4 stars

Jane, 17 and her father Saul live off the grid in an isolated cabin in rural Montana in the early 1990s. Jane doesn’t remember any other life, they’ve lived there since shortly after her mother died in a car accident when she was a small child.

Jane only knows one person her age and sees her only during her rare visits into town with her father; she is homeschooled and her dad and their plot of land is her whole world. Her dad is a genius, went to Harvard, writes loads of letters to the editor to various publications (they never print them) and makes his own zine with his political opinions, especially his dislike of advancing technology, to a tiny group of subscribers.

Jane doesn’t think to question much, until she starts pushing back a little, wanting more freedom until there’s a huge, tragic event that changes her life with her father forever. How will Jane handle a world where everything she knows is upended?

I read and enjoyed another book by this author, but, I swear, through about the first forty percent of this one I could swear I had read it before. I even checked to make sure it hadn’t been previously published under a different title. It hasn’t been. I’m left wondering if there’s another book out there that has a first section that is super similar or I’m nuts.

Anyway, the book is pretty good, even though it almost reads as if it were YA (it’s not, because it’s at least partially based on something I won’t spoil.) Readers will see some of the plot points coming, but it’s still enjoyable and well done.

What Kind of Paradise is a blend of mystery, thriller, and a history of the internet’s creation. It was fun revisiting a time from my childhood, like the ’90s, when the internet and technology were just starting to gain traction. Really makes you think about how access to information has evolved from then to now. Especially nowadays where we have ‘iPad babies’ and so much access to technology.. this book is an intriguing take on how it all came to be.

It dives into technology while also exploring themes of family, loss, coming of age, and self-discovery—all seamlessly woven together. And a ton of suspense and jaw-dropping moments along the way! The different plotlines of the story weave together perfectly, told from Jane's sometimes wise & sometimes naive point of view. Such an intense read! I was on the edge of my seat and stayed up way too late because I couldn't put it down. This book will be a top read for 2025.

A story of love, loyalty and fate. A father and daughter living in isolation with their relationship built on secrecy.
Stick with this one, its a slow start, but you will not forget Jane's story.

A Father's Love or Prison? What Kind of Paradise Asks the Hard Questions

Ever wonder what it'd be like to grow up with no Instagram, no friends, and no idea what's happening in the world? For seventeen-year-old Jane, that's not a thought experiment — it's her life.

Janelle Brown's new novel drops us into the Montana wilderness, where Jane and her father live in complete isolation. No phones, no internet, no visitors. Just trees, mountains, and a whole lot of questions Jane's starting to ask about why she's really there.

Brown doesn't just tell a story here — she pulls you into Jane's head until you feel the walls of that cabin closing in. You'll catch yourself holding your breath as Jane pieces together the truth about her sheltered life, questioning everything her father has told her. Is he protecting her, or controlling her? That's the million-dollar question that'll keep you up at night.

The real magic happens in the space between Jane's love for her father and her growing need to break free. Brown writes their relationship like a delicate dance — there are no villains here, just complicated people making complicated choices. And that Montana wilderness? It's not just pretty scenery. Those vast, dangerous landscapes mirror Jane's internal world perfectly: beautiful, wild, and more than a little scary.

Sure, the book takes its time getting going. The first few chapters move like honey in winter, but trust me — that slow build pays off. Once Jane starts pulling at the threads of her father's carefully constructed world, you won't be able to put it down.

This is Brown at her best, serving up a story that's both intimate family drama and larger commentary on how we define freedom in an age of constant connection. It's the kind of book that makes you look up from the last page and see your own world a little differently.

Bottom line: If you can handle a slow-burn start, What Kind of Paradise delivers a punch-to-the-gut story about love, control, and what happens when protection becomes a prison. It's not just good — it's important.

4.5/5 stars

A gut punch, but so poignant. The character development was done so well, and I thought the prose was fantastic. I can’t wait to recommend it to my audience.

I was intrigued when I read the description.

Unfortunately, it just was too drawn out for me to stay invested.

