Don't Look Back

                Hello happy readers.  Another week survived on to the weekend.  Reminder my giveaway for a SIGNED copy of Blackhearts is still open until the 7th here.  Also I'll be posting my month book haul AKA Stacking the Shelves post tomorrow so stay tuned for that as well.  But for today I am reviewing Don't Look Back by the wonderful Jennifer L. Armentrout.  One more down as I slowly work my way through her titles, seriously though she has a ton on books and so far I've loved all I've read.

Rating:  5 Stars

                Don't Look Back is a bit of a contemporary suspense YA thriller following Samantha.  Sam seemed to have it all, the perfect life of popularity, wealth, friends/boyfriend, everything a high school girl could ask for.  Until she disappears with her best friend Cassie and resurfaces with no memory of who she is or what happened.  As she tries to piece together her old life and figure out what happened to her and Cassie she realizes her life wasn't as perfect as it seemed. 

                I really enjoyed this story.  Everything from how the story was written, the flow, the character growth as she comes to learn who she was and is.  There is something both horrifying and freeing about the idea of not remembering who you are.  On one hand you are lost, disconnected, and afraid.  On the other hand you have a fresh start.  Sam realizes pretty quick her "mean girl" personality is not who she wants to be.  She can do things better, including not treating Carson, her former childhood friend and her brothers best friend, like trash because his father works for hers.  She also has the chance to do better in everything, but not everyone is going to make that easy.  And she still may know what happened to Cassie. 

                The dynamic there was wanting to remember to know what happened and piece together the mystery is strong but when you're being left messages that make you question your sanity you have to wonder if you should even try.  I wasn't really expecting to be as caught up in the heart pounding suspense of it all but I was.  I was listening to this on an audiobook in the car and I remember gripping the steering wheel constantly wishing I could make it go into my brain faster.  I was constantly running through theories and scenarios in my head trying to figure it out as Sam worked to uncover the clues.  I figured out some aspects and others I never saw coming.  It kept me on the edge of my seat, and made me thankful yet again for cruise control, and when it was over I just needed to take a moment to contemplate everything. 

                I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good suspense thriller or just a good stand alone.  Sometimes with suspense type books/movies they are hard to re-read/watch after knowing the ending, but I don't think I would have any trouble re-reading Don't Look Back.  While I might know some things there was so many little tidbits throughout that I would love to rediscover and give more attention to in a re-read in the future.  So that's my thoughts on this hit, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.  If you lost all your memories and came back into your life would you be happy with the person you discovered you had been?  It's something to think on.

                Until next time…