Author: Ceri A. Lowe
Release Date: 13th June 2014
Publisher: Bookouture
Find on: Goodreads
Quick Review: What if the end of the world was just the beginning?
Alice Davenport awakens from a fever to find her mother gone and the city she lives in ravaged by storms – with few survivors.
When Alice is finally rescued, she is taken to a huge underground bunker owned by the mysterious Paradigm Industries. As the storms worsen, the hatches close.
87 years later, amidst the ruins of London, the survivors of the Storms have reinvented society. The Model maintains a perfect balance – with inhabitants routinely frozen until they are needed by the Industry.
Fifteen-year-old Carter Warren knows his time has come. Awoken from the catacombs as a contender for the role of Controller General, it is his destiny to succeed – where his parents failed.
But Carter soon discovers that the world has changed, in ways that make him begin to question everything that he believes in. As Carter is forced to fight for those he loves and even for his life, it seems that the key to the future lies in the secrets of the past...
Detailed Review: *I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
How do I even start? This book was just soooo good!
Of course, I need to elaborate because many books I've read lately have been really good right?
Let us start with the concept. Think Divergent but without any factions. That's what this book is all about. It's also about a post-apocalyptic world, but the author decided to twist it slightly. She focused on two important times: when the apocalypse happened, and 87 years after the apocalypse.
I always thought the author's point had been to contrast between both times, but as I reached the ending, I realised it was way more than that, resulting in one huge twist, and yes, one huge cliffhanger.
Because Alice and Carter are connected in the most twisted and unimaginable way ever.
Because if Alice wasn't there during the Apocalypse happened, Carter wouldn't even exist.
That's enough said.
Then, there had to be the characters. We all know that characters are important in a book, and it wouldn't do to just have an awesome story with bad characters.
So, were they good?
Absolutely. They each stood out from each other, with something marking each one of them from the rest.
Main characters like Alice and Carter, were definitely heroes in their times. Alice was the first Scout to go out in the post-apocalyptic world. And Carter was the first to ever think out of the box and rescue his Community.
And with each hero, there has to be a villain.
The problem is, they don't appear at the very end. Another twist for you.
Those of you also looking out for romance, there is a little bit of it in both Alice and Carter's times, but they're not the heavy type.
But again, let's not focus on the romance. Let's just look at the story and characters.
What I found lacking was a just a little bit of originality. All I could think of was how similar Paradigm was with Divergent. Even the cover got me thinking, Divergent. I could almost feel that the very first ideas for this story stemmed from this famous post-apocalyptic book.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
However, despite that flaw, I urge you to read it, especially fans of Divergent, because I still liked it in the end.
Brief Review: I was definitely not disappointed in terms of the story and characters and twists. I just wished that a bit more original ideas went into it, although some ideas did seem fresh enough. Overall, I would say that Paradigm is a great debut for fans of dystopian and post-apocalyptic novels!
Final Rating: 4.5/5 'Really Liked It!'
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