In the mid-1990s, Jane and her father lived in an isolated cabin in Montana, homesteading. Her father offers few clues about their pasts, saying that her mother's death in a car crash in the Bay Area led to their move. When Jane realizes she might be an accomplice to her father's crimes, she flees for San Francisco to look for answers. The city itself is in the middle of many changes, including the burgeoning Internet, leading Jane to question everything she values.

Jane and her father were incredibly isolated, even by Montana standards, living off the grid and rarely going into the neighboring town. Her father raised her on philosophy, calculus, and paranoid isolationist theory, saying he was brilliant and prescient. He was essentially her entire world, until the flashes of the outside world in the form of TV and the nascent internet let her see how others lived and thought. Her father was essentially an anti-futurist, Luddite, and simply writing a zine or manifesto wasn't enough. He had to resort to bombs to get attention for his ideas and to try stemming the tide of computing and AI; we know full well how futile that can be.

Jane essentially grows up over the course of the novel. She initially defends and believes her father's opinion because it's all she knows. When questioned about that way of life by outsiders (her first friend, a chat room stranger), she grows to realize just how odd it is. The realization escalated until she made her separation, a bid for independence that luckily turned out well for her. She finds friends, gets a job and a place to stay, and makes it through without being assaulted. The outside world isn't the terrible place her father painted, but it's not a utopia either. She sees the shape of her father's plan eventually, then is torn between the duty to report him and the duty to protect him. Her life and decisions are ultimately her own, and we are with her as she comes to realize this. Neither life is a paradise, no matter what's promised.

One of the most unique books I’ve read in a long time. This pulled me out of my reading slump and had me flipping through pages ridiculously fast!

I liked the story and man is a lot of the subject matter timely. The middle drug a little bit, and I was frustrated with the main character at points but realized I was expecting adult behavior from a kid. I wanted more at the end - it felt like it wound down quickly.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

What Kind of Paradise was my favorite book of June. I started it as a buddy read, where we were supposed to read about 60 pages a day and discuss each section all week. After day two, I abandoned my buddies, finished, and then rejoined when they finished too. It's the story of Jane and her father. They live off the grid in Montana in the 1990s. I *highly* recommend not reading the synopsis and just go along for this ride. It's a quirky coming of age story, as Jane's experience is so unique. It's modern historical fiction that shimmers with the before and after, as the readers bring our insights of what the Internet will become, as of now. It's a thoughtful meditation on education, parenting, and technology. It's simultaneously a family saga and a plot-forward mystery. I absolutely loved it.

***I was intrigued by the novel's premise, in which a father weaves elaborate lies to raise his daughter in a remote wilderness, away from technology. When the story moved out of the woods, it felt more fractured to me and didn't hold together as well.***

<blockquote>The first thing you have to understand is that my father was my entire world.</blockquote>

Jane doesn't remember living in the Bay area, where her mother died. She doesn't remember life with electricity, or neighbors, or technology. In mid-1990s rural Montana, Jane only knows the books her father gives her instead of sending her to school, the woodstove that provides lifesaving heat, and the peacefulness of the familiar woods.

But when Jane becomes a teenager and starts to push her father for freedom--and for answers--she begins to suspect that their life has been built on tragedy--and lies.

I was captivated by the first part of the book, in which Jane and her father are entrenched in their own world, driven by her father's mysterious, paranoid thinking and his development of his anti-technology Luddite Manifesto, as Jane begins to cobble together pieces of her past and suspicions about her true identity.

When the story moved away from the wilderness, the story felt increasingly fractured to me. Jane's sheltered background--and her doubts about what is true about the world and what was made up or exaggerated by her father, the only influence in her life to this point--means that when she leaves the woods, she is naïve and reliant on others for almost everything. This makes sense, but doesn't make her a particularly sympathetic or dynamic character. Jane is also buoyed by magical thinking, often expending emotional energy (and spending plenty of page time) wishing the past were not what it was, feeling sorry for herself, and hoping she emerges unscathed from an enormous mess. I also didn't completely buy into the depth of her new key connection to a romantic friendship--nor the lengths the other partner was willing to go to in order to protect her after a short period.

