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The Last Good Paradise

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From the bestselling author of The Lotus Eaters and The Forgetting Tree comes a novel set on an island resort, where guests attempting to flee their troubles realize they can’t escape who they are.

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 exhilarating story about our need to connect in an increasingly networked but isolating world.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published February 10, 2015

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About the author

Tatjana Soli

6 books318 followers
Tatjana Soli is an American novelist and short-story writer. Her first novel, The Lotus Eaters (2010), won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Book Prize, was a New York Times Bestseller, and a New York Times 2010 Notable Book. Her second novel, The Forgetting Tree (2012) was a New York Times Notable Book. Soli's third novel, The Last Good Paradise, was among The Millions "Most Anticipated" Books of 2015. Her fourth novel was published by Sarah Crichton Books in June 2018 and has been chosen as a New York Times Editors' Choice. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications including The New York Times Book Review.

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5 stars
37 (6%)
4 stars
114 (20%)
3 stars
228 (41%)
2 stars
126 (23%)
1 star
39 (7%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
Profile Image for Elyse Walters.
4,010 reviews11.2k followers
February 5, 2015
Escaping Civilization , "living-off-the-grid", is often maddening, exhausting, and complicated.

The castaways in "The Last Good Paradise", endure competing desires, revenge, and love.

You'll take a journey, --from L.A. to a Polynesian remote resort -small island in the South Pacific--
Cut off from Cell phones -electrical devices and social media.
Innumerable Challenges!
Quirky rhythms!
Seductive & funny
Several Twists & turns
Epic storytelling--emotional intensity!
Heroes and villains--
Nuclear testing -----radioactive poisons imprisoned in the rock....(leakage)
Plutonium fallout --
Gourmet meals-
Luxurious bungalows--
Drinking-dancing- drumming-eating-music -["Rock & Roll Will Save Your Life"]..
History of the island's cannibalism --
Tourists love to be fussed over--
Abduction
French Government, mired in paranoia with a increasingly hostile electorate
Paparazzi
Generations of mistreatment
Polynesian wedding party ....

This is Tatjana's 3rd novel. Tatjana writes with literary elegance. Each of her books lovely -all different.
This new novel explores the complexities of relationships ---mysteries of the unexpected --and even the morality of entitlement.



Profile Image for Jeanette (Ms. Feisty).
2,179 reviews2,049 followers
January 15, 2015
Having loved Tatjana Soli's first novel, The Lotus Eaters, I have gone into her second and third novels with high expectations. Both times I have been disappointed.

I was quickly bored at the beginning of this novel when Richard and Ann are introduced and their financial disaster is described. I hung on and became a little more interested when they arrived on the island and the group dynamic among all the characters began to develop. I thought Soli had some interesting things to say about how attached we are to our electronic devices and social media, and how bereft one might feel when suddenly cut off from these connections.

Eventually I grew weary of all the anguish over who is, or might be, or wants to be, sleeping with whom, and who might have seen whom naked. Soli is quite skillful at creating detailed back stories for her characters. In this novel, these back stories didn't seem to do enough to further the front story and maintain my interest.

As I reflect on the author's ability to get inside the minds and motivations of her characters, I can't help wondering if she is more philosopher than novelist. The portions of the book that border on philosophy were far more interesting to me than was the plot.
Profile Image for Amanda.
123 reviews3 followers
December 29, 2015
I received a Goodreads Giveaway advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

It ended as I hoped it would, though the twists and turns kept me wondering.

I loved this book. Maybe because I dream of leaving everything here behind and buying a one-way ticket to a semi-deserted island, maybe because it encompassed happiness, sadness, dreams, failure, success and loss. Written from many characters' point of view, the majority of the book centers on a professional woman in her late-30s, not happy with the rat race her life has become. Those things that are supposed to make us happy - a prestigious job, money, a calendar bursting at the seams - really don't. It's the life so many of us long to get rid of but can't because we are in too deep.

