This book is a mystery, a thriller, a sordid history on the creation of the internet, a technological deep dive, and a profound exploration of family, loss, a coming of age story, and self-discovery—all wrapped into one. I could not put it down and definitely recommend.

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I dunno, this was kind of boring? It had a very interesting premise, but I don’t feel like the plot went anywhere. Most of the action occurs when the MC isn’t around so the stakes don’t feel that high. The mystery itself unraveled fairly easily and was too neatly summarized. And the ending just sort of fizzled out.

The writing was nice and, again, I thought it was a cool concept for a story, it just never grabbed me and I wish the author did more with the ideas she was clearly trying to get at. However, this is getting rave reviews from many others, so don’t let my feelings discourage you from checking it out. It just wasn’t for me.

What Kind of Paradise is out 6/3

2.5/5

Janelle Brown’s “What Kind of Paradise” is a lot like its premise — similar to the journey our MC Jane finds herself in, you’re led to believe one thing when in reality, the truth is much different. Unfortunately, Paradise overstays its welcome fairly quickly, hindered by the author’s reliance on telling and not showing. Worse: the book’s description gives away over a third of its plot. By the time you’re past that point (near the 37% point), you may be too burnt out to continue. If you do, you’re met with a story that is pretty interesting, if not just a repeat of the first third: a naive girl making mistake after mistake.

It’s a shame because there’s a good story somewhere in here but it’s dragged down with a plot that takes too long to get there, and when we’re “there” the book is over. The ending, which I won’t spoil, is also a miss. Could have assumed that much given how the story begins (at the end), but was expecting something more than what we got. It’s a bummer. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC.

What Kind of Paradise was a bold and unforgettable story. Janelle Brown incorporated many relevant themes-parents and children; nature and technology; innocence and knowledge; the losses of our past and our dreams for the future. Collectively the dialogue, characters, themes and atmosphere Brown delivered in this coming of age story had me immersed from the very beginning and had me thinking at length throughout.

The novel followed Jane Williams a seventeen year old young woman. Jane grew up in a secluded cabin with her father. He began to question her sheltered existence during the late 1990s, when the internet started to become mainstreamed. Her father was a paranoid individual who believed the world was corrupt, and provided Jane with a limited reality. As Jane's father's erratic behavior increased, she sought a way out. She fled to San Francisco where she confronted the reality of her family's past and her own identity.

I most appreciated how the narrative focused on central themes that revolved around isolation, identity, family, and the power we have to shape our own destinies. I was especially intrigued by Jane’s escape from her isolated life in order to shape her own life. Her self determination and perseverance was evident. Even more, the moral dilemma Jane faced in regards to her involvement with crime, despite her being unaware of it, forced her to grapple with the weight of her past and choices she had to make in her life ahead.

In the same way as the themes set the tone for Brown’s novel, the setting created an unsettling atmosphere. It was rather claustrophobic at times. The isolated cabin. The secluded location. All the challenges and limitations of isolation, both physically and emotionally were portrayed. As the story moved forward, Brown highlighted the importance of human connection and the need for personal growth primarily through Jane’s character, and more specifically through her relationship with her father and the relationships she formed on her journey to finding out the truths of her past & her own self discovery.

All in all, What Kind of Paradise was a beautifully sinuous coming-of-age story about love, loyalty, family, and fate.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Jane's father is raising her in the wilderness of Montana, off the grid. He is teaching her survival skills and to hate and distrust the government and tech. As Jane grows up, he has her help him write his manifesto against the Internet and technological advances and she then helps him publish it on a website. Jane is desperate to escape from her dad, and one day asks to go with him on one of his adventures away. What she didn't expect is for it to be a bombing in Seattle, and when she realizes what her father has done and made her an accomplice, Jane is now on the run when she's never even been out in the world. Eighteen-year-old Jane finds out her real name, more about her mother, and what her father might be trying to do and why. Jane heads to the Bay Area to try to escape and stop her father and figure out how to live in the real world.

