said reader is studying for an MFA.

Yes, Paradise Logic is that kind of novel. Very aware of itself and its core audience who likely are all in on the joke. Reality is not grounded, get it? She likes to read Girlfriend Weekly magazine and ruminate on heavy topics. Early on, Kemp writes: “If you do not know what a boyfriend is, I will remind you that the main function of a boyfriend is to unlock goodness of the soul.”

Reality meets the man-bun of her dreams Ariel Koffman at a Brooklyn warehouse venue where he hangs out with his band and fellow man-buns. Ariel to his credit seems bewildered by Reality’s attention and very odd manner but ultimately succumbs and agrees to be her boyfriend after she more or less bullies him into it.

Reality is hard to explain. She is naïve, insatiable for sex, and has no understanding that she is being used or spoken down to. Many have described the novel as funny, but I guess it depends on how much madness you can take or how old you are.

This is Holly Golightly on steroids and acid. Reality floats through the Brooklyn scene clueless about seemingly everything. Her former roommates cannot fathom what’s going on with her. She was always a little flighty but now she’s taken off for the moon without a helmet:

“Soo-jin looked at me and said, ‘Girl, who dressed you? You look absolutely insane. In a bad way. Are you OK? You smell like alcohol and also a locker room. Is that guy you’re dating abusing you? He looks like a school shooter.’”

Even in the Brooklyn milieu of sex, drugs and parties, those who encounter Reality, question whether she is “special needs.”

The funniest parts of the book surround Reality’s thoughts about sex such as, “Surely you know what I speak of? Surely you, too, have come home from the deli only to be f*&*ed in the ass by an Ariel or a Mike or a Timothy?”

This line of thought goes on and on with puerile, X-rated descriptions about what it’s like to engage your boyfriend in whatever type of sex he desires.

The story becomes increasingly detached from reality but that seems to be the point. Whether you’ll accept the joke enough to read 240 pages, is up to you to decide. You know who you are, girlfriend.