About 1/3 of the way in, I wondered what would keep me interested in the book with so much more to go and seemingly everything already having been written. But then life happens, turns appear, and interesting sub-plots emerge. Characters begin to let go of their disguises and show their real selves. The ditzy blonde may have some brains in there, the resort owner strays to himself for a reason, and what is Cooked's real agenda? Lots of lives being lived on a tiny atoll in the Pacific.

My first encounter with this author, but not my last. I like that the reading level wasn't dumbed down. This book isn't going to be for everyone... Not everyone will appreciate her style. But after painfully reading authors who feel they have to write to the masses with simple words and light topics, this novel was a nice reprieve.
Profile Image for Bonnie Ferrante.
Author 46 books136 followers
March 16, 2017

This book features a varied cast of characters on a remote, expensive tropical resort for different reasons. Ann and her husband Richard are fleeing possible bankruptcy. Richard and his friend/partner in opening a new restaurant have put themselves in debt to the wrong kind of people. Ann is burned out by her success as a cutthroat lawyer. The relationship has become strained due to the financial and emotional cost of trying to get pregnant.

There is also a rock star and his muse, a Casanova resort owner, and his staff. All are changed from mild to major ways by their experiences together. Most gain better insight into themselves and the people they love.

Although the characters and plot line were interesting, it was difficult to get close to anyone. The point of view head hopped from one paragraph to another, always keeping a distant, omnipotent voice. The storyline took some unexpected twists and I was unable to predict the outcome.

There were interesting insights into the human psyche. Periodically, Soli wrote a truth that brought the reader to a pause. "He didn't know her well enough to say that in his experience what people left behind ended up being much less important than they thought. It was a kind of ego, imagining one's life irreplaceable and unique."

Unfortunately, it was not the kind of book that sticks in the reader's mind or even compels them to recommend it to friends. A generally enjoyable read.
Profile Image for Karen Ashmore.
525 reviews12 followers
March 24, 2015
I was a big fan of Soli's first book The Lotus Eaters but it took me awhile to get into this book since it seemed to be mostly about a group of self-centered materialistic couples from LA who are frittering away on a private island in Tahiti. The action soon picked up but everything, including the humanitarian cause, was framed in its PR spin value. I did not like the four main characters and the characters of the one Tahitian couple who were slightly appealing were not fully developed. Meh.
98 reviews2 followers
August 31, 2016
Soli's "The Lotus Eaters" is one of my all-time favorite books. So, "The Last Good Paradise" had big shoes to fill. It did not come anywhere close to the depth, character, and strength of story of "The Lotus Eaters". On its own, "Paradise" was mildly interesting.
44 reviews
January 26, 2015
I received an advance reader copy through the Goodreads First Reads program.

Ann, a junior LA attorney, and her husband, Richard, a chef, have to abruptly leave town after Richard's high-flying, profligate restaurant partner finds himself in financial trouble and the couple's assets are frozen. The couple flees to a Polynesian atoll to escape their situation, but they cannot escape from themselves.

There they encounter a has-been rock star and his nymph-like muse girlfriend who are also guests. This primitive resort, where guests pay an exorbitant amount of money to live in primitive conditions, is run by a dying man who lives in pain and regret, whose job it is to make guests happy. Titi and Cooked, an almost terrorist, help the drunken owner, Loren, run the island.

The story is well-written and I chuckled throughout the book, but this story falls short in terms of depth. It makes a nod toward the themes of colonialism, Robinson Crusoe, consumerism, and modern society, but fails to achieve much impact. It also makes to nod to Shakespeare's The Tempest. The characters evolve and there are revelations about themselves, but the revelations seem to miss the mark. The Last Good Paradise is an entertaining, escapist story.
Profile Image for Chaitra.
3,748 reviews
March 20, 2015
I haven't read Tatjana Soli's much heralded debut book. I have read the second one, The Forgetting Tree, and found it offensive. Based on that, I suppose I shouldn't have picked this one up. But I loved the cover and I'm nothing if not optimistic. This wasn't offensive. I'll give it that. But it was boring.

