Book Review - Paradise by Julie Cohen - #HolidayReading Dom Rep

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Title: Paradise

Author: Julie Cohen

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Orion

Publication Date: 20th November 2025

Rating: 4 Stars

Katie never stops moving - constantly changing her address, her boyfriends, her life. But every June, for a month, she goes back to Maine. To the old lake house her family calls Paradise.

But one day Katie wakes up in a hospital bed in Maine, with no memory of the last eighteen months. From her current boyfriend to the global pandemic, Katie is lost. And everything at Paradise has changed, too... including her best friend in the world, Nic.

Nic puts down deep roots. She still lives in the house where she grew up. She's the memory keeper of her family. And she's been in love with her best friend Katie for almost her entire life. Now Katie's claiming not to remember the night that destroyed their friendship forever. Is her amnesia real? Or does she just want to forget?

And how can either of them move on, if only one of them remembers the truth?

A beautifully written book. 

Katie is in an accident and as a result loses the last 18 months of her life. She doesn't recognise her boyfriend, she can't recall a falling out with her best friend, or her father's health issues.  She also can't recall a pandemic. 

Admittedly many of us probably wish we could forget Covid, and I'm not sure how was the story progressed, i really enjoyed the reminders of lockdown and how bad the world was in 2020. 

But other than that it was a very absorbing story,  where I was fascinated by what Katie was experiencing. 

I was also interested din the chapters from Nic's point of view, and just what her story entailed. 

There are all manner of big scary issues dealt with in this book sensitively and i believe realistically, and with compassion. 

This is a brilliant piece of writing, that totally transported me to summertime in Maine and although not the sort of ending I would perhaps prefer, it did leave me feeling hopeful. 

Thank you to Orion and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.