Paradox, by A.J. Paquette

Despite its staggeringly ugly cover art, A.J. Paquette's novel Paradox is not, sadly, a tribute to the 1990 killer-giant-worms movie Tremors. It is instead the story of a teenage girl named Ana who wakes up on an alien world with no memories, a backpack full of weapons and supplies, and a note in her pocket instructing her to observe and survive. While she eventually meets up with three other kids (including a boy who seems strangely familiar), Ana is forced to rely on her oddly powerful muscle memory to survive the unfamiliar landscape—and the nightmarish monster that lurks beneath it.

Reading Paradox is like playing a video game: it's flashy and fast-paced, but the characters are one-dimensional, the love story is banal, and the cool sci-fi premise takes a back seat to a lot of repetitive action sequences. The best part of the novel was the final third, which introduces Ana to an even creepier world than the planet she wakes up in at the beginning of the story. (Not coincidentally, it's also the only part of the story the heroine spends mostly by herself. Entertaining dialogue is not this author's strong suit.) Despite its flaws, Paradox still makes for a fun summertime read, but increased attention to character development and world-building might have transformed it into something special.

Review based on publisher-provided copy.