It started well enough. A couple in deep shit run away to an atoll on Tahiti and get embroiled in matters local and global. A number of others with troubles of their own join in and before long it's a media circus. The second half of the book is one outlandish thing after another, and yet, once it happens, it all feels so predictable.

The weird part about this mess was that I didn't hate a single character. I just didn't care what happened to them. Mercifully it was short. I'll probably read another Soli book before giving up on her for good, but the signs are not good that her style of writing is for me.
Profile Image for Angie Reisetter.
506 reviews6 followers
January 4, 2015
Got this from firstreads.

The back-of-the-book summary says that this is a dark comedy, but since I found it neither dark nor funny, I have to start with that quintessential Gracie Allen line: I don't get it.

So I'm not sure what this book is, other than a romance with a little more depth that is generally present in that genre. All the characters have back stories. I didn't really get attached to any of them, but they also weren't offensive, and they each had something a little interesting about them. The writing style wasn't anything amazing, but it was straightforward and readable. It didn't get in the way. The book's somewhat likely to offend lawyers, but other than that, it's just a nice little read. I can't say that there's a lot to it, but if you're looking for something light and tropical, it's an option.
Profile Image for Katlyn.
1,348 reviews43 followers
May 29, 2017
This book just randomly appeared in my mailbox one day. It was a couple of months AFTER I had stopped entering giveaways and I never received any notification that I had won, nor is it the kind of book I would have entered for. So I put it off for a couple of years. I was honestly really apathetic towards the whole thing. Lots happened in the end, but I didn't particularly care. I wasn't fond of any of the characters, as they do all seem terrible in their own way. Pretty much everyone in this book cheats on their SO btw. Also, it drove me crazy that there weren't proper chapter breaks. It's not a long book, but I wasn't sure where to take a break. Reading this book was just a task to be done. I didn't find it enjoyable. 2/5
1,337 reviews3 followers
November 27, 2014
This one is totally different from her novel "The Lotus Eaters" and, I thought, a disappointment. Ann, a 38 year old attorney wants to quit law and have a baby. Her husband is a chef who is getting ready to open his own restaurant with a partner. The partner is irresponsible and in debt so badly that he ruins the business before it opens, and Ann and her husband take off to a pristine island with a money bag filled with illegally gotten money. There are a lot of relationship problems with and among the island inhabitants, really kind of dumb tests and misunderstandings. The book wasn't a page turner and everything turns out too neat.
Profile Image for Kasa Cotugno.
2,476 reviews519 followers
December 24, 2014
I had a problem getting involved with both the story and its style. When a junior partner of a lawfirm who is desperately trying to get pregnant flees with her chef husband to a Pacific atoll, well, it does go on from there, but glacially. Other characters never seem to gel or gain any more credulity than the central couple, and I must admit, I felt my time would be better served otherwise. I am sorry I didn't like it more.
420 reviews1 follower
December 28, 2019
A good but meandering tale that was hard to read and hard to put down with its choppy chapterless sectioning. The people where at the same time well painted yet half sketched and the story while full of many interesting truths also seemed empty and meaningless. I think perhaps it was supposed to be this way like the escape vacation to the tiny strip of sand an idea only half formed by one of the protagonists. This book was like a decent movie that was a half hour too long.
85 reviews3 followers
May 26, 2018
Liked the narrative problem of a financial mess in a business relationship, and the colourful characters attempts to solve it. Enjoyed the escape to French Polynesia. The characters became fleshed out and found themselves. Story was a little slow coming to a resolution and finale. Overall, a nice read.
Profile Image for Christine.
2 reviews
January 5, 2015
Not bad, just personally didn't get that into it... But I think others might enjoy it more.
319 reviews
October 1, 2018
Listened to this. Liked the narrator, Tavia Gilbert, very much. Read The Removes by author and loved it. Good to see her range. This is much different. Humorous.
Profile Image for NayNay.
399 reviews31 followers
June 15, 2019
