Rachel's Reviews > State of Paradise

A writer finds herself back at her mom's house in swampy Central Florida during the pandemic, where epic storms, a popular virtual-reality device, and the mysterious disappearance of her sister threaten to send everyone around her into a tailspin. While the strangeness swirls, her own past bubbles up to haunt her in unexpected ways. Sure, there are sinkholes and mysterious portals and sweatsuit-wearing extinction cults - but "State of Paradise" manages to steer clear of the usual, dismissive Florida tropes. Instead, humor gives way to humanity and family and loss in surprising and beautiful moments. The events of the book don't advance so much as they slink, wrapping around you slowly. That is, until the last third of the book, which hurtles straight through surreal into something strangely transcendent. I want more books like this, where the wildness of our home state is part of the story and a character of its own - containing memes and multitudes and the complex characters van den Berg lets shine on her pages. This is the book I'll be putting in everyone's hands this summer.