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beastreader's review against another edition
4.0
Trina and her mother, Joyce left to make a new life in the jungles of Guyana. Trina's motehr followed the "Preacher". Now they are among others who also have followed in the way of the "preacher".
One day an incident happens to changes Trina and her mother's lives forever. Trina is attacked by the community's gorilla named Adam. She was originally thought dead until she was brought back to life. Things don't get better for Trina. In fact all the extra attention makes Trina nervous. Then there is her mother, Joyce. She turned the "Preacher"s advances down and her life is awful. Trina and Joyce will escape with the one person they never expected help from...Adam.
If you are looking for a change from the normal world of vampires, zombies, werewolves, and other paranormal creatures then you need to check this book out. There is nothing scarier then a cult. As far as I am aware I have not met a vampire or werewolf but I know cults exist and therefore they are filled with mystery, evil, deceit, and tons of people put their faith in one person. Kind of like what our government could become. A Nazi communist government where we will all follow one person and be told how to act and what to do. I don't know about you but the thought of this is really scary.
The "Preacher" is not a in your face type of guy but everything he does, he does with a purpose. He is a monster. For me the one that really was the star of this book is Adam. He felt real, almost like a person with a thinking brain then just a gorilla. The pacing for this book is not a lot of action like I normally enjoy but what it lacked there it did make up for in the characters and the story.
One day an incident happens to changes Trina and her mother's lives forever. Trina is attacked by the community's gorilla named Adam. She was originally thought dead until she was brought back to life. Things don't get better for Trina. In fact all the extra attention makes Trina nervous. Then there is her mother, Joyce. She turned the "Preacher"s advances down and her life is awful. Trina and Joyce will escape with the one person they never expected help from...Adam.
If you are looking for a change from the normal world of vampires, zombies, werewolves, and other paranormal creatures then you need to check this book out. There is nothing scarier then a cult. As far as I am aware I have not met a vampire or werewolf but I know cults exist and therefore they are filled with mystery, evil, deceit, and tons of people put their faith in one person. Kind of like what our government could become. A Nazi communist government where we will all follow one person and be told how to act and what to do. I don't know about you but the thought of this is really scary.
The "Preacher" is not a in your face type of guy but everything he does, he does with a purpose. He is a monster. For me the one that really was the star of this book is Adam. He felt real, almost like a person with a thinking brain then just a gorilla. The pacing for this book is not a lot of action like I normally enjoy but what it lacked there it did make up for in the characters and the story.
sausome's review against another edition
2.0
An uncomfortable trek through an uncomfortable tale full of seemingly irrelevant God-praising filler. That being said, I finished of an urgency known only to those of frequent visits to the tales of suspense -- really edge-of-the-seat suspense. But I don't say this in an eager or drawn-in sense. It was suspenseful out of a kind of urgent necessity ... You know something terrible is coming, you just don't know when, and the need to find out either trumps your squeamishness or resistance to a fresh round of desperate sobs, or you stop reading. It's as simple as that. There are God-fanatics without rational brains to guide them, a zealous, God-mad leader of "the people", children, guards with guns and sticks for keeping people inline and visitors out, and a somewhat helpless animal. You do the math.
I honestly had to redouble my efforts to convince myself I didn't care about anyone or anything in the book just to keep reading, and finished it within two days just to be done with it and be able to cast it aside. It was an unpleasant book filled with unpleasant things that didn't bear out to the story and history to be warranted, in my opinion. The writing was, however, very masterful, and I will look for more by the author with perhaps less brutality.
I honestly had to redouble my efforts to convince myself I didn't care about anyone or anything in the book just to keep reading, and finished it within two days just to be done with it and be able to cast it aside. It was an unpleasant book filled with unpleasant things that didn't bear out to the story and history to be warranted, in my opinion. The writing was, however, very masterful, and I will look for more by the author with perhaps less brutality.
amyjo25's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
louixa23's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
lazygal's review against another edition
4.0
These days, "drinking the Kool-Aid" is one of those toss-off lines - sadly, I remember watching the news when it became a horrific reality. In Children of Paradise, the author does a good job of imagining what it was like to be part of a communal group living in an unnamed South American jungle. Readers are slightly removed from the action despite the use of first person points-of-view because he never uses the word "I" but always refers to the p.o.v. by their name ("The preacher says..."). And one of those we follow? Adam, the compound's gorilla. Now that's bold!
It's clear that this supposed paradise is riddled with cracks and problems (not to mention small acts of disobedience). What's not so clear is why the people adore their preacher, why they stay when it could be easy to go - much less why they put up with some of his ideas. In part this is because we never really follow a true believer, and in part it's because we join the story closer to the end than to the beginning or middle. And that ending? While it's a little muddled, it did bring back the memory of those days 35 years ago, watching the news, hearing about the cyanide-laced Kool-Aid that nearly 1,000 people drank and died.
ARC provided by the publisher.
It's clear that this supposed paradise is riddled with cracks and problems (not to mention small acts of disobedience). What's not so clear is why the people adore their preacher, why they stay when it could be easy to go - much less why they put up with some of his ideas. In part this is because we never really follow a true believer, and in part it's because we join the story closer to the end than to the beginning or middle. And that ending? While it's a little muddled, it did bring back the memory of those days 35 years ago, watching the news, hearing about the cyanide-laced Kool-Aid that nearly 1,000 people drank and died.
ARC provided by the publisher.
clfirlik's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
alamerysl's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
conspicuouscarrot's review against another edition
4.0
An phenomenal re-imagining of the Jonestown tragedy.
scottshepard's review against another edition
4.0
Some stories are told best through a specific medium. For real life events what is the best medium? Is it a non-fiction timeline of events style book? Or a non-fiction “novel” like In Cold Blood? Movie? Podcast? What about a historical fiction novel?
Children of Paradise is none of these, not really. It’s historical fiction in the strictest sense; a novelized account of the events at Jonestown. But it’s somehow more than that. It’s not quite an exact retelling. It’s a fantastical account told in large part from the perspective of a gorilla named Adam kept in captivity on sight. (The real Jonestown had a chimpanzee not a gorilla.) The author captures so many essential elements to the story by fictionalizing it, so many aspects more important that what actually happened. He captures the sense of awe the residents had for the preacher, the methods of control used, the daily struggle to survive, the blatant corruption and the deep deep tragic sadness and loss that this evil man inflicted on so many.
In this fantasy retelling the massacre doesn’t go quite as planned and we get a somewhat happy ending. But the author doesn’t let you revel in that relief and shows us that he knows what he is doing. I found I gained a lot of understanding for Jonestown and cults reading this. The desire to believe in something other than yourself can be so strong in humans that they are willing to give up everything just to capture that feeling.
Children of Paradise is none of these, not really. It’s historical fiction in the strictest sense; a novelized account of the events at Jonestown. But it’s somehow more than that. It’s not quite an exact retelling. It’s a fantastical account told in large part from the perspective of a gorilla named Adam kept in captivity on sight. (The real Jonestown had a chimpanzee not a gorilla.) The author captures so many essential elements to the story by fictionalizing it, so many aspects more important that what actually happened. He captures the sense of awe the residents had for the preacher, the methods of control used, the daily struggle to survive, the blatant corruption and the deep deep tragic sadness and loss that this evil man inflicted on so many.
In this fantasy retelling the massacre doesn’t go quite as planned and we get a somewhat happy ending. But the author doesn’t let you revel in that relief and shows us that he knows what he is doing. I found I gained a lot of understanding for Jonestown and cults reading this. The desire to believe in something other than yourself can be so strong in humans that they are willing to give up everything just to capture that feeling.