A good read with a simple plot, some memorable characters, and a setting that will sweep you away.
June 5, 2019
I do not normally abandon books but was tempted to do so, many times, when reading this one. I stuck it out, however, and can confidently say this book was not for me. I could not find myself rooting for any of the characters or feeling sympathy for any of their plights. Ann was the character I should have related to the most, being in the same age range and life stage as her, but perhaps because of those similarities and our differences in personalities, she was the least likable to me. Her constant insistence that Wende was brilliant and "should be president," as the latter bumbled her way into a few good ideas, was particularly irksome too. The plot went from boring to bizarre in the end, and that wasn't even an improvement. I may read Soli's first book, The Lotus-Eaters, only because I've heard such great things about it. But this as my first foray into Soli's work was not a welcoming introduction to her writing.
Profile Image for Gabe Iversen.
52 reviews2 followers
November 26, 2018
I initially enjoyed the book and felt like it was a perfect vacation read. The characters were interesting and I liked the premise. As it went on it just seemed that it was rushing along but going nowhere with repetitive dialogue that often didn’t really make sense for the characters. It was unbelievable that basically every single character was having a simultaneous identity crisis and questioning every aspect of their lives and it became kind of exhausting to read. Pretty much every page presented an about face of life direction, political views, partner preference, etc. to an insane degree until all the characters became so malleable and confused that it was hard to take them seriously. My impression was of a good concept that needed mote critical editing.
Profile Image for Lois.
375 reviews2 followers
January 10, 2022
Two stars because I actually finished it. I was drawn in by the plot line, and the fact I’m doing a reading challenge. January is to read books that take place in Oceania. What’s not to like about an array of characters who escape the rat race to inhabit a deserted island! I expected Love Boat, Fantasy Island, or Swiss Family Robinson. Instead it was Lord of the Flies. The cast of characters were self centered, drug addicted, uninteresting, sexual perverts. Ironically, the only thing of interest was the guy who went diving and didn’t return. That didn’t happen until the last 50 pages. Disappointing for the first book of the year.
Profile Image for Pat.
926 reviews44 followers
May 1, 2023
A really well written sardonic tale of a group of strangers trying to escape their real world troubles at a remote island resort. Soli excels at quirky, dimensional characters and at nailing some of the insane contradictions of 21st century life. I particularly enjoy the jaded Rock star and his frustrated girlfriend/ muse. Funny a d moving at the same time.
Profile Image for Kelli.
36 reviews2 followers
January 13, 2017
I wanted to like this book and the first half was okay. But the last half of the book took off in so many weird directions I almost didn't want to finish. I didn't connect with any of the characters and really I didn't really like any of them.
Profile Image for Jenna B.
40 reviews
July 24, 2019
There were aspects of this novel that I enjoyed and got me thinking but overall I did not enjoy this book. To me it felt scattered and threw in complex words that didn't seem to match the rest of the tone of the book.
Profile Image for Leah.
9 reviews
May 28, 2020
This would probably be a good beach read, and I found it entertained me while I was on my treadmill. I found the last part of the book (the publicity stunt and Abby's transformation) to be more far-fetched and weaker than the rest.
Profile Image for Emily Freeman.
139 reviews2 followers
September 16, 2023
A lot of readers seemed to hate this book, but I loved it. Maybe they were turned off by the omniscient POV. I’ve also read a few reviews saying it was too philosophical. But I loved it for those reasons.
Profile Image for Heather Hawkins.
56 reviews1 follower
March 9, 2018
Can’t believe I read the whole thing. Unlikeable characters, clunky narrative, random plot. Just terrible.
Profile Image for Rebecca Gregory.
328 reviews
August 6, 2018
An entertaining read. The setting was exotic and the characters interesting. This was a good Summer Escape. Go ahead and get it from the library.
September 24, 2018
I simply kept on reading because I had purchased this two years ago and felt guilty for not having read it. A tiresome read. The ending was better than the rest of the book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews

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