Paradise High: Part One: Welcome to Paradise

by David Accampo, Chris Anderson (Illustrator)

Crime, culture, and coming-of-age take flight in LOST ANGELS - a sci-fi mystery set in a world where Los Angeles residents co-exist with a race of alien angels. As tensions between communities boil over, high school student Alex Martinez must unravel a mystery that takes her from the spires of the Silver City to the ruins of Old Santa Monica. Meet Alex Martinez - your average 14 year-old girl who attends Paradise High, a special integrated high school composed of humans and...Angels?!? Get ready for a Los Angeles skyline like you've never seen before! But when half the student body has wings, high school is more complicated - and deadlier - than ever.

Genres: Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics

31 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 16, 2015

Reviews

[kaitlphere · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting worldbuilding and protagonist.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is interesting. I don't like the art style but it fits the atmosphere/vibe of the grittiness of the city.

[Mathew · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting concept but a bit too on the nose and doesn't quite have the originality or depth to pull off a truly great story. It's still enjoyable, but I just can't get over the whole aliens falling neatly into the mostly Christian conceptualization of angels. I also feel like the neo-noir story about a new drug on the streets has been done to death at this point.
Lastly the art is really "weird" sometimes it looks pretty good, but many times the faces are highly exaggerated into goblinoid grimaces which is thematically confusing and also annoying.

[Riana Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never would’ve picked this up if it hadn’t been a Hoopla Bonus Borrow. The cover art leans dark and moody, and I tend to give that aesthetic a wide berth. Lesson learned! Once I opened it, I inhaled the whole thing.
What hooked me wasn’t just the “alien angels crash‑land in LA” setup, but the way realism and sci‑fi collide. The story isn’t shy about showing how humans can be awful to anyone who’s different: there’s bigotry, religious zealotry, caste systems and class snobbery, all wrapped in a lean graphic‑novel narrative. For a short book, it carries a lot of subtext.
Alex Martinez is the heartbeat here. She’s a headstrong fourteen‑year‑old who doesn’t fit in anywhere—an Earth girl thrust into the Silver City, the angels’ domain—and she’s equal parts brash and naïve. That combination makes her blunders believable and keeps the plot moving. I also loved how the book forces you to question your own biases: if winged beings showed up tomorrow, how would we treat them?
By the time I flipped the last page, I’d already queued up Parts Two through Five. Consider me a convert.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. I'll probably check out the rest of the story. It's about aliens who came to Earth nine years ago who look like angels. (That part is a bit too much just because this new city of humans and angels feels long established.) It's got this neo noir thing going on with a new street drug. The art is odd at times. Maybe it'll improve as the story goes on?

[Velid · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong start with an intriguing backstory and rich cultural foundation that sets the tone well. The world-building feels intentional without overwhelming the pacing. It pairs surprisingly well with Lost Legacies, which I’m currently reading—similar thematic depth with a layered setup. Curious to see where it goes next.

[Trike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aliens come to Earth but they look like classic angels. Pretty much the flip of Arthur C. Clarke’s classic Childhood’s End.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

For an opening book to a series it was weird. Bird aliens live now in Los Angels and a little human is living in the city with them. This reminded me a lot of District 9 but for kids. May read more but not exactly hooked after the first bit.

[Gaby · Rating 2 out of 5]

interesting premise, but couldn't stand to look at the atrocious artwork.

[Emelisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehh. Not the greatest of illustrations and not very captivating. It looks like it may have some potential in the storyline.

[Beckiezra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting world, didn’t love the art style, probably won’t continue unless more issues are hoopla bonus borrows, but I do think the story has potential.

[M.i. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The world it presents is intriguing, especially with the angel aspect

[Megan (ReadingRover) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

[☆KT☆ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had potential, but the hook wasn’t strong enough to pull me in. I needed more spark.