Paradox, AJ Paquette. ISBN: 9780375869624
August 1, 2013
YA. Dystopian planetary exploration. Ana has amnesia, and she's on a different planet than Earth - that much is completely obvious, what with the rocketship, the two suns, the pink and peach sky, and the notes in her strangely limited mission briefing. WHY she is on another planet, and without her memories, that's the real question.
I really liked this. Of course it was pretty obvious where things were headed, and I would like to say that if this wasn't a direct homage to Invitation to the Game, it bloody well should be. I think that the two of them would go very well together as a reading assignment, actually.
Normally I'm all about very deep and indepth treatments of background and history and the world of the story, but with this set-up, I was very happy to have things just trundle along as mysteries, knowing that the pay-off would come at the end. I think that the setup very much contributed to Paquette's ability to craft a tight little short YA read, and I have to give props for that.
The only quibble I have is with the mechanism of the ending - there is a lot of damage to deal with, and the optimistic tone there seems to be just a little bit unwarranted. Perhaps I'm simply a cynic.
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