Wow, this book was not what I was expecting. I thought this was going to be very These Silent Woods, and it did start that way, but then it takes some very action-packed turns. Jane's father is a Unabomber- like character, then it has a touch of Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. I have read and enjoyed Brown's books before. She writes good characters, but this one is much more, and I think it will be on a lot of Must-Read Lists this summer. If you like unique and well-written characters with a compelling and action-packed story, this one is for you.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

2.5 Rounded up to 3 stars. Ugh, I think I have been reading too many, sad, traumatic family stories lately. I slogged through this one. It was definitely a slow read for a thriller and predictable. I felt really bad for the MC and enjoyed how the overall main story line wrapped but also didn't love how they brushed through the return to present day timeline in the epilogue.

This was completely different than the other two books I’ve read by Janelle. A slow burn mostly, and not really a shocking twist. However, a much deeper meaning to this book, and for that I’ll give 4 stars. It kept me turning the pages. & overall I was rooting for “Jane”

What Kind of Paradise is a book that takes you back in time to the 90's. The world is on the cusp of the internet taking it by storm. Silicon Valley is the place to be and tech giants are on the rise.

For Jane her life is far removed for the tech world or anything outside of the off grid cabin that she lives in with her dad. Her interaction with the outside world is very limited and now that's she's 17 she has a lot of questions that she knows her father won't answer. When the unthinkable happens it's up to Jane to decide what to do and if she will set out to find the answers and stop her father from making even more mistakes that there is no coming back from.

Having grown up in this era this book made it feel like going back in time. To a simpler time but a time when it seemed the whole world was tethering on the edge of something so big and life altering.

**Received ARC through NetGalley. Voluntarily reviewed.**

Brown's latest is an excellent genre mash up - a dash of literary fiction, an achingly difficult coming of age story, a drop of romance, a compelling mystery and a frightening thriller. Brown's story asks the question, simplified so as not to give away too much plot - what would happen if the Unabomber had been raising a daughter while pursuing his ideologic reign of terror. The book is fast paced and so good that I often wished I could shut off all the notifications on my phone and keep the outside world out so I could race to the end - the irony of this is not lost on me given that the thrust of the book is whether technology is good or bad? harmful or helpful? Whatever the answer, Brown's book is an excellent read. Highly recommend. Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the DRC.

What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown ! I could not stop wanting to know what was going to happen next. I was so intrigued by the characters, the plot, and overall story. Highly recommend this one! I felt like it was so different and unique of a story.

This book is as much about the main character, Jane's, journey in life as it is a mystery about her mother. I loved Jane as a character from the first page and although the first part is very slow paced (her isolated life in Montana) it really sets up the rest of the story. I saw a review that likened this part of the story to These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham and that was a very apt comparison. The story then shifts to Jane's discovery of the internet of the 1990s and the questions that begin to arise about her father's recounting of her past. She is determined to find out what happened around the death of her mother and who her father really is. The story is very deliberate and slow to build the tension for the reader. I really enjoyed this book but will say that there were parts I really had to push through. Overall, this is a solid read and I would love to use it in a book group because I think it would lead to very rich discussions. Thanks to Janelle Brown, Netgalley, and Random House for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book starts so very darn slow! I would have enjoyed it more if I didn't know that this was all just a set up for the rest of the story. I just wanted to get there faster. I loved reading along as Jane uncovers things about herself and her family and she grows. Her enthusiasm for things that we all take for granted was rather endearing! That was the best part. And I loved the Bay Area / Silicon Valley nostalgia that kicked in! Also, the somewhat nod to a certain crime spree was interesting. But, I didn't like that many of the characters were very self-centered and unlikeable. I suppose it needed to be that way, but it was a little disheartening. Thank goodness Jane is such an endearing character!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC!

This book was SO interesting! I loved both parts. Brown did such a good job of putting us in Jane's head. While the book is mysterious throughout, it's slower-paced that you'd probably imagine. The mystery grows for the reader as it grows for Jane.
I loved how the book felt very much of the time it was set - the 90s. Brown did a fantastic job of resurrecting that time period - from dial-up internet to phone books to the tech bubble in Silicon Valley.
I found both of Jane's parents to be frustrating in different ways. It was really interesting to see Jane spread her wings and figure out her own thoughts on things.

