“Don’t Look Back” was fantastic! A great suspense, mystery novel with some
romance thrown in there.
The book follows Sam, who is found walking down a highway
not knowing how she got there or even who she is. To add to the mystery her best friend Cassie
has also gone missing and Sam was the last person to have seen Cassie alive.
The character development was interesting because as the
reader you only get what Sam gets.
Armentrout did a great job of not bogging us down with details of Sam’s
past but instead she brings us into Sam’s frustration and slowly feeds us
information. I liked that I was just as
lost as Sam and it made for a more suspenseful story. I connected well with Sam and thought her
development and acceptance of who she was and who she wants to be made for an
interesting sub-plot.
I appreciate that the romance in the book was not so over
the top and was not the main focus of the story. It felt natural and all the feelings Sam
describes having brought me back to my high school days of falling in love. I
also liked that the friendships that drive the story are not the ones you think
will and I cheered Sam on when she tells some of them off.
Overall this book is a must read. The ending will leave you feeling satisfied
in a creepy way and each page will keep you turning way into the night.
*Spoiler Alert* turn
back now or forever be spoiled…..
Just a few little details that I wanted to go more in depth.
First, Sam’s love interest.
I was with Scott the entire time with his thinking of Del. I could tell that Del was hiding something
from Sam when he told her the reason why she had taken off the heart
necklace. Del was such a good unlikable
character. You didn’t feel like you were
forced to hate him, you just did. I was
so glad when Sam and Carson got together however, I wish that Sam never had
doubted him. I can see how as she gets
little snippets of her past life how she could believe that Carson was Cassie’s
killer but it just added to some unnecessary drama. It also made me mad at Carson for keeping the
fact that Sam had threatened him about what she saw with Diana. I liked that he seemed to be the only one who
was fully honest with Sam but in the end, he too lied-or withheld valuable
information. Overall though, I am glad
that Sam ended up with Carson. And that
she talks about how their relationship is not perfect but they are learning and
growing.
Second, I loved how Sam’s visions were described. How everything goes grey and she loses
herself in them and wakes up not fully understanding what is going on. Then how her hallucinations of Cassie, the
shadow man and herself in the mirror are so creepy…you too wonder, is this real? I don’t really know how I feel about the
notes Sam finds being from herself. It
felt a little silly that it did not fit with the rest of the story.
Lastly, the father being the killer. I suspected the dad when Sam goes to Cassie’s
house and mentions how they have the same music box. I thought, “Sam and Cassie have the same dad…” The last scene with the dad and his telling
of the events leading up to Cassie’s death was beautifully done. Although I liked how it ended, It is so hard
to grasp a dad doing that to his own child.
It made for a creepy ending.
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