This was SOOOOO good!!!

Jane lives her whole life in a cabin in Montana with her dad learning about philosophers as home schooling until one day she realizes she’s witnessed him commit a crime. This being set in the 80s/90s with rise of internet, Microsoft, etc and the emotional drama was so good.

Thanks NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review, I’m obsessed.

Thank you so much to Random House for the gifted ARC!

4.5 Stars

Title: What Kind of Paradise
Author: Janelle Brown
Pub Date: June 3, 2025

I had so much fun reading this book!

When the story opened with a father and daughter living in an isolated cabin in the woods, I couldn't help but get THESE SILENT WOODS (my fav book of all time) vibes. I am a SUCKER for stories about people hiding in the woods, hiding their identities, basically I just love hidden secrets because I'm nosey and NEED to know WHAT they're hiding and WHY they're hiding it! The question WHY kept me absolutely glued to this story!

Our main character, Jane, is 17 and knows no life outside of the four walls of her cabin and her very few friends in her small Montana community. And then Jane discovers the internet! After that, this book goes crazy as we watch Jane alone in the real world for the first time! Her naivety and lack of knowledge of societal norms made this coming-of-age story even better! Oh, and did I mention that it takes place in the early 1990s? All my favorite things rolled into one.

This story did not go in the direction I expected and I actually really appreciated that! So much of it felt super unhinged and original and I was totally there for it all! I don't think this book fits neatly in a genre since there is a LOT going on, but you should just read it and enjoy it for what it is!

Are you looking for a unique thriller? Are you burned out on psych thrillers? If so, I have the PERFECT read for you! What Kind of Paradise by @janellebrownie is about a father who raises his daughter “off the grid” in the mid 90s - reminiscent of the unibomber era with a look into the early tech craze, and of course, a major underlying mystery, you will not want to miss this one!

Coming June 3, I HIGHLY recommend!

This was pretty much a slam dunk for me. It's a bit of a slow start (we've likely seen versions of the "kid and their crazy (?) parent living off the grid" stories before.) But this one quickly went in directions I was not expecting.

Not sure a Millennial reader would dig this as much as a Gen X one, like me. It really perfectly captures the birth of the Internet and the huge culture shift that surrounded it. There was a sense of hopefulness and excitement that this magical technology would change the world into a utopian paradise.

Of course, we now know how the story really turned out, and how tech for good was co-opted and exploited for greed and power, often causing very real harm. And because we live in that time now, it makes you empathetic for the father in this story. His tactics are awful, but his fears aren't unfounded.

Mostly though, I loved the coming of age story and this girl struggling to get to know who she is in a world she has no context for understanding. I loved her relationship with Lionel the most. It reminds me to the closeness that was possible with total strangers when the Internet was new and people were mainly just seeking human connection.

Overall, this was a solid, touching and sometimes even thrilling read. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this story of a young girl parsing truth from lies as her world kind of literally exploded!
Jane was raised by her father isolated in Montana. Her father provided her education; she did not know anything about TV or the internet until she was a teenager.
Once she decides that she would like to see the world outside of their cabin in the woods, she convinces her father to take her on one of his trips. On this trip, she discovers that many things she believed about her life were lies her father told her, including lies about the death of her mother.
Jane travels to San Francisco where she hopes to learn more about her mother's life and death as she explores this "new to her" world of technology.
While I certainly had to suspend some disbelief as I read, I was drawn into the story and rooting for Jane to come out ok on the other side of all the damage her father left her with.
This is a coming-of-age story of nature vs nurture in a very dysfunctional family.

Jane grows up in Montana wilderness with her extremist dad and has no comforts, is totally isolated, and home schooled. She finally decides to run away at age 17. She wants to find out if her mother is alive which takes her to California. Jane discovers the IT world which her father detests.

It’s a good story about technology and how far should it be developed. The book also is a reflection on how people need social interaction.

Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for this advance copy.
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Jane grows up off the grid in a cabin in Montana with her father in the mid-90s. As her teenage years & the invention of the Internet prompt her to want more interaction with the outside world, she uncovers long buried secrets about herself and her family. This was such a page turner for me! Part slow burn suspense, part family drama and coming of age, this story also has deeper themes about connection, technology and what makes us human. It is mainly plot driven and SO much happens in this story. A great binge worthy read for days on the beach or at the pool.

Not even a drop of suspense/thriller but a very slow mystery that really doesn't go anywhere. I am disappointed for sure! I really loved her Pretty Things book and the pacing of that was FUN. This was flat and the coming of age was really insufferable.

What Kind of Paradise follows Jane, a teenager in the late '90s being raised off the grid in a cabin in Montana by her reclusive single father. As Jane gets older, she begins to question her father's anti-technology beliefs and his way of raising her more and more. After an unexpected trip into the city, Jane and her father are separated, and Jane begins to make her way on her own.
I found the first part of this book dragged a little, when Jane and her father are living in the cabin & Jane is trying to navigate her way into adulthood while her father tries to micromanage her every move. Once the pair are separated though, I found the pace really picked up. Jane's naivety in trying to navigate a city, after spending her entire life never seeing more than a dozen people at once, was entirely believable. She made some very poor decisions and trusted too easily, leaving her in situations that did not always work out best for her. I also enjoyed the exploration of the early days of the internet, with its mix of fears and excitement about where it would lead humanity in the future.
Overall, I really liked this book. Jane had some really strong character development, and I found the story interesting and engaging. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of What Kind of Paradise in exchange for my honest review.

