Review: Paradigm

I received this book for free from FTC: Exchange for honest opinion, Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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...

A thrilling and exciting read can always be expected when one embarks upon that of a dystopian novel. For Paradigm that means exactly this. It was so interesting that I could not wait to see what happened next. I was ready to go on an adventure that was going to take me through the perspectives of two characters from the future and past.

I am going to admit that I was going through a reading slump while reading this book but for me that allowed the book to be even more interesting. I was able to take in every detail a little bit at a time and I feel that I was able to notice more of the specific details. The chapters switched from the two perspectives of what I would consider the Pre and Post Paradigm. It was interesting to see how it had started, developed, and changed over the years.

We are in the perspectives of Alice and Carter. I liked them very much because although they were from different times, they were still similar in a way. I feel that Alice did have a very different idea of what the Paradigm would become and Carter was a person who wanted to bring that idea back to reality and change Paradigm for the better. The one thing that reminded me of other books that I have read was the destroying of the fine arts (books, art, music).

Carter is from a time period where he didn’t have parents and he comes back to find out that he has two kids. Alice is from a period where her mom was absent minded most of the time and finally leaving without a trace. These two characters I feel share that same sense of loneliness that has not made them incapable of moving on but working hard to strive for better things. I am curious to see in the next book if we are going to learn more about the past from Alice or will it just be focused on Carter and what his next steps are in recreating the Paradigm. Whatever happens, I am excited and ready.

I felt it a little strange that Carter’s mentor is only eighteen and thought how can an eighteen year old be mentoring someone but then I thought about how this this time period was different from ours, so anything could be possible.

I was not expecting the twist to happen the way it did. I was ready for a little twist but what my idea was, was totally different from the actual outcome. Very very interesting.

Overall this was an enjoyable read. I did get emotional at some parts but not to the extent where I was shedding tears. I am excited to see what happens next. Lowe is talented with the start of this series.

I give this book 4 bites!