NetGalley/ Random House June 03, 2025

COULD. NOT. PUT. DOWN. This was immediately a book that had me racing back to it each night, a tense mystery that was so much more than just one category. Janelle Brown impresses me with each book she writes-weaving thoughtful themes into a compelling mystery, making something deeper and discussion-worthy, while also giving us fascinating characters and a gripping plot! Jane and her father live in a remote cabin in Montana-they rarely interact with others, and it's clear that her father is a paranoid, manic, technophobe with dangerous tendencies. It's the mid 1990s and he's publishing manifestos, homeschooling teenage Jane, and extremely vague about their earlier lives when he worked in Silicon Valley and was married to Jane's mom. Jane knows every inch of the woods near the cabin, has seen just a few television shows in her life, and has memorized philosophy, but she yearns to see the world and meet new people. When the internet enters their bubble, things go wildly out of control. Brown tackles themes of artificial intelligence, corporate greed, parenthood, and the 90s dot-com boom in San Francisco. I enjoyed every minute of reading this book--Janelle Brown cements her status as a must-read author for me!

Take the Marsh King’s Daughter and Where the Crawdads Sing, stick it in a blender with some anarchy and tech savvy and you have….this very slow paced, introspective novel.

There is absolutely an audience for this but right now? It’s not me. I wish this book the best!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

Wow wow wow what a book! I DEVOURED this book and now have a massive book hangover. I have read some of Brown’s previous books and really liked them but this one is the best yet!

TBH I thought this was a thriller but it really feels more like literary fiction to me. It focuses heavily on family dynamics and is also a unique coming of age story. It was so layered and I really felt for Jane as she tried to navigate the world after being extremely sheltered.

The story telling is SO good. I was completely immersed in the story that I read this book in 2 days. I loved the writing- it was so descriptive and rich. I am positive this will be one of my favorite books of the year. Make sure you grab this one when it comes out in June!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the arc

I loved this book. I read most of it in one sitting and can say it’s one of the best written books I have read in a very long time!

Publication date: 6/3/25

The premise of this novel was interesting to me, and I definitely wanted to see how it ended. I did find enough suspense to carry me to the end, but I found almost all of the characters pretty flat. None of them, minus maybe Lionel, felt like ideas of people rather than actual ones.

As someone who was a young adult in the 90's. it was fun to see all the references to the beginnings of the internet.

I think some of the decisions both father and daughter (and mother) made felt hard to believe, as well as just the pure luck Esme had upon arriving in San Francisco.

Overall, this was a pretty quick read that was just ok for me.



Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

WOW. I could not put this book down. From the moment I started reading, I was fully invested in Jane's story. This is a story about so many things. Childhood, the way our parents shape our perception of the world, what it's like to live within a fabricated reality, insanity, the balance between technology and what makes us human. I feel I don't possess the ability to articulate the profound impact this book had on me. Part of that could also be due to relating heavily with Jane as someone who grew up isolated from much of society, not to the extent of Jane, but I still felt connected to her in that way.

The pacing felt perfect, and I loved both story backdrops: the mountains of Montana and the tech landscape of 1990s SF. I could say so much more and probably will in my reviews on social media, but what I can leave you with is this...

READ. THIS. BOOK.

Thank you, Penguin Random House and NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Janelle Brown’s “What Kind of Paradise” is a lot like its premise — similar to the journey our MC Jane finds herself in, you’re led to believe one thing when in reality, the truth is much different. Unfortunately, Paradise overstays its welcome fairly quickly, crippled by the author’s reliance on telling and not showing. Worse: the book’s description gives away over a third of its plot. By the time you’re past that point (near the 37% point), you may be too burnt out to continue. If you do, you’re met with a story that is pretty interesting, if not just a repeat of the first third: a naive girl making mistake after mistake.

It’s a shame because there’s a good story somewhere in here but it’s dragged down with a plot that takes too long to get there, and when we’re “there” the book is over. The ending, which I won’t spoil, is also a miss. Could have assumed that much given how the story begins (at the end), but was expecting something more than what we got. It’s a bummer. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC.

An interesting plot that started out strong- a girl living off the grid in Montana with her anarchist father, who finds out her whole life has been a lie. I found myself skimming towards the end as she read her Dad’s ramblings, which is a good portion of Part II. Quick chapters and a realistic ending which I always appreciate. I always enjoy the author and am thankful for the ARC and opportunity to review early.

This story was captivating and totally absorbing. There was a great deal to think about. Jane is now 17 and has lived with her father in the Montana woods since she was about four years old. Her father says her mother died in a car accident and Jane only vaguely remembers her mother. Her father raises her in his own image. He is a tech genius but believes technology will be the end of humanity. Of course Jane believes in her father, she knows nothing else. They have no television, no computer, no cell phone and rarely go into town. Her father deals with getting all their provisions. But Jane wonders if her mother is really dead and longs for the truth.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Janelle Brown is an auto-read mystery author for me. After I picked up Pretty Girls at random one summer, I flew through her whole backlist in no time and eagerly await each new release. The latest, What Kind of Paradise, is a new favorite and possibly her best yet, in my opinion.

