Return to paradise

Summary:CEver since I finished reading Leaving Paradise, I've wanted to get my hands on Return to paradise as soon as possible. When it finally came out, I read it in Barnes and noble and never finished. I never buy books that I already started reading halfway because I think it's a waste of money no matter how famous the book is. Finally, our library was able to get a hold of Return to paradise but there were plenty of reserves for the copy and I only got a hold of the copy now. I’m so happy I finally got to read and finish Return to paradise after a couple of months waiting


Return to paradise grabbed me at the first page, it was really engaging especially with the raw emotions Simon Elkeles put throughout the book. It literally made my heart race and I liked that Maggie changed in this book for the better. She’s more feisty and confident than the last book. Caleb is still the same unlucky dude with fears that we met in the first book, but he was able to grow as a man in this book, and I can’t say I didn’t like that either. We also get to meet a few new unique characters and they weren't so bad either.

A few problems I had throughout this book is at one point in the middle, I almost lost my interest because Maggie and Caleb fighting, making up, and making out became really repetitive. Also, it felt like Simone is trying too hard for Caleb to seem like an actual teenage boy, it really bothered me but, I got over it and the book cover really confused me because Caleb Becker has blonde hair and blue eyes or was it green? While Maggie has light brown hair and the one on the cover didn’t have those traits.

Nonetheless, even with those few flaws, Simone Elkeles is still one of my favorite authors because she made me feel this great emotion and I did enjoy the rest of the book. I loved the humor she had especially with Lenny’s character, the lessons she taught me in this book, and the depth she put into her characters. I am truly looking forward for Simon Elkeles future works and I hope I enjoy it as much I did with this book.


I do recommend you the leaving paradise series and I’m assuring you that it will grab your heartstrings and pull it really hard.


overall rating 3.5/5