The synopsis is more compelling than the actual book. I think because of the way the world is right now, reading Saul’s and Jane’s philosophy discussions and all the reclusive “genius” nonsense through Jane’s brainwashed perspective (particularly as Saul controls and manipulates her) is just… not a good fit. I loved Such Pretty Things, but as I keep trying more of Brown’s books, I’m not getting that same shine

What Kind of Paradise hooked me right away. The premise was compelling and mysterious, and Janelle Brown has a great way of building intrigue that kept me turning the pages—for a while. I really enjoyed the first half (maybe even more than that), and the story had so much potential. But around the 80% mark, I found myself losing interest. The momentum slowed, and the plot threads that once felt exciting started to unravel or stall. I wish it had maintained the energy and tension it started with because it could have been a real standout. Still, it was worth the read, just not as strong a finish as I hoped for.

This riveting coming of age story is about a young girl and her father living in the woods of Montana. On rare occasions they will go to Bozeman for books or other supplies but predominately Dad teaches his daughter survivalist skills and the teachings of great philosophers. This book gripped me from page 1 and didn’t let go. As with most young girls, she idolizes her father and when they hit their teens, they start to notice cracks in the armor. It’s best to know very little about this book and just let the author spirit you away to her world. You will be glad you did.

Janelle Brown is a new author for me. Now I need to check out her backlist.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Random House for this advanced readers copy!

I heard about What Kind of Paradise on a bookish podcast and delightedly I was able to get my hands on an ARC.

I really, really enjoyed this one and read it in just a few days. I have heard comparisons to These Silent Woods and I do agree (young girl raised in a remote cabin by her father). However, I didn’t really like These Silent Woods and I DID really like What Kind of Paradise. It’s well done and absorbing!

I think this book is releasing at a great time of year-it would make a great pool bag book or beach read.

I’d also hand this one to almost anyone-true crime readers, thriller fans, you name it. It’s really good and I enjoyed it!

Great plot

This was a very good book. Jane was raised in a small Montana cabin by her widowed father. He was very intelligent, but a bit psychotic. He was always concerned that the FBI or other law enforcement was after him. He also was dead set against computer technology and the changes it would bring to humankind. Jane was homeschooled and really had nobody but her father, who left Jane alone, sometimes for days at a time. When she was 17, she asked to go with him on one of his trips He allowed it, and that's when things blew up. Literally. Jane learned that her father had been lying about a whole lot of stuff.

The author says that Jane's dad was loosely based on the Unibomber.

I found this a quick, enjoyable read. I don't know where AI will lead us in 5 or 10 years, but I don't think people are necessarily crazy if they are concerned about it.

I've always been a massive fan of Janelle Brown, and think she is a super underrated author. Her books, Watch Me Disappear and Pretty Things, were two of my favorite books. When I had the opportunity to grab an ARC of her new book, I was all over it.

Jane is a teenage girl essentially living off the grid with her unhinged father. Her mother died in a car accident when she was a child, and all she knows is the knowledge her father has given her and the way of the outdoors. Once Jane learns that everything her father has told her is a lie, she begins to question everything she knows. After an incident with her father, Jane is on the run headed west to San Francisco, with the goal of learning where she came from and finding out who she really is.

The beginning of this book was fantastic, and really set the stage of Jane, her father and her isolated life in a cabin in Montana, and her story continues to weave this fantastic web until Jane lands in San Francisco. I was totally enamored with the story until the end, where I felt like it was super rushed and didn't tie up the loose ends as much as I would have wanted. I was hoping for a bit more, rather than the blur that was Jane turning her father in, testifying against him, and the new life she lives. I was hoping for a little more to it!

Whoa, add this one to your TBR- I couldn’t put this down! Jane and her dad live in the middle of the woods in Montana and rarely go to town… but there is so much more to their existence. Told from Jane’s POV years later, this was a propulsive-I-have-to-know-what-happier weekend read.

Especially with the rise of AI and the emergence of AI as we know it today (ChatGPT), this book really makes you think.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book hooked me with mystery and kept me along with trying to better understand why the main character’s dad thought he was doing the right thing. Very timely novel.

What is in a legacy? How much control do you have over your own fate? Can you truly separate yourself from the life your parents gave you? These are all questions What Kind of Paradise poses and lets you answer them yourself.

Having read Pretty Things by Janelle Brown and found it relatively enjoyable I figured I’d give her newest book a spin and I’m so glad I did. This was an upgrade to me in every way from her previous books which is exactly what you want when an authour puts out new books.

I really enjoyed the lovely blending of genres from philosophy, literary fiction, thriller, and even some spy, heavy coding, and cult-like aspects. The writing was beautiful and the prose kept me engaged and excited even when the “thriller” bits weren’t active. There was never a time I was losing my train of thought, wanted it to move any faster than it was, or was bored.

I don’t have as much to say as usual but that’s purely because this one is better enjoyed blind. If you are looking for a fun combination of Where the Crawdads Sing and any popular thriller right now, this will be right up your alley.

This book sucks you in from the get-go and you will have a hard time putting it down. These characters stay with you long after you finish the book as it is such a beautifully written story. Highly recommend!

This was a good book. It kinda reminds me of some other books I have read in the past where a certain family member or just a person in general is stuck in a cabin or house with no ways to really escape and can only rely on certain things they hear from what is truly going on in the world. They are either trapped, kidnapped, etc and of course they are trying to figure out a way to escape. This one is a bit different though with how the story plays out. The girl that is raised in this cabin has no idea that she was involved in a crime yet she has no clue about it. When she finally does escape she heads off to figure out what happened and who she truly is.