My first official read of 2017 (though technically speaking I started this last year). My overall impression is that this narrative had some good points and some very bad points (keywords: rampant cliches and overly drawn out drama), but overall left a neutral impression on me. I think once the story got back to the main plot conflicts, I found a path to follow through the novel to the very end. Plus the audiobook narration was very good on the parts of Elizabeth Cottie as Maggie, and Nicholas Mondetti as Caleb.

"Return to Paradise" begins a little bit where "Leaving Paradise" left off, and finds Caleb and Maggie reuniting in a by-chance scenario. Caleb's gotten in trouble with the law again, and under his parole officer's wing, finds himself traveling with a group speaking to different kid/teen groups about how he ended up in prison/getting in trouble with the law and how it changed his life, in addition to having to stay at a campsite for a time. Conversely, Maggie travels with that same group talking about her experiences and how she ended up with her life-changing injuries. Suffice to say - Caleb and Maggie having to actively tell two sides of the same story is awkward and creates tension between them given their history. Caleb did a complete progress reversal of character of sorts since the last novel. He became worse for wear - being physically/mentally/emotionally abrasive - with Maggie being fully subjected to that abuse and lashing out. I hate romances like this, because it's like "Dude, Maggie was hurt because of circumstances that you were a part of, can you be more selfish and manipulative with your affection/possession/jealousy of her?"

Ugh.

I started following the narrative better after two things happened: 1. When the cat was let out of the bag with regards to the accident's events and 2. when the book actually got back to Paradise, with Caleb and Maggie both having to wrestle with how people in Paradise had changed since they'd been away. I appreciated the attention on the family conflicts and relationships, with a keen eye on the difficulties of starting over. Yet I almost feel like things in this novel were too easily resolved with respect to the central conflict in the way it was presented. Not that I couldn't believe that this could/would happen with both families having to come to terms with the truth of events, but it was the way it was presented. I found that I liked some of the supporting cast of characters in the book, but feel like they still primarily served as catalysts for the relationship between the protagonists of the novel.

Overall, it's not one of my favorite series depicting this kind of subject matter with the romantic inclinations, but I was still able to appreciate parts of it.

Overall score: 2.5/5 stars.

Now I have to be upfront, I do not like YA books, its a genre I avoid as much as possible, but I have a challenge to read a book from an author with the same initials as me and this feel into my lap. That being said, I really really enjoyed this book. I think it was so honest, and real, I think the fact that Maggie held on to her hate and hurt for such a long time, that she would be so isolated from everyone, and that she would be so insecure, is very realistic. I think that teenagers are their own species of people and this book reflects that. But Caleb was so complex, so beautiful, so lonely, and so damaged I fell for him so early in the book. I think he is just a really real hero, someone who just made a mistake, and is trying to fix it. But life is bitch of course, I think the addition of Mrs. Reynolds was awesome as well, this old lady who inadvertently (or maybe on purpose) brings these two together, and allows them to get through their problems. She leads them to a place of healing that would impact them for life.

Now based on all the reviews I read I knew that the ending of this book would not be easy, but I was not prepared for how hard it would be. Hard but so real, I think that everyone made the best decision, but I am very very happy that there is another book to see where these two end up at the end. I really didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I have, and I look forward to the next book in the series!

In Leaving Paradise, Caleb Becker, Kendra (Caleb's Ex), and Maggie Armstrong  are in the hallway and Caleb and Kendra are talking. Maggie comes up and hears Caleb say all these lies to Kendra. Kendra says she only wants Caleb, but she is dating Brain (Caleb's friend). He feeds her all these lies and Maggie hears them and tries to get him to explain on why he and Kendra have been hooking up. He doesn't say anything. Kendra keeps saying to tell Maggie what really happened (The accident). He says to stop but she doesn't. He knows his sister Leah (there twins) hit Maggie with the car, so hes trying to protect his sister. He already did the time for his sister, and he doesn't want Maggie to find out what really happened.Maggie slaps Caleb And walks away because he wouldn't answer her, so she walked away mad at Caleb. 

Caleb darf zurück nach Paradise, er wird vorzeitig aus der Haft entlassen. Doch dort angekommen ist alles anderes, als er es sich vorgestellt hat. Seine Familie ist nur noch ein Trümmerhaufen, genau wie sein Leben. Während er seine Sozialstunden bei Mrs. Reynolds ableistet, kommen er und Maggie sich näher. Doch die anfängliche Liebe wird bald auf eine harte Probe gestellt. Immer mehr Probleme türmen sich zwischen den beiden auf und versuchen sie auseinander zu bringen.

Maggie wünscht sich nichts sehnlicher, als wieder völlig normal gehen zu können. Diese eine Nacht hat sie so viel mehr gekostet, als ein zertrümmertes Knie. Sie ist zur totalen Außenseiterin geworden und will einfach nur noch weg aus Paradise. Da sich ihre Mutter das Auslandssemester in Spanien aber nicht für sie leisten kann, nimmt sie einen Job als Mrs. Reynolds, der Mutter vom Chef ihrer eigenen Mutter, an. Dort trifft sie auf Caleb, den jungen Mann, der sie angefahren hat. Am Anfang ignoriert sie ihn und geht ihm aus dem Weg, doch mit der Zeit kommen sich die beiden Näher und Maggie entwickelt Gefühle für Caleb.

Meiner Meinung nach ist „Leaving Paradise“ ein wirklich sehr schönes Buch. Stellenweiße war es etwas verwirrend, wie schnell Maggie oder auch Caleb manche Schlussfolgerungen gezogen haben. Ich persönlich konnte der Autorin nur folgen, weil ich beide Seiten der Geschichte kannte. Ohne den Wechsel der Sichten zwischen Maggie und Caleb wäre das Buch nicht halb so gut, geschweige denn halb so verständlich. Trotzdem hat es mir viel Freude bereitet das Buch zu lesen und ich war auch unglaublich schnell durch. Es ist sehr spannend, schön und flüssig geschrieben und durchaus weiter zu empfehlen.

Wertung (4/5)

3.25 stars, and that's simply because of the ending.

 

Unlike the other book I've read by the author, Perfect Chemistry, I wasn't as drawn into this. I liked certain parts more than others and the romance seemed to just appear between one chapter and the next but at the same time I kinda really liked both characters and wanted them to get together.

 

I know there's a second book that continues this story and I'm off to hunt it out so I can see how these two work out.