The figure of Jane's mother is easy to dislike; she reads as almost a caricature of an emotionally distant person. Jane's belief that her mother, to date a stranger, would magically resolve her many urgent challenges and problems, is part of Jane's naïvité, but it still feels far-fetched. When she disappoints Jane by failing to swoop in and save her, it doesn't feel surprising to anyone but Jane.

I appreciated the complicated feelings Jane felt around holding her father accountable, as he plausibly went to such extremes to save her from the perceived dangers of society, but the resolution to the story and Jane's unscathed state felt a little bit too easy.

The premise of the story was fascinating, and I felt drawn into the part of the novel set in the woods with a father, a daughter, and the world outside of society that they managed to create and cultivate, however misguided the reasoning for doing so may have been.

I received a prepublication version of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Random House.

Janelle Brown is also the author of Pretty Things (check out my review) and other novels.

You may also like these other Bossy reviews of novels about the woods and wilderness.

I really enjoyed this! What Kind of Paradise is a unique and intricately plotted story that kept me guessing the whole way through. It’s both gripping and thought-provoking, with a narrative that blends suspense, coming-of-age, and cultural commentary in a way that feels fresh and compelling.

The novel follows Jane, a teenage girl raised in near-total isolation by her father in the Montana wilderness. When she uncovers disturbing secrets about her past, she flees to 1990s San Francisco—a world that is overwhelming, unfamiliar, and rapidly changing with the rise of the internet. As she navigates her new environment, she’s forced to confront questions about identity, morality, and the consequences of truth.
This was my first book by Janelle Brown, and I was impressed by how layered and emotionally resonant the story was. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of her work.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Wow this book was so good. I have read Janelle Brown before and thought her writing was just ok but she definitely raised the bar for herself with What Kind of Paradise.

3 stars. May round down later. Not sure about this. Honestly read more like nonfiction. Expected some mystery or thriller elements so that's probably on me for not reading the synopsis. Overall slow and not captivating. But gave it 3 stars bc I kept reading, even though I skimmed alot at the end.

This book was well written and I couldn’t put it down. Elements of mystery and family secrets. A young girl discovers her past and who her father really is.

This was a winner for me because I loved the mid-1990s setting, when technology, especially the internet, was so magical. I think this book will appeal specifically to Gen X readers.

This one has stuck with me, what a fabulous book. A coming of age story of a girl raised in complete isolation by her father, shut out from socialization, relationships and most technology. While some parts of the book did feel on the slower moving side, the book held SO much to process and work through, I am still thinking about it!

I loved the setting as well, remote Montana deep in the woods versus technology saturated start up Seattle, such a shocking contrast. The author did an incredible job with character development, portraying the paranoid father and naive yet very intelligent daughter slowly being exposed to the world all of us take for granted.

Overall, a slower read, but HIGHLY recommend!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, all opinions are my own

DNF @73%

I didn't start liking it until about 20% through, then I enjoyed it until around 50% through. I don't like the direction it went in and I don't care about what was happening at this point.

I loved this book! The author mastered the coming age with suspense. I don’t want to give anything away, but as the MC discovers secrets, oh wow. This was beautiful.

The first novel that I read by @janellebrownie was Watch Me Disappear and I’ve read everything by her since then! Her newest novel, What Kind of Paradise, is a character driven story about a girl who grows up in seclusion in an isolated cabin in the middle of nowhere Montana. Her daily contact is with her father and occasionally a mother-daughter duo at the small town bookstore.

I highly recommend this book if you love:
💛 books set in the 1990s
💛 character driven stories
💛 complicated family dynamics/relationships
💛 coming of age stories
💛 themes related to nature vs technology

Overall, I really enjoyed this emotionally gripping book.

10/10

Oh. My. Holy.
I couldn’t put this book down. And now that I’ve finished it, I want to pick it up again and read it all over again

First of all, Janelle Brown is an amazing writer. She has such a talent for descriptions that I would read some sentences and paragraphs over again, simply to enjoy and understand how she did it. (Yes, I’m a writer and really respect great writing talent).

