9780062565143
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Road to Paradise audiobook

  • By: Paullina Simons
  • Narrator: Em Eldridge
  • Category: Coming of Age, Fiction
  • Length: 18 hours 4 minutes
  • Publisher: HarperAudio
  • Publish date: November 29, 2016
  • Language: English
  • (2602 ratings)
(2602 ratings)
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Road to Paradise Audiobook Summary

Love, passion, and friendship collide on the road trip of a lifetime in this breathtaking novel from Paullina Simons, internationally bestselling author of The Bronze Horseman and Tully.

There’s no telling where a journey will lead you…

Shelby Sloane has big plans for the summer of 1981. She’ll drive cross country in her graduation present–a classic yellow Mustang. In California, she hopes to find the mother who left her behind long ago, and then return East in time to start college. Her childhood friend Gina is desperate to reunite with her boyfriend in Bakersfield and has convinced Shelby to bring her along.

With Gina on board, Shelby’s carefully mapped-out itinerary is quickly abandoned. Soon, so is their “no hitchhikers” rule when Shelby picks up a mysterious girl named Candy Cane, who sets them all on a new and dangerous course. Streetwise beyond her years and decked out with tattoos, piercings, and spiky hair, Candy is on the run from a past darker than anything the two suburban girls have ever known. Candy draws Shelby and Gina into her terrifying world, where life as they know it is turned upside down and there is no place left to hide.

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Road to Paradise Audiobook Narrator

Em Eldridge is the narrator of Road to Paradise audiobook that was written by Paullina Simons

Paullina Simons is the author of Tully and The Bronze Horseman, as well as ten other beloved novels, a memoir, a cookbook, and two children’s books. Born in Leningrad, Russia, Paullina immigrated to the United States when she was ten, and now lives in New York with her husband and an alarming number of her once-independent children.

About the Author(s) of Road to Paradise

Paullina Simons is the author of Road to Paradise

Road to Paradise Full Details

Narrator Em Eldridge
Length 18 hours 4 minutes
Author Paullina Simons
Category
Publisher HarperAudio
Release date November 29, 2016
ISBN 9780062565143

Subjects

The publisher of the Road to Paradise is HarperAudio. includes the following subjects: The BISAC Subject Code is Coming of Age, Fiction

Additional info

The publisher of the Road to Paradise is HarperAudio. The imprint is HarperAudio. It is supplied by HarperAudio. The ISBN-13 is 9780062565143.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

