What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown

I stay away from all these uber-popular female (authors and protagonists) thrillers as far as I can, until something really draws me in. In this case, it was the author's reputation - I've read and enjoyed her books before. And to be fair, this novel isn't a really a thriller. To me, it read very much like a character-driven drama and a coming-of-age story.

Many kudos to Brown for managing to write a novel with a teenage protagonist without making it YA. Instead, Jane/Esme is a smart, resourceful, interesting person, a survivor and a fighter.
At seventeen, on the brink of the digital revolution that will reshape the world all around. she is living off-grid in Montana woods with only her father, a radical and a Luddite for company. The man is clearly and curiously unhinged, one of those people whose brains have turned against them. In his flight from the world, he comes to fear and resent, he has made some hard choices for himself and in turn imposed them on his only child, who has grown up in isolation and solitude. 
When they two of them finally step out into the world together (and for all the wrong reasons), everything changes.

This was a very good read that held my attention completely. The characters are as interesting and compelling as you want to see in a character-driven novel. This is a story of people doing what they believe is right at terrible cost, of juxtaposing cleverness and kindness, of the importance of truly seeing the people around you as they are and not as you wish them to be.  There is a lot of thoughtful meditation on our place in the world and, especially, on the place of technology in our lives. 
In the end, it seems that the novel is saying that wielding the power has everything to do with who wields it, be it biological or artificial intelligence. Without a strong moral compass, behind it, things can go awry either way. And what kind of paradise is that?

I may have expected a bit more from the ending and perhaps a bit more for the novel's protagonist, but either way, it was very much worth a read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.