ARC Review: Don’t Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Published by Disney Hyperion on April 15th, 2014
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Young Adult
Pages: 372
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

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?

WARNING: Do not attempt to start this book at night before you go to bed. If you do, YOU WILL BE UP ALL NIGHT LONG. This book will not allow you to put it down once you start reading.

This book is about a girl who finds herself wandering down a road covered in blood. She doesn’t have any clue as to where she’s at, why she’s there and who she even is. She finds out her name is Sam and she’s been missing for FOUR DAYS. She disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, whom still hasn’t been found. Unfortunately  Sam’s memories of that night or any night before that are missing as well.

Once I started reading this book, I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I lost track of time.. what only seemed like minutes instead were hours. I realized it was 2am and not 11pm and I had to be to work at 7am. I unfortunately had to put the book down for the night…. The next day I forgo my lunchtime cat nap because I HAD TO FINISH THE BOOK. WOW. This book is incredible. I loved Sam, we got to discover her as a person as she discovered herself. What she was finding out about herself she did not like and she decided she didn’t WANT to be the way she used to be. It even seems that maybe though she was a certain way before the whole disappearance thing, in reality she really didn’t want to be the mean girl that she’s been made out to be..Now is her chance to turn her life around and stop caring what other people think..and she does just that. 😉

Carson Ortiz is the help’s son…the old Sam doesn’t want anything to do with him, though they used to be BFFs once upon a time before High School Politics came in to play… Now that she’s a new person rediscovering herself, she’s finding herself attracted to him.
At first, Carson is a bit stand-offish when he’s around Sam. Once she finally convinces him that she’s not playing him, that she really doesn’t remember the way she was and she really does want to be friends wit him, he starts to thaw a bit towards her.

Her boyfriend, Del, once we meet him in the book he totally annoyed the crap out of me and gave me the heebiejeebies. He seems like a total dick and in the end..that’s exactly what he is. #TEAMCARSON

Though the old Sam wasn’t the nice person in the world, even to her twin brother, Scott, and his girlfriend, Julie, they totally have her back as she struggles to remember what happened the night she disappeared.

Now let’s get to the whodunit. NO, I won’t ruin it for you and tell you did it, but WOW it totally is the last person you thought it would be..and the reasoning for it was totally unexpected. HUH. Good Job, Jenn. I didn’t see any of that coming.. This book has you going around in circles going “DID THIS PERSON DO IT? Did Sam do it? OMG did he do it? OMGWTF THAT PERSON DID IT? HOLY CRAP I DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING!!!”

Yeah, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat til the very end. If you haven’t read it yet, GET ON IT NOW.

ENJOY!