A Review for Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Posted by Donna
Release Date: April 10th, 2014
Finished Date: March 27th, 2014

Publishers: Hodder
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Thriller
Source: For Review

Format: Paperback
Pages:368

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

What if you had the chance to start again...but only if you promised never to look back? 

Samantha is popular, rich, and seemed to have it all...until the night she and her best 'frenemy' Cassie disappeared and only Sammy resurfaced, with no recollection of who she is or what happened. Sammy's a stranger in her own life - a life she no longer wants any part of. Losing her memory is a chance to start again. 

Then Sammy begins receiving mysterious notes warning her about that night, urging her to not look back. But she can't let it go. As she starts poking around in her past she begins to remember...and something sinister begins to surface.

The Review: A chilling thriller from one of the best YA authors around, Don’t Look Back is a fantastic story that keeps you guessing throughout.

Four days have passed since two teenage girls went missing, and then Samantha is found wondering the streets. Everyone wants to find out what happened the night both teens went missing, but Samantha has no recollection of what’s happened. Suddenly thrust into a life that she cannot remember, Samantha has to try and pick up the pieces, but she doesn’t like what she finds. As she tries to piece together that night, Sam starts receiving notes – Notes telling her DON’T LOOK BACK, but as much as Sam would like to forget, she knows she needs to find out the truth, even if it means putting herself in danger. 

At this point everyone and anyone have heard of Jennifer L. Armentrout. Whether you’ve read her books or not, I bet you’ve still heard the impressive reputation about her as an author. This woman can write. And she writes pretty damn well too. She continues to knock out stories that are unique and fresh. She has a knack for smouldering love stories as well as creating some super-hot guys for us to swoon over, but more importantly, the books I’ve read by her have left a big impression on me and, Don’t Look Back is the perfect example of that!

Intriguing and very compelling, Don’t Look Back is a book that I found very hard to put down once I started. The suspense of the story hits you in full force and within the first few pages all I could think about what had happened to the main character. I found the whole story enthralling to the point where I felt like I wanted all the answers before we were ready, but I held on and didn’t peek at the end – I’m known to do that once in a while – but I didn’t, and I’m so glad I didn’t because I would have missed out of the surprises that we’re about to happen. I thought the story was very well written and the plot was very exciting.

The characters were also a fantastic addition. Sam definitely had the most character development. I guess that’s to be expected because she is like two different characters. Obviously I liked Sam after the accident. I found her to be compassionate and loving.  She cared about her family and tried to be honest with herself. The Sam before the accident didn’t care what people thought and did everything in her power to make people as unhappy as she was. So in a way, Sam losing her memories wasn’t all a bad thing. She got the do-over she needed and became a much better person – or the better person she was before she ever met Cassie. 

Of course, the secondary character Scott, Julie and Carson were impossible not to love too. Scott was the best brother to Sam, even though she never treated him great. He was there for her whenever she needed him and, his and Julie’s relationship was really cute too. The same goes for Carson. Even without ever knowing that he was there for her, he always was. These two have a long history and it was great watching Sam trying to figure out how they fit into each other’s lives. It helps that Carson is incredibly hot and sweet. He just screams ATTENTION! It’s impossible not to love him. I love how much support he shows for Sam, it really does show how much of a great guy he is.

And the ending, which I must say was a shocking discovery. I really enjoyed the final outcome. There were so many hidden secrets that you never knew until that moment. It was a great ending.

In all, Don’t Look Back is another cracking story that we can add to JLA's pile of awesome books.

Favourite Quote: "I've loved you as long as I've known you, Sam. Just as much as I love you right now."