On top of that, the story is incredibly compelling, probably made more so since I grew up with the emergence of the internet and the homegrown terrorism of the Oklahoma bombings, Waco, Unabomber, etc.

This story is about Jane, who lives in the woods of Montana with her father - kind of like Thoreau, but a little left of our normal impression of sanity.

Jane doesn’t know much about her childhood. As she grows up and learns more, it raises more questions than answers.

Next thing you know, things have taken a pretty wrong turn.

Read this book.
Now.

#netgalley #whatkindofparadise

First and foremost; thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this ARC.

I thought the emotional centerpiece of the story was Jane/Esme herself.

Brown does a phenomenal job portraying her dual identity: the sheltered daughter complicit in her father’s crimes, and the fiercely determined young woman who strikes out to build a different life against all odds.

Watching her evolve—from unquestioning compliance through relentless inner conflict to full self-realization—shows her struggle to find her place. Her character is at once vulnerable and resilient, and her journey is steeped in emotional roots.

What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown
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Jane lives off the grid with her father in an isolated cabin in Montana. She longs for more freedom. As she approaches her 18th birthday she starts looking for answers to questions that her father won’t answer for her.
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What I liked:
-I loved the mystery of why her dad won’t answer her questions. Once Jane started getting answers I was hooked.
-I don’t want to give anything away, but there were a lot of answers that Jane discovered. I felt so bad for her.
-I really liked the friend that Jane made and thought their friendship was sweet. I wish Jane had more friends.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Full of secrets and building suspense, What Kind of Paradise is a great mystery story.

What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown is a haunting, slow-burn literary mystery that explores the fragile line between truth and belief, isolation and connection, and the cost of progress—both personal and societal.

Raised off the grid in a remote Montana cabin, Jane has only ever known the world her father built: one of woodstoves, philosophy books, and a deep distrust of modern life. But when a shocking revelation forces her to flee to 1990s San Francisco, Jane begins to unravel not only the truth about her past, but also the dark legacy of the man she once idolized. As the early internet age pulses around her, Jane must navigate a world of tech optimism, buried secrets, and moral ambiguity.

Brown masterfully blends coming-of-age introspection with psychological suspense, crafting a story that’s both intimate and epic in scope. The novel pulses with tension as Jane’s journey becomes a reckoning—with her father, her identity, and the seductive promises of a rapidly changing world.

If you love character-driven fiction with philosophical depth and a touch of thriller, What Kind of Paradise is a must-read. It’s a chilling reminder that paradise is never as simple—or as safe—as it seems.

Seventeen year old Jane lives with her father Adam in a remote cabin in Montana. They live an isolated life except for occasional trips to the bookstore in town. Jane is homeschooled and educated in philosophy, survival skills and how to take care of herself. Her father teaches her that technology especially computers is destructive to civilization. She was told her mother died in a car accident. Despite her father’s warnings about computers, he brings home a computer and wants her to type his manifesto. Jane also uses the computer for personal use. One day her father tells her he’s going on a trip and may not be back for days. Jane asks to go with him which he allows. The trip changes their lives.

This story takes place in the 90s which was the rise of the internet and computer age. It shows the simple life of Jane’s without the computer and technology and then her life with them and how simple things in life are forgotten. She questions both forms of living.

The story discusses humanity vs technology, mental illness, impact of technology, family dysfunction, parent child relationships, self discovery. It’s a coming of age story with a young woman who had difficult choices to make. It’s a thought provoking story of what you would do if put in Jane’s position especially with moral dilemmas. There were many points made about the control technology has over people’s lives especially today when everyone’s faces are stuck to their phones. It shows what impact technology and the internet had in our world and the positives and negatives to them.

Thank you #netgalley, #random house publishing

I'm probably in the minority when I say that this just wasn't my jam. I loved the first part - when they were living alone in the woods and there was something not quite right. But all of the tech just really turned me off.