Book two-fifty-seven: Leaving Paradise

Leaving Paradise (2007)
Simone Elkeles

Rating: 3.5/5

I am conflicted about this book. I thought it was really good up until the last two pages. I just think the ending was unsatisfying. I think the main thing I want from an ending is to know that the characters who went through all these terrible things are going to be okay in the future and I really don’t feel that from “let’s get pie.”

Sure, they will be well fed, but what the hell is actually going on in their lives?

May be there will be a sequel.

Nothing has been the same since Caleb Becker left a party drunk, got behind the wheel, and hit Maggie Armstrong. Even after months of painful physical therapy, Maggie walks with a limp. Her social life is nil and a scholarship to study abroad-her chance to escape everyone and their pity stares-has been canceled. After a year in juvenile jail, Caleb's free . . . if freedom means endless nagging from a transition coach and the prying eyes of the entire town. Coming home should feel good, but his family and ex-girlfriend seem like strangers.
Caleb and Maggie are outsiders, pigeon-holed as "criminal" and "freak." Then the truth emerges about what really happened the night of the accident and, once again, everything changes. It's a bleak and to journey for Caleb and Maggie, yet they end up finding comfort and strength from a surprising source: each other.

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Finished: Saturday 13/1/08