It's the 1990s, and Jane and her father Saul live in a super remote area of Montana. The nearest town is an hour drive away. Jane is homeschooled, desperately isolated, and subject to emergency drills in the middle of the night, just in case "the feds" come to take Saul away for his "thought crimes." But Jane is seventeen years old now and curious about the world of makeup, television, and most intriguingly of all, the advent of the Internet. Nothing is more threatening in Saul's eyes than the Internet.

I don't want to say any more because I really think this book is best read without much background. Dive in, and prepare to plow right through to the end! Despite being set in the 90's, this is an incredibly timely release as we all consider the ethics of AI, the effects of screen time on our children and ourselves, and the interconnectedness of our world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Whoa, this was a wonderful debut. It had me hooked from the first page and didn’t stop. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and the relationship between Jane and her father. It was interesting to read from the perspective of the beginnings or birth of the internet. I remember that time well, although I was young. This book somehow felt nostalgic for me, too though I didn’t grow up isolated in the woods with my father. Great read. Don’t miss it.

This book is a phenomenal thriller with such deep, thought provoking questions about our society. If there was ever a “page turner,” it is this book. I absolutely could not put this down.

Jane lives in a shack in the woods with her kooky dad. He has raised her far apart from society, a Luddite of the most exceptional proportions. Jane, at 17, knows no one except her father, and has near no contact without the outside world. Set in the late 90’s, they only leave their Montana home periodically to sell a zine called Libertaire. Jane’s father tells her that her mother died in a car accident, which she had never questioned until now.

Hungry for the outside world, she sneaks episodes of the X-files and get access to the internet via a modem. In these early days of the internet, social media is arbitrary and sparse- but Dad wants her to learn HTML so he can publish his “manifesto.”

This is where the tires start to fall off, and learning who she is and that her father is more than just a tin foil hat extremist. I don’t want to give away any more of the plot, but know that once we leave the shack this entire story goes full throttle.

I think what sets this book apart from other suspense/thrillers is the theme of the complicated relationship we have with technology. Although it hurts just a little to call a book taking place in 1995 “historical” fiction, the time period when the world was hurtling towards connectivity with little regard for the implications truly doesn’t take that long to feel like a long time ago. In some ways, Jane’s “kooky” conspiracy dad is actually right about what he was warning the world about. And that’s what is so deeply moving about the greater theme— we know more than the characters about what is to come. We know he’s not totally wrong, even though in many ways, he is the villain of this story.

Also, the epilogue was so unexpected and wonderful. It doesn’t end with a bang, but with an echo.

Pub date was pushed from June 10 to June 3, so I am sure this is going to be a book club pick of some kind.

***a best mystery/thriller of 2025***

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC. Book to be published 6/3/25

PS- that is THREE outstanding ARCs in a row for me after a dearth of mid picks. Reading so many good ones feels like an embarrassment of riches. I actually feel as though I am bragging to all my #bookstagram friends.

Absorbing and thought-provoking.

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

First I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. Before I begin my review see if you can get an ARC of this book. This book, once I started to read it I was up to 2:30 am because I had to finish it. It starts off with a teenage girl named Jane who lives in a cabin in a rural area. She is homeschooled by her father who is a fanatic about the modern technology that is happening. Jane, who is shut away from the world is told by her father that her mother was a school teacher who died. At the end of part 1 he takes Jane in his truck, gets her dressed up, looking like a slut and she is told to get the guard’s attention so he can get into the building in Seattle. Well things do not go as planned because the guard trues to rape her causing Jane to shoot him but he is not mortally wounded but then she hears an explosion that her father did. She realizes she is an accomplice to a crime. Eventually she goes back home breaks into his office and finds documents that show her that she has been lied to by her father. She finds her real name and her mother’s name etc. In part 2 Esme which is Jane’s real name embarks on a journey to San Franscisco to get answers. This is a journey that had many mishaps but she finds her answers. I do not want to give away any spoilers but this was the terrific book I am avid reader but this book is truly fantastic. I would give it ten stars if I could. I truly think that this is a must read book. Again I want to thank Net galley and the publisher for this ARC I received. When I found out it was available I read some reviews that had such high ratings, then I requested it. Again I know I am repeating myself but this is a must read book.