Paradox Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the Paradox blog tour! Today I'll be reviewing the book - and don't forget to enter the tour wide giveaway at the bottom of the post! To see the full tour schedule, please go HERE.


Paradox
Author: A.J. Paquette
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Release Date: June 25, 2013
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

Buy Links: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

Description:

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?  

Paradox is a young adult science fiction novel that follows main character Ana as she finds herself along on a rocket ship without any knowledge of how she got there, who she is, or any other memories. Ana soon realizes that she has been sent to the planet Paradox on a mission to explore the planet and to help save Earth's existence. Ana finds herself with three other teens who have been sent on the same mission, and together they must go on a journey that carries the weight of the world - literally  - on their shoulders. Will they be able to gather what they need to help save Earth or will their mission be cut short?

This was an exciting and adventurous YA science fiction novel that stays very true to the genre, which I think is rare these days. The setting of the novel along with the backstory of the situation and of the characters was really fascinating and I loved learning as much as I could about Paradox, Ana and the other teens, and the situation on Earth. Ana was a great main character for the book - she's strong, focused, smart, and determined to complete her mission and do what she was sent to do. There are interesting moments with her character as she has interactions with the others and with the varying problems they face on Paradox. The plot was intriguing and I loved how the author stayed genuine with the science fiction genre without diluting it with fantasy or romance. There are elements of other genres present, like action, adventure, dystopia, and a bit of romance - but there's no mistaking what the main focus of the book is, which I found refreshing. The writing was very well done with great world building, a fast pace, and effortless flow that had me eagerly turning pages to see what was going to happen next. Definitely recommended for fans of science fiction and for those looking for a great new YA read.

A.J. Paquette has been writing stories since early childhood. She and her sister would spend hours creating masterpieces of stapled paper and handwritten words, complete with pen-and-ink covers and boxed illustrations. 

The road to publication was long and winding, peppered with many small successes including: a variety of national magazine publications, being a 2005 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award honoree, and receiving the 2008 SCBWI’s Susan Landers Glass Scholarship Award, for the book that would later become Nowhere Girl. Her first picture book, The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies, was published in 2009. 

She now lives with her husband and two daughters in the Boston area, where she continues to write books for children and young adults. She is also an agent with the Erin Murphy Literary Agency. 

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