DJ

December 27, 2017

Favorite Quotes:If people ask, I say I'm a Christian because Christianity is the one religion where you don't have to do anything to still be a member. I like that, and since I don't want to say I'm nothing, I call myself a Christian.Aunty Betty was waiting for us out on the dirt driveway. She was tall and thin, with watchful, perpetually moist brown platters for eyes. Her mouth was slightly ajar, as if she was about to say something, yet didn't. 'Sloane,' Gina said to me quietly, 'honestly, don't let it slip how you feel about small furry pooches. Even Hitler liked dogs.' 'Yes,' I barked. 'Preferred dogs to children. Quite the paragon of canine-loving virtue, that Adolf.' You know how often I hear your little likely sob story... About twice a day, honeybunch. You're in Reno. The things I hear would make God lose faith in man, would make Jesus drink whiskey straight from the dog bowl. I've heard it all.My Review:Road to Paradise was not an easy read. Had I not read this deeply talented author before, I most likely would have given up, several times. However, knowing it would be worth the effort, I sucked it up and stuck it out to the end, and am ever so grateful that I did... although... I may have frequently cursed the author and also may have mumbled something about her being the cause of my early demise. The writing was darkly humorous with puns, snark, irony, and tons of cultural and musical references of the time. I became nostalgic between readings, I would have been finishing up graduate school during this period and my brain flooded with memories of clip-clopping in Dr. Scholls sandals, listing to the BeeGees and Elton John, and taking long car trips with my college friends during breaks. As the girls bickered through thirteen or so States, thousands of little incidental yet insightful details and ever-observant descriptions were mentioned - little details that later clearly became germane to the overall story. Tricky writer that Paullina Simons! She is also a remarkable observer of human nature as well as a clever wordsmith. I covet her mad skills!Basically, this book of 530 pages printed in tiny font, chronicles three teenaged girls bickering for 4000 miles during a cross-country trek on small roads (no interstates) in a classic Mustang during the summer on 1981. Shelby was conned into giving Gina - her previous best friend from childhood (before a falling out), and a chronic liar, a ride from New York to California after Gina wears her down and points out that she would help Shelby by splitting the costs and driving. Shelby quickly learned that Gina was not going to be of much assistance as not only did Gina not possess a drivers license, she was also unable to assist with navigation or map reading... but she did manage to add many extra miles and days to their journey with family errands and deliveries along the way - which ended up being several States out of the way and not on the way. Shelby, being spineless, continued to acquiesce to every hair-brained scheme Gina concocted. Despite warnings and promises to their guardians not to do so, Shelby was unable to leave a mini-skirted, pink haired, and fragile looking young hitchhiker named Candy behind, and the three girls' adventure quickly became a perilous journey fraught with danger and one bad decision after another. Candy was enigmatic and fascinating to me although I found her arguments with Gina over religion to be increasingly tedious - but that may just be my own bias since religion is something I purposely avoid - as I tend to do most repellent and aggravating things. My advice to those of you who may be tempted to give up, pass it by, or have already declared a DNF - if I my agnostic brain could digest this tome and still tag it with one of my rare five-star reads, it may be worth your while to stay the course and give it a shot.

Becky

November 29, 2016

Shelby never knew her mother or her father. The latter she knows is dead but the former ran off not long after Shelby was born, sending just a postcard as a clue to her whereabouts. Now, newly graduated and with drivers license and new car in hand, Shelby is off to see if she can find her missing mother. With careful planning, she thinks she can get to Mendocino and back in just under two weeks. But her plan is immediately off to a rocky start when an ex best friend decides to tag along. And when Shelby breaks her steadfast rule about hitchhikers, her plan takes a dangerously unexpected detour. Unexpected is an understatement considering the book begins with Shelby holed up in a motel in Reno. Her car is gone as is her money and her companions. And apparently Shelby is convinced someone is coming to murder her!Shelby is a wonderful character. She has more patience than me, but hits her breaking point early on with her friend's lack of help in the trip. And the elephant in the room is the fact that their friendship broke up ages ago thanks to horrendous gossip about Shelby's family. Gossip Shelby herself believed.As their trip progresses, things run further off the rails bringing our main character (and her companions) well beyond what they think they can handle. It's mostly light and amusing, but there are some dark turns as well. That light and dark, though, make the book a compulsively readable one! For me, a person who likes the idea of a road trip more than the reality of one, it's kind of perfect. All of the ridiculous things I can imagine going wrong on a road trip - and a few things I would never imagine - seem to happen in Road to Paradise.Oh, and it's made that much more fun by being set in 1981!Road to Paradise is such a fabulously fun read. I love Shelby, I love the setting, and I really need to go make a playlist off of all the songs mentioned!

Jenny

August 27, 2008

I have loved all her books I have read, I don't even care what it's about, I know it is going to be good.While this wasn't the best book I'd read from Paullina Simons, I still enjoyed it. I am still trying to analyze why I liked it as much as I did. I think in many ways I identified with the main character - how she got swept up in the situation, was probably not like I would be, but I admired her compassion. I had read some reviews on this book while I was still reading it, and then I slowed down my reading, because I felt I was going to be disappointed. I am glad I continued on - and I wasn't disappointed.

