Return to Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Return to Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Second in the Leaving Paradise series

5 stars
Return to Paradise picks up eight months after Leaving Paradise. Vowing to keep a secret that could destroy everything if the truth got out, Caleb Becker left Paradise eight months ago and left the he loved, Maggie Armstrong. Now Caleb is in trouble and he has a choice to either participate in the Re-START program or go to prison. Maggie’s tried to forget about Caleb, but when they are forced to participate in RE-START together, the old feelings she tried so hard to forget about come back. Return to Paradise was as good as Leaving Paradise, but I also felt like I needed more and the epilogue could’ve brought more to the table. It’s hard to explain the empty, unsatisfied feeling I had after reading this novel. I think it had something to do with the fact that this was last I would see of Caleb and Maggie.


The main female character is again Maggie. I liked her as much as I liked her the last time.
Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 8.5
The main male character is again Caleb. I didn’t like him as much as I liked him in Leaving Paradise because he kept being a huge jerk to Maggie. The whole time I kept thinking stop being a jerk to her and just tell her you love her. Gosh sometimes the boys in YA can be so frustrating.
Swoon Worthy Scale: 6


The Villain- There was no real villain in this book, except Caleb‘s jerkiness/protectiveness and Maggie’s reluctance.
Villain Scale: NO REAL VILLAIN
Lenny was the best character in the novel hands down.
Character Scale: 8.5

I breezed through this book and I wish it would’ve been longer. Again another Simone Elkeles series comes to an end.
Cover Thoughts: I don’t really like this cover. I’m not impressed with artwork and it was a letdown to look at it.