Don't Look Back
Ratings10
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings10
Average rating3.8
Samantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all???popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend. Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it's one she no longer wants any part of. The old Sam took "mean girl" to a whole new level, and it's clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She's getting a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and she's falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for her???even if the old Sam treated him like trash. But Cassie is still missing, and the facts about what happened to her that night isn't just buried deep inside of Sam's memory???someone else knows, someone who wants to make sure Sam stays quiet. All Sam wants is the truth, and if she can unlock her clouded memories of that fateful night, she can finally move on. But what if not remembering is the only thing keeping Sam alive?
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So after reading and enjoying E Lockhart's We Were Liars I decided I'd stick with the Young Adult genre and try another of 2014's best reviewed books Don't Look Back. Another mystery style and with a much talked about twist at the end I hoped for something of the same quality as We Were Liars.
Armentrout's book starts with teen Sammy being found wandering around near the forest at her parents sumer home, she's clearly been in an accident her memory is gone and worst of all her best friend Cassie is still missing. We quickly learn Sammy is from a very wealthy old money family, she's the centre of her schools social stratosphere and she is the ultimate mean girl.
Which is where my boredom kicked up a notch, suddenly her loss of memory has her turning her life around, suddenly she's being super nice to everyone and falling in love with the poor boy who used to be her best friend, all interspersed with flash back's to what happened before Cassie disappeared. It was a book full of so many cliché's it became laughable. Now I know I'm not the books target audience in that I'm not a young teen living through this very situation in high school but I just cannot believe that teens could possibly not also feel the potential of this book has been dumbed down a bit by the obligatory plot lines that made it feel a bit formulaic.
The big reveal at the end of the book wasn't a big shock, reading between the lines throughout you could spot the guilty party from approximately a third of the way through. And knowing what I guessed part way through would have raised all kinds of questions that any competent police force would have investigated ages before and unless the detective was worse than useless could have pieced it all together.
I was disappointed by this book, I was literally so bored by the end I flicked through the big revelation which isn't good is it? I truly couldn't understand the hype it had received and probably wouldn't be rushing to read another book by this author.
Don't Look Back is my first Jennifer L. Armentrout book and I plan to read more books from her. I loved how easily she could pull me into this story. There were so many twists and turns as we try to figure out what happened to Samantha and Cassie. I was intrigued from the moment the mysterious girl is walking down the road and a police officer sees her. It's like who is this person and why is she all messed up walking down a road alone. And then even after we learn who she is, I am still intrigued because she was missing along with her best friend Cassie. So now I am wondering, well where the heck is Cassie?
Samantha basically can't remember anything and we follow her as she tries to remember who she was and what her life was like piece by piece. So many questions arise. At various points in the story, you can just about see everyone as a person of interest in Cassie and Samantha's disappearance except the person that actually had something to do with it. I just don't know how I missed it to be honest. I just didn't think that person would be so cruel. But overall, I loved this story and recommend it to anyone who loves young adult and a good mystery novel.