Heather

May 19, 2019

Thank you for the Paradise of serendipity Paulina. The road is long and winding and hard but in the end beneficial to our lives. ☜(˚▽˚)☞Enter: The road to Paradise.“I wish she could teach me how to keep body and mind so calm, when ahead and behind was so much imponderable noise, when all three of us waded through a loud mire of delusional shadows.”Loved loved loved this book. (*≧▽≦) (*≧▽≦) (*≧▽≦) This book follows the story of three girls, all varying so differently in personality from one another, on their own quests to find themselves and their lives while stuck in a Bright yellow Shelby Mustang heading across the USA. ……………………………………What I loved:

Paweł

July 17, 2022

Rozkręca się wolno, w przeciwieństwie do żółtego mustanga, ale warto przeczytać na urlopie na plaży historię o trzech dziewczynach przemierzających Stany Zjednoczone ze wschodu na zachód.

Riki-lee

June 27, 2014

I loved this book but it is very slow to start I find it odd how many one star reviews it got but I would highly recommend it

Courtney

May 23, 2021

I wasn't sure about this novel at the beginning. I read a few reviews that called Shelby stupid, and questioned her decisions. However, this book weaves a story that grabs you and makes you feel connected to the three girls. The ending was satisfying, though bittersweet and heartbreaking. Even though the book is over 500 pages long, I would have read even more about these girls. I gave it five-stars because it touched my heart and spirit.

Tash

May 05, 2020

This book was the first paullina Simons book I had ever read it was really awesome because it definitely didn't give me what I was expecting every time I expected something certain to happen it would go the up opposite way but it was a really great book so much happened and there was so much thought put into this book was great for 17 year old me to read

Leigh

August 18, 2021

I really enjoyed the book. The fact that both Shelby and Candy found love, something that had eluded them previously was beautiful. To those who hate the book or anything for that matter, go stand in front of a mirror.

Ivy

May 22, 2019

Per usual, Paullina creates characters that are flawed and believable. She captures the mind of a teenage girl so well. I had absolutely no idea how this story would end, It kept me interested all the way through. Bravo Paullina!

Andy

April 25, 2020

Absolutely loved this book and could not put it down. Just had to know what happened next

Paulina (aspiringliterati)

February 23, 2017

I'm heartbroken. It was so bittersweet.

Emily

November 25, 2018

The last 200 pages I could not put down. I can't believe I put off reading this book for so long, the blurb does not do it justice.

A Reader's Heaven

January 21, 2016

I read this book as a part of our 2016 Reading Challenge - you can find out more here: https://areadersheaven.wordpress.com/...Meet Shelby and Gina. Eighteen years old, fresh out of high school, and once best friends. When Shelby gets a bright yellow Mustang for a graduation gift, she decides to drive across America to find her missing mother, who walked out years before. Gina invites herself along for the ride, in a hurry to get to California to stop her wayward boyfriend from marrying someone else. What begins as a journey of big dreams and high spirits quickly changes when the girls pick up a young hitchhiker named Candy. Haunted by a mysterious past, she's got reasons of her own to get to California as quickly as possible. The three girls, uneasy and unlikely companions, find themselves on America's darkest backroads, pursued by fear and betrayal, and slowly learn they cannot count on anything but each other. The road to Paradise, a story of intense friendship, fierce loyalty, and love, will take them to the last place they expected to be.I remember reading this book a few years ago when it came out and had a vague recollection of liking it but could not remember any of the specifics. And so, as part of the challenge, I had to read a book about a road trip and this book just sprung to mind.And I still really like it. There is something about these three girls that, I think, all of us can see in ourselves and our friendships. The trials and tribulations that these girls go through, while many may think are over-exaggerated, makes the reader feel something - either love, hatred, sympathy, or sadness. And that is what I read for - to feel emotions. Otherwise, what's the point?The three girls themselves are excellent - Shelby, about to start college but first wants to meet her mother and has to drive across the country to find her. She is courageous but insecure, intelligent but fussy. She makes plans, schedules and rosters for everything she does in life and has hard time dealing with any changes to that. Gina, Shelby's once-upon-a-time best friend, hitches a ride so she can go and marry her wayward boyfriend in California. She is determined but unwavering in her opinions. She is the first to overreact to any situation. She likes to argue. And then there is Candy - dear, sweet, young Candy. Her life is a complete mystery to the two friends - she doesn't know modern pop songs or celebrities, she didn't finish school, she has no formal education but is aware of a lot more in the world than the two girls combined. Candy is trouble - but Shelby and Gina don't realise it to begin with...but they soon find out...I did love the criss-crossing of America - as an Australian, there is a lot of information about the different states the girls travel through (thanks Gina!) and, for me, it adds to the story-telling. I appreciated knowing directions and the sizes of cities - I don't want to have an atlas next to me when I read so I can look up relevant info on Ohio or Nevada, how annoying would that be?I did have a bit of a problem with the constant references to the music that was on the radio, making the songs into a part of the narrative. I can't remember any of them in particular but they went something like this: "Elvis is on the radio, telling us not to be crual to a heart that's true and Aretha follows him, talking about what respect means to her." And this happened a lot. I understand that it was a part of Shelby's character but I did find it annoying.Other than that, I thought this was a great book - a road trip, a story of friendship and danger, of survival and despair. It was, in parts, funny, sad, frustrating, thrilling and entertaining. And that's exactly what I am after.PaulARH

