Paradise 21 by Aubrie Dionne

Paradise 21 (New Dawn, #1)

By Aubrie Dionne

Publisher: Entangled, 2011

228 pages, eARC (PDF file)

Date Finished: 26/8/2011

Genres: Adult, Action, Adventure, Romance, Fantasy, Futuristic

Aries has lived her entire life aboard mankind's last hope, the New Dawn, a spaceship traveling toward a planet where humanity can begin anew-a planet that won't be reached in Aries' lifetime. As one of the last genetically desirable women in the universe, she must marry her designated genetic match and produce the next generation for this centuries-long voyage.
But Aries has other plans.

When her desperate escape from the New Dawn strands her on a desert planet, Aries discovers the rumors about pirates-humans who escaped Earth before its demise-are true. Handsome, genetically imperfect Striker possesses the freedom Aries envies, and the two connect on a level she never thought possible. But pursued by her match from above and hunted by the planet's native inhabitants, Aries quickly learns her freedom will come at a hefty price.

The life of the man she loves.
~from goodreads.com~

~First Line: "Aries sped through space in her escape pod as if she fled the event horizon of a dying star."
~Last Line: "She had never felt more loved or more free."

Review: This book was first introduced to me when I was asked to participate in a tour for it. I must say that even though this review is very late, it wasn't a waste of time!

The main character, Aries, is part of the ship colony New Daqwn. They've been traveling since Earth was destroyed by radiation, among other things. Their mission is to get  to Paradise 21, a planet that would be able to sustain life for quite a while. Back to Aries: she hates the way the people o the New Dawn decide her whole life for her, so she escapes and runs away.

She meets Striker, an exile, on a desert-like planet. Together, they find the missing piece to an alien ship that can take them to a different planet, and, of course, they fall in love along the way.

The plot for this book was really good, but it was kind of familiar: the female lives in a utopian future and doesn't like her future being chosen for her. It was kind of sad that I could guess that part of the plot, but it was overrided by the fact that it wasn't really close to anything else that I'd read. I love how there's supposed to be this ultimate planet that they have to get to. There was just so much other stuff in the book that I loved that I'm not even about to try to start a whole list :)

The characters were pretty cool. I liked Striker the best. He was trying to take care of Aries from the beginning, even before he could see her. His going back to save her (twice at that) was really an act of caring and nice-ness (and later love). But you get the point, right? :D

LOL. Loved this book! End of story. Just go buy it already:)

Plot Rating: 5
Character Rating: 5
Cover Rating: 4
GoodReads Rating: 5

Overall rating:
and three-fourths :)