Oh wow, this is the third book I've read by Janelle Brown and she really loves to change it up every time.

This is a book I wasn't expecting: at 17, Jane hasn't really known any other life than the isolated life with her dad. Her dad has his own ideas for how the world should be and how his daughter should be raised, and so Jane learns only what he wants her to, ensures that she has plenty of chores, and doesn't really allow Jane to live the life of a teenager in the 90s.

Jane starts to suspect that her dad may not be telling her the whole truth, and so she decides to make a huge change that will impact her very small world.

I absolutely LOVED this premise. As a kid that grew up in the 90s, I was pretty surprised to find out how much Jane's dad was able to hide from her, and as the book wore on, his theories just started to get completely out there.

I don't want to say too much about this book without spoiling the latter half, but what I can say is that I breezed through this book and absolutely LOVED it. It's a great end of summer read.

This was not like the other thrillers I have read from this author. This was more historical fiction. I liked it.

"What Kind of Paradise" is the story of a girl who grew up in isolation with her father in rural Montana and what happens when she starts to question everything. It’s hard to describe this book without any spoilers, but it takes place during the 90’s tech boom and the commentary on technology was fascinating, especially compared to where we are now. Reading it felt both nostalgic and thought provoking. I also appreciated the quick pace of the plot combined with the well fleshed out characters; it is rare to find a book that is both a "page turner" and has characters that you understand and care about. Overall, "What Kind of Paradise" was a memorable and entertaining read that I will be sure to recommend.

This was a real pageturner! I was locked in from the very beginning. It’s not 100% thriller, but even the parts one might consider lulls in action kept my attention wholly riveted. Jane felt like such a well fleshed-out, vibrant character, and the growth she showed over the course of the novel was remarkable. Between Jane’s upbringing by a survivalist/extremist (not that she knows that’s what he is) in the woods of Montana and the book’s focus on the early days of the internet boom, this story feels very much rooted in the 1990s. It’s very interesting to look back on the early 90s from a 2020s perspective and see how even though it feels like not long ago (to some of us) it was ages ago in terms of technology. The only thing that I felt lacked authenticity was the focus on AI that some of the characters have – I don’t remember that being a concern in the AOL dial-up days, so that felt a bit like it was added in to create relevance to today. But then again, in the 90s I was a kid and not exactly plugged in to the cutting edge of tech, so who knows.

This was my first Janelle Brown novel, but definitely not my last. Four and a half stars, rounded up.

CW: Child abuse, isolation, gaslighting, murder, attempted rape, kidnapping

I LOVED this book! I tore through it in two days. I loved that it was a coming of age story but still felt adult. It's interesting because there's always some disillusionment that comes with growing up, and is often tied to separating with parents, and obviously Jane's separation and disillusionment was much more dramatic. I actually didn't even put the "who's who" together until the author's note at the end.

100% recommend, this book kept me down until I finished it. I needed to know the truth, and what the heck was going to happen. If you’re looking for a book that explores lies and the truth… this is the book for you!!! I absolutely couldn’t stop until I was finish. A definite 5 star read

Janelle Brown is becoming a favorite author of mine. I will say I think this cover and the description mismarkets this book in a way and if people are judging a book by its cover, this one doesn’t really match the book.

Besides that, I enjoyed this story and can’t wait to see what comes next from Brown!

A teen girls living in an isolated cabin with her father begins to question what her father has been telling her about her past and what he is going in the present ... and what she finds out is much worse than she ever suspected. A page-turner for sure!

This was a fun and quick read. I loved the beginning of the story, about Jane and her father and how reminiscent of the book Education by Tara Westover. Dad is Mr. Conspiracy theorist and seems to be content to lock the two of them away in the middle of Montana. Then Jane is made to be involved in a crime perpetuated by her father and takes her opportunity to flee. As she finds her own intelligence and gifts, she also finds out more about her own past and gets answers to her lifelong questions.
This book has great twists and is intriguing throughout. I definitely recommend!

#WhatKindofParadise #NetGalley #RandomHousePublishingGroup

Thank you so much for this ARC! I love Janelle Brown, especially Pretty Things, and was excited to get access to her new title.

It was not until I finished listening to the audio did I realize the book was classified as General Fiction. The entire book has an impending sense of dread while reading. I loved the nostalgia of this one, going back to the 90's. The dual settings were so polar opposite - Montana isolation and booming, modern San Fran.

I loved Jane. So innocent, yet complicated and intellectual. It is still hard to tell if her dad was the good guy or the bad guy? I LOVED how much he loved his daughter and the extremes he went to to keep her safe the best way he could.

The tech aspect of this story was very intriguing and really makes you stop and take a look at today's tech climate. Was Saul right?

GREAT read.

This book is hard to categorize because it is part family drama, part mystery, part emotional, part coming-of-age, which makes it one of my favorite summer reads. The setting is Montana, which is a character in its own right. The character development is three-dimensional, and I was rooting for the main character the whole time. This book is perfect for someone wanting an elevated literary thriller that is a page turner with an emotional impact.

Thank you to Random House for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.

What Kind of Paradise blends mystery, family drama, and coming-of-age in a way that’s both unique and thought-provoking. Jane has grown up isolated in Montana, knowing little about her past, until a shocking truth about her father sends her searching for answers in San Francisco.

