[Books] Leaving Paradise #1 - Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Goodreads

August 25 - September 1, 2013

Synopsis

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 pitying 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 tortuous journey for Caleb and Maggie, yet they end up finding comfort and strength from a surprising source: each other.

Review

Drunk driving, teenage angst and drama, but as always, with a tiny pinch of humor on the side. 

Simone Elkeles is one of my favorite authors after I read the Perfect Chemistry series. I had some high hopes for this one. 

Maggie's leg was damaged in the car accident that was caused by Caleb. Which made her incapable of walking normally. She lacks so much confidence in herself that makes me want to slap her in the face and make her realize that she's good enough just the way she is despite her minor disabilities.

While Caleb, I honestly think Caleb is (excuse my language) majorly fucked up. He can be such a sweet boy with a good heart, but he's persistent and has major anger issues that needs to be resolved. As for his messed up family, they all need to have a family meeting for a couple of hours and talk it all out. 

Throughout the entire book, I only smiled about once or twice. Humor in books is one of the things that I look forward to when I start reading. Maggie was too depressing and Caleb was too confusing. The only character that I loved in this novel was Mrs Reynolds. She was such a sweet old lady who speaks her mind. It was Mrs Reynolds who made me giggle and also made me shed a tear or two. 

All in all. The book was alright. A little bit too angsty and depressing for my taste. 

I recommend this to those who enjoy reading Young Adult Teenage angst with a splash of family drama.