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A review by emjm
Goodbye Paradise by Sarina Bowen
4.0
Apparently, Sarina Bowen has more up her sleeves than her usually great hockey-centric stories... that being coming-of-age cult-escape stories? It's not as catchy, but it's just as charming.
I was worried through the first 50ish pages that I didn't like this, but then it clicked, and I loved it. A story of two 20-year-olds escaping their abusive, fundamentalist religious cult is compelling on its own, but you add in the romance of it all, and it's not just a juicy drama, but a truly sweet story about overcoming circumstances. This premise just as easily could've been written, and probably has been before, in a way that could win awards. That's not the case here; it's a romance novel meant for entertainment first and foremost. Sure, the characters and backstory could've been developed way more, but for what it is, it was both heart-wrenching and heart-warming all at the same time.
The characters were SO good. Caleb had us in the first half, not going to lie, but then, he just came into his own. There's a reason the show Breaking Amish was such compelling television, and I'll leave it at that. Don't get me started on sweet Josh; I usually don't care to read about the sweeter, more good-natured characters as much, but he was just so pure and well-meaning and I wanted everything to work out for him. His character arc revolving around confronting masculinity and how that can look different for different men was one of the best parts of this story. Maggie and Daniel were surprisingly complex characters that added a side plot I didn't mind reading at all.
This was such an unexpectedly sweet find. I thought I was stepping into the shallow end of the pool and realized I'd landed in something a bit deeper.
I was worried through the first 50ish pages that I didn't like this, but then it clicked, and I loved it. A story of two 20-year-olds escaping their abusive, fundamentalist religious cult is compelling on its own, but you add in the romance of it all, and it's not just a juicy drama, but a truly sweet story about overcoming circumstances. This premise just as easily could've been written, and probably has been before, in a way that could win awards. That's not the case here; it's a romance novel meant for entertainment first and foremost. Sure, the characters and backstory could've been developed way more, but for what it is, it was both heart-wrenching and heart-warming all at the same time.
The characters were SO good. Caleb had us in the first half, not going to lie, but then, he just came into his own. There's a reason the show Breaking Amish was such compelling television, and I'll leave it at that. Don't get me started on sweet Josh; I usually don't care to read about the sweeter, more good-natured characters as much, but he was just so pure and well-meaning and I wanted everything to work out for him. His character arc revolving around confronting masculinity and how that can look different for different men was one of the best parts of this story. Maggie and Daniel were surprisingly complex characters that added a side plot I didn't mind reading at all.
This was such an unexpectedly sweet find. I thought I was stepping into the shallow end of the pool and realized I'd landed in something a bit deeper.