Rachel

August 26, 2011

Well...Simons never fails to deliver. I have read the back of this book many times in the bookstores and can't say I was excited by the description. But I'm glad I finally bought it. I think I knew deep down I was in for agreat story. Paullina is amazing. No two books from her are quite the same. She brings something different to the table everytime. Alot of people seem to think that her stories are too long or not edited enough, but that's what I love most about her writing. She is so descriptive and doesn't miss a beat. I wouldn't change any of her books.I love the fact that she actually embarked on this roadtrip herself. It definately shows. I have never been to America but she was so informative I could picture everything in my head. I have to admit the first few chapters took me a while to get into. I don't really like books where the first few chapters are dedicated to the main character telling you all about themselves. Although I did love that the first chapter was actually a small snippet of the end of the story. It had me wondering through the whole thing how Shelby was going to end up there. Candy = what can I say? My first impression from reading the back cover (never judge a book by its cover!?!?!) was that she was going to be dangerous (yes, she was), but not in the way I expected. I really fell in love with her. More than Shelby. And definately more than Gina! Although, poor Gina, many times I wanted to strangle her she seemed so selfish, but other times, I felt sorry for her. She must have been quite upset in the head to pull all the hair from her face! I had fun picturing that one in my head :)4 stars because I didn't absolutely completely love every single second of it. Like I said, a bit of a slow-starter. But it is definately a favourite and most certainly different to anything I have ever read.

Kate

August 19, 2019

This is the second Paullina Simons book I've picked up (the first was Tully) and boy does she really know how to play on your emotions. Others complained that the book was far too long and descriptive and needed several sections edited out completely. No doubt it is a long, meandering story, full of stops and detours but that's what I loved about it. Every single detail adds richness to the story, creating such a strong atmosphere I found myself longing for a roadtrip across America. Don't be put off by the length of the book- Simons' writing is so compelling that you won't be able to put it down. I whizzed through this in about four days, in between working and studying. What I love about Paullina Simons is her utterly realistic and beautifully flawed characters. Gina was an absolute pain but I loved Shelby and Candy even more so. I felt like they could easily be my own best friends.If you're not a fan of Paullina Simons, I wouldn't advise you to pick this one up. It doesn't deliver anything different from her other novels. But if you're looking for something new or have enjoyed her books in the past, I would highly recommend this. Quite simply it is a beautiful, heart-wrenching book that left me full of emotion, long after finishing it.

Doron

January 08, 2011

The book is about friendship, loyalty, principals, religion, points of view, dreams, dissappointments, hopes and charchteristics. It took me a while to read it but I'm happy to say that it kept me tensed to the very end, and what an end it was. The charachters are so different from one an other in their view of life that its hard, maybe impossible, to them to understand one another. The plot takes us threw their dreams and hopes, ups and downs, hate and love, through the entire US (cost to cost) and making us looking at our life and self and other judgements we made along our way. Maybe the road to paradise is not as we expected or hoped it will be. And maybe, just maybe, it was near us all the time and we just didnt notice...

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