Review: The Last Good Paradise by Tatjana Soli

The Last Good Paradise

by Tatjana Soli

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Pages: 320

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  On a small, unnamed coral atoll in the South Pacific, a group of troubled dreamers must face the possibility that the hopes they’ve labored after so single-mindedly might not lead them to the happiness they feel they were promised. Ann and Richard, an aspiring, Los Angeles power couple, are already sensing the cracks in their version of the American dream when their life unexpectedly implodes, leading them to brashly run away from home to a Robinson Crusoe idyll. Dex Cooper, lead singer of the rock band, Prospero, is facing his own slide from greatness, experimenting with artistic asceticism while accompanied by his sexy, young, and increasingly entrepreneurial muse, Wende. Loren, the French owner of the resort sauvage, has made his own Gauguin-like retreat from the world years before, only to find that the modern world has become impossible to disconnect from. Titi, descendent of Tahitian royalty, worker, and eventual inheritor of the resort, must fashion a vision of the island’s future that includes its indigenous people, while her partner, Cooked, is torn between anarchy and lust. By turns funny and tragic, The Last Good Paradise explores our modern, complex and often, self-contradictory discontents, crafting an exhilirating story about our need to connect in an increasingly networked but isolating world.


Kritters Thoughts:  A couple who have fighting an uphill battle - opening a restaurant with an untrustworthy friend, in a job that makes her feel soulless, doing anything to conceive a child; and then something happens where there future is in jeopardy and they have to take their future in their own hands and escape to "paradise."

The best thing I can say is this one is interesting.  When they escape to "paradise" this book took a turn and it became just ok for me.  With some interesting characters on the island I enjoyed the interactions between them, but their quirks where quite quirky!  Sometimes the book got a little too outlandish for me, but when it came back to Ann and Richard I felt like it got back to an honest place.  I liked the concept of running from your troubles but not sure I loved the island completely.

I still want to read Tatjana Soli's two other books and am still intrigued by this author.


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.