Book Review: Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

You know, I feel like I haven’t read an amazing book in a very long time. Sure, Under The Never Sky was decent, but while it was good, it wasn’t spectacular beyond belief. It’s hard to find a truly good book in the fantasy and science fiction genres nowadays, because all of the really good ideas have probably already been used elsewhere (see my Defectorsreview). But then, a few months back, after searching on Amazon I noticed that one of my favorite paranormal romance novelists, Jennifer L. Armentrout, was writing a mystery novel. Naturally, I pre-ordered it and waited until April for the book to be downloaded onto my kindle. Once it was, I began to read it. The result: it’s the best book that I’ve read all year. Sit back, relax, and read on as I review my favorite book of 2014 so far, Don’t Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

The Setup:

A teenaged girl wakes up barefooted, bloody, and dirty on the outskirts of a small town. She heads to town with no memory of her previous life, including her name, age, family, and friends.  She is picked up by some police officers and is brought to the hospital. There, two people who claim to be her parents show up, telling her that her name is Samantha (Before I Fall, anyone?). As it turns out, she used to be one of those popular girls that everyone acts like they love but secretly hated, and that she and her best friend Cassie went to a cliff to talk about something and never returned. With the only evidence of the event being locked inside Samantha’s memories, she continues to investigate the case, learning more clues along the way, along with falling in love with a boy named Carson. Maybe it’s just the fact that I’ve barely read any mystery novels, but I found this setup to be really unique. It presents the mystery nicely, it introduces us to the characters, and sets everything on a trail that’s relatively easy to follow, which is what a setup should do.

The Characters:

This is without a doubt the best part of Don’t Look Back, which is fantastic considering how (at least in my book) it is the characters that normally get you invested into a story. Samantha is wonderful. I loved how we got to see the world through her perspective, which, at first, is unbiased and innocent, and the only thing that she really acts on is her instincts due to not having any memories. She only did what she thought was right, which helped her in some cases and then ruined her in others. I also really liked her personality, and her developing character. Once she learns about her shallow and detestable former self, she tries to apologize to people that her former friends had hurt, and remodel her image as a respectable human being. Her amnesia is also very believable, which is a major plus. I also liked how she was very different from Jennifer L. Armentrout’s other protagonists. As much as I love characters like Katy and Alex, they were similar in a lot of ways; granted, they are seperate characters with distinct personalities, but a lot of their traits and attitudes are the same, being outgoing, snarky, and relatable protagonists. Samantha is more quiet, reserved, and modest (not including the “old” Samantha), but still sticks up for what she believes in and isn’t afraid to talk back to people if she thinks their actions are unjustified or mean-spirited. She may actually be my favorite Jennifer L. Armentrout protagonist, and considering her lineup of fantastic female protagonists, that’s saying a heck of a lot. The other most important character is Carson, the love interest. Again, this guy is so much different from your average Jennifer L. Armentrout love interest. They’re normally cold and distant jerks that have a softer side once you get to know them. Actually, she’s the only author (with the exception of Cassandra Clare) who can create a character within that archetype that I don’t want to throw out a window (see Daemon from the Lux series and Aidan from Half-Blood). Carson is not like that at all. He’s distant at first, but only because the old Samantha had an awful attitude towards him, degrading him every chance she got. But, once Samantha proves that she’s not like her old self, they gradually regain their former friendship and then fall in love. While I don’t think that the relationship is as strong as, say, the Lux series’ was, I still give it a pass because a) Don’t Look Back is a singular novel and not a series; and b) It’s much better than the majority of the romances that I read about. The side characters are also good and pretty memorable, but not nearly as much as the two mains.

The Story:

The aspects about this story that I absolutely adore are its pacing and character development. The pacing is perfect, and I never got bored once while reading it. In fact, I finished this book in two days. I don’t remember the last time I finished a book in two days, but I can assure you that it was a rather long time ago. Every chapter left me on the edge of my seat, wanting more, and I barely noticed the lengthy amounts of time that were flying by as I read it. Next, its usage of character emotions and the psychological aspects in this story are apparent, but aren’t shoved in your face. It brings up the theme of how social hierarchies affect people mentally, and how far they will go in order to maintain their power, along with jealousy, trust, and loyalty. With the exception of school books, I haven’t read a book laced with so many subtle themes since Looking For Alaska (well, anything written by John Green), and it’s something that I absolutely love. The ending is also fantastic, being satisfying and conclusive.

The Writing Style/Grammatical Errors:

As for all of Jennifer L. Armentrout’s books, the writing style is smooth, straight to the point, descriptive (but not to the point of being excessive), and has an attitude in it that is rarely found in books that I read. I have close to no problems with it, except for the fact that there were some phrases that conflicted with the tone a little bit. This is a serious novel, and I don’t think that using words like “awesomesauce” helps set that tone. It was fine in her other novels, but in this one those words stuck out like a sore thumb. There were no major grammatical errors that I could find, so no complaints here.

Final Judgment:

Overall, I think that Don’t Look Back is excellent, maybe even one of my new favorite books. It has great characters, a well-paced and exciting story, a perfect writing style, and I have pretty much no objective or opinionated complaints about it. I give Don’t Look Back a 4.75 out of 5, and a recommendation to READ IT NOW! But, like always, it is up to you to decide your own opinions.
ScoreCard:

Buy Don’t Look Back: http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Look-Back-Jennifer-Armentrout-ebook/dp/B00GSZHYK0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398717476&sr=8-1&keywords=don%27t+look+back

Further Recommendations:

The Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout

This is a good recommendation if you’re looking for something within the same style as Don’t Look Back, as Jennifer L. Armentrout has one distinct style that carries through to all of her books. The plot and characters may be different, but it’s still Jennifer L. Armentrout, and that’s almost a guaranteed seller.

Pretty Little Liars Series by Sara Shepherd

I haven’t actually read these books due to its daunting length, but from what I’ve heard it’s a really good mystery series that has a lot of the same elements as Don’t Look Back. Check it out.

The next review will be on a science-fiction anime. Here’s the hint: My head is full of things that I could never tell anyone about.

See you then!