Janelle Brown’s writing is gripping without being overdone, peeling back family secrets layer by layer. It’s a slow burn, but the mix of suspense, emotional depth, and ‘90s nostalgia kept me hooked until the end.

This was my first by this author and it was a hit!

Jane is raised in the woods of Montana by her father who wants to raise her off the grid. She has been there for 14 years and has not seen much beyond their cabin, but she begins to feel that she is missing out on key experiences. Jane becomes curious about her father and why he has chosen to isolate the two of them so fiercely. This results in her learning about her upbringing and who her father may or not be.

This was quite a compelling read. I found myself wanting to pick up the book any chance I got, as I was so invested in Jane's story. The short chapters made it exceptionally easy to read just one more each time I picked it up!

I enjoyed this setting, as it reminded me of These Silent Woods.. but this is very different beyond that. It's a coming of age story at its heart, with mysterious elements propelling it forward as Jane sets out to learn about her father and their circumstances. It's a slow burn mystery - I would not call it a thriller because there aren't any crazy twists, just reveals that we get along with Jane.

I also loved the nostalgic time of the 90s with the early internet days and the fears that came with all of the advancements in technology. I can't wait to talk about this at bookclub!

What I didn't like: the last 15% seemed way too rushed and a tad far fetched.

Thank you Random House and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Janelle Brown’s What Kind of Paradise delivers an engrossing, slow-burning coming-of-age thriller set against the dawn of the internet age. The story opens in the isolated woods of 1990s Montana, where teenager Jane lives off-the-grid with her enigmatic father, surrounded by woods and 19th-century homesteaders philosophy.

As the book unfolds, Jane's sheltered world begins to crack. A mysterious introduction to technology—a laptop, modem, and coding book—is a catalyst for transformation. The internet entices her with its possibilities, yet also reveals deep moral and familial fractures. As Jane becomes more aware and questions her own reality, she unwittingly is complicit in a crime perpetuated by her father, so she flees to San Francisco in search of truth. What Kind of Paradise is a beautifully rendered novel about identity, isolation, and the murky interplay between nature and technology.

This gave me all the 90s nostalgia vibes. Jane grows up with her father off the grid in Montana, believing her whole life that her mother passed away. As she enters her teen years she starts to push the boundaries of the small life her father has created. Jane begs her father to let her come with him on one of his mysterious trips away from the cabin. Unbeknownst to her, her father makes her an accomplice to a crime. Believing that the cops are on to her, she flees to California in search of answers. Everything she's been told her whole life is a lie. This story centers around the birth of the technology era and the rise of the internet. Mixing in elements of the unibomber. It was very well done.

Great read, and a wild ride through a teenage girls' life. Really enjoyed it. .

This is an edge of your seat while also being a slow burn mystery/thriller. Jane has been living in isolation with her genius/eccentric and increasingly paranoid and angry father. She has always idolized him, but as she grows into a teenager she starts to question her reality. Why have they lived just the two of them in a lonely cabin in Montana? Why does her dad lock his study when he leaves, and where does he go? As she is pulled further into her father’s dangerous mind and orbit, Jane becomes an accomplice to a crime she didn’t expect. So she flees to the only indicator she has of her past: San Francisco.

The nostalgia was here for me as half of the book is set in San Francisco, which was fun. The descriptions of life in desolate Montana, though, were stunning. Ultimately, it was hard to understand Jane but it was also easy to have sympathy for her. A solid mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital ARC of this title!

This story is reminiscent of These Silent Woods. A father and daughter live off the grid in the early mid 90s, when the Internet was just blossoming. The story has mystery, nostalgia, even a bit of romance. A very good page turner!

My favorite book so far this summer! I loved how the novel follows Jane’s journey from a bizarre Montana upbringing to the tech booming ‘90s San Francisco, mirroring her emotional awakening with the rise of the internet. The psychological suspense is gripping, threaded with deep explorations of family loyalty, isolation, and the murky cost of technological progress. Jane’s voice feels achingly real—determined yet vulnerable—and her fight for truth and identity is both haunting and unforgettable.

I really enjoyed the setting of this book - (time: the 1990s/place: remote Montana and Silicon Valley). It's not only a coming of age story of our main character, Jane/Esme, it's also a coming of age story of the .com and internet era.

Jane has been living off grid in a remote Montana cabin with her father for the last 14 years, believing that her mother died when Jane was four years old. On the brink of adulthood, Jane begins to question many things as she finds incriminating evidence upon sneaking into her father's office when he sometimes leaves for days on mysterious trips.

What she finds in his office only unlocks her drive to find out more and more. Unknowingly to Jane, she actually aids her father in committing one of his big first crimes. All he wants to do is protect Jane, and actually society in general, against the thrust of technology and the internet boom emerging in the 90s. Jane fears for her existence and feels she must get to the location of her found evidence - Silicon Valley.

The story turns out to be a wild ride of daughter vs father and father vs. society as Jane's Dad looks at himself as some kind of savior sent to rescue mankind from the technology blitz. Be sure and read the author's note and acknowledgement at the end as she mentions that the character of the Dad is based loosely on the Unabomber. I felt this information made the story even more interesting.

What Kind of Paradise dropped June 3rd. If you like coming of age stories mixed with historical fiction with some added mystery, grab this one. Thank you, NetGalley and Random House, for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.