Book Review: Paradox by AJ Paquette

Paradox

By AJ Paquette

Release Date: June 25, 2013

Source: Publisher

Summary: Fans of James Dashner's Maze Runner series will love this postapocalyptic adventure about a girl who must survive an alien planet in order to save the Earth.

Ana only knows her name because of the tag she finds pinned to her jumpsuit. Waking in the featureless compartment of a rocket ship, she opens the hatch to discover that she has landed on a barren alien world. Instructions in her pocket tell her to observe and to survive, no doubt with help from the wicked-looking knives she carries on her belt. But to what purpose?

Meeting up with three other teens--one boy seems strangely familiar--Ana treks across the inhospitable landscape, occasionally encountering odd twists of light that carry glimpses of people back on Earth. They're working on some sort of problem, and the situation is critical. What is the connection between Ana's mission on this planet and the crisis back on Earth, and how is she supposed to figure out the answer when she can't remember anything?

Review: Gosh this book was cool. So cool. I'm not a big fan of the cover, so I wasn't sure how the story was going to go. But when I read the inside flap, I decided to give it a try, and I'm so glad I did! 

When Ana wakes up in a strange space craft on a strange planet, the only thing she knows is her name. Where is she? How did she get there? Is she alone? All Ana knows is that her watch is counting down to something and she has to follow the map before time runs out. On her way, she meets others from her craft who seem to know more about Ana's "mission" than she does. Not to mention Ana has been running into strange wisps of someone else's memory back on earth, where life seems to be falling apart. What is Ana supposed to believe? And can she make it to base camp before her clock turns to zero?

Right off the bat, you're dropped of onto this new world that Ana has landed on, with just as much knowledge as she has, which is basically nothing. What the heck is going on? You have no clue! All you know that Ana is on a weird planet with her memory wiped. And then, when the three other teens enter the picture, they know something but can't share it. Why not? Being as in the dark as Ana was made the story so intriguing and has you dying to know why all of this is happening. 

Sci-fi books aren't really my thing, which is why I'm really surprised I liked this book so much. I think that the added mystery to what's happening on Earth, what Ana is going through, and what's waiting for Ana at the end of the countdown made this book as good as it was. I was so into the story that I had to finish it in one day because I wanted to know what was happening so badly. 

So even though the cover didn't really draw me in, the story hooked me from the start. There's mystery, giant worms, near death experiences, and a terrifying journey across an unknown planet. Once you start Paradox, you won't want to put it down.