{Review} Can't Look Away by Donna Cooner

Posted by Donna
Release Date: January 1st, 2015
Finished Date: January 18th, 2015

Publishers: Egmont
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Source: For Review
Format: Paperback

Pages: 296

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

There's no hiding in the spotlight. Torrey Grey is famous - at least, she is on the internet. Thousands of people watch her beauty vlog for tips on how to be popular and pretty. 

But when Torrey's sister is killed in an accident her world implodes, especially as she feels partly to blame. And that's when the trolling starts...How can Torrey mourn her sister in private, when her bubbly public persona is all over the web? 

Then she meets Luis, whose family owns the local funeral home, and he challenges all that Torrey thought she knew about love, life, and loss.

The Review: Beauty vlogger Torrey Grey has thousands of people watching her vlog on You Tube. She loves it. She loves connecting to people and she loves hearing what they have to say about her vlog’s. But when Torrey’s younger sister is killed by a drunk driver, suddenly all those nice comments now turn into nasty ones when they start blaming her for her sister’s death – and really, Torrey blames herself to even though it wasn’t her fault. Moving to Texas to be close to relatives might be the worse idea her parents have ever had but once there, Torrey finds some relief in people not knowing who she is. Trying to mourn her sister is hard especially when it feels like the whole world is waiting for her next vlog. But when Torrey meets Louis – the guy whose family own the local funeral home, Louis tries to help Torrey through her grief. 

I’ve never read anything by Donna Cooner before and so I didn’t really have any expectations when I went into Can’t Look Away but I found myself pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I loved that the story dealt with serious and real life issues because it’s a story that most people will be able to connect with emotionally and that what happened to me while reading the story. I felt it was important for us to get to know Torrey’s sister and form the bond that with her and feel the loss like Torrey did, and Donna Cooner made that possible which was fantastic. 

I really liked Torrey – although to start with she’s a little self-centred because a lot of her thoughts are about herself, her vlog and fashion. But as the story progresses you can she her changing. Her sister’s death makes her realise there is more to life and she needs to grab it with both hands. And while she didn’t always do the right things to start with or more so, she doesn’t follow her heart to start with, I found that okay too. I loved that her character developed along the way. 

There are plenty of secondary characters to add the fun element to the story, although not all of them are likable, there are some gems within the story like Torrey’s cousin Raylene, Ross and of course, the love interest Louis. These were definitely my favourites from the story especially Louis. He’s such a well-rounded character and I really liked how he pushes Torrey to open up. And Louis’ family were so much fun – I loved the idea of The Day of the Dead. It’s not something I’ve heard of before but I really enjoyed reading about it.

In all, Can’t Look Away is an emotional and realistic read and I’ll be watching out for more books by this author. 

Thank you to Egmont for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review.