I always look forward to a new release from Janelle Brown. Her new book, What Kind of Paradise, is such a great read! It's set in the era of early internet in the 1990s. Jane has been living off-grid in Montana with her father after losing her mother in a car accident. Now that she's turned 17, Jane has many questions about her mother and the lifestyle her father has chosen for them to live. Jane begins a journey of factfinding that leads her to San Francisco and even more questions about who she really is. I absolutely loved this book and can't wait for everyone to get their hands on it. It's one of those reads that has you thinking about it even when you can't be reading it. Read and enjoy!

Thank you, NetGalley, Random House, and Janelle Brown for this Advance Readers copy!

The first third of this book had me thinking I was re-reading a mix of These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant and Tangled Up in You by Christina Lauren. It all felt oddly like I was re-reading it even thought it was my first time. I did like the atmospheric tendencies and felt like the plot was developed best in this portion of the story.

The second third of the book was vastly different and interesting but could have been developed in different ways that dove more into particular themes. I did appreciate the character development and use of varying character and situational archetypes. Though it took the plot a different direction, I had a harder time staying invested in this part.

The final third of the book was a good summation but was so short and left a ton of questions when I felt like it was written in a way to tie things up. It felt like someone ending a conversation with “mhmm, okay, bye” just to be done with it. It was just odd how it pulled together in the end after skipping decades like it was nothing.

What I liked overall: the coming of age mystery style, the consistent use of deep and complex vocabulary, and the morality questioning that made me genuinely have to think about my own position on my reliance on technology.

Overall, it was good, but it wasn’t my favorite by the author.

What a great, atmospheric drama! Loved the details of a secluded cabin and wanted more from that aspect. This author is new to me and I'm excited to check out her previous work.

It’s been awhile since I sunk into a book that forces me to set aside all other reading, indeed all other pastimes, and keep turning the pages. “What Kind of Paradise” is such a book.

Jane and her father live off the grid in 1990s Montana in a 700 square foot cabin. Jane is homeschooled by her genius father who loves philosophy and abhors technology. He writes a newsletter of limited circulation about the coming Apocalypse. One day he returns from a scavenging foray with a discarded computer (think 1996-era boxy unit with floppy disks) and a how-to HTML book. He tasks Jane with building a website for his anti-tech manifesto, not realizing the self-contradiction.

The slow dial-up connection nevertheless exposes Jane to a world beyond the cabin, and she begins to question her father’s beliefs and decisions. Is the world as dangerous as her father claims? Did he tell her the truth about her mother’s death? Is it OK to employ violence in furtherance of a good cause? With 30 years hindsight, were her father’s predictions realized?

This novel is rich in discussion topics for book clubs. But mostly it is an engrossing, thought-provoking read. This is the first book I’ve read by Janelle Brown. I will definitely be exploring her backlist.

Riveting enough for me to speed through this in one day, engaging enough that I never wanted to put it down, and satisfying enough to keep me thinking about this in the days to come. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! Jane is a teenager who lives in an off the grid cabin in rural Montana in the 1990's with only her father for company. He is her sole parent, her sole educator, and most times, her sole connection to anything or anyone in the outside world. He is also deeply paranoid about the rise of the internet, computers, and technology in general. He spends long days composing manifestos filled with rantings against how fast humanity is changing because of the world wide web, and lecturing Jane on the evils of nearly everything outside of their cabin. As Jane gets older and longs to know more about her dead mother, her father's life before the cabin, and herself, she finds herself unwittingly and unknowingly involved in some of her father's most dangerous and selfish pursuits. Is he a monster or a prophet? This was one of the most unique and interesting ARC's I've read lately. It's part coming of age, part tech thriller, and part societal commentary. Overall, I found this to be a truly engaging, compelling, and important exploration of what makes us who we are, and who we hope to be.

I really enjoyed this book! It definitely kept me engaged and it was interesting reading about the time period when tech exploded from this perspective.