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

Title: Don't Look Back.
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout.
Publication Date: April 10th, 2014.
Publisher: Hodder.
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult.
Format: Paperback, 368 pages.
Source: ARC Provided By Publisher.
My Rating:

My breath caught and I dropped the letter, scuttling back on the bed. Heart racing, I closed my eyes, but I could still see the words...

Samantha Franco has the perfect life. Until, that is, she and her best friend Cassie disappear and only Samantha resurfaces...with no knowledge of what happened.

And Cassie stays missing. Gradually, Samantha begins to piece together her memories of that night. If she can do that, she may yet be able to save her friend. And, little by little, something begins to emerge...
Then she gets the note:
DON’T LOOK BACK.
YOU WON’T LIKE WHAT YOU FIND.

 

Review

I’ve only read one other book by Jennifer L. Armentrout before, and I absolutely adored it – so I have to say, when I first started reading Don’t Look Back, my expectations were ridiculously high. I’m so glad to say that they were not just met, but blown away by this book. When I received Don’t Look Back in the post one morning, I opened the package, not knowing what I would find, and I squealed like an idiot – and actually jumped up and down when I realised what it was. I’m pretty sure I scared my mum half to death! Don’t Look Back is a fast-paced, action-packed, pulse-racing and beautifully written book that’ll have you in tears one minute and laughing the next. There are so many twists and turns throughout Don’t Look Back that I just didn’t see coming and it has instantly become a favourite of mine. Throughout the entire book you’ll find yourself captivated and drawn head first into the gripping and mind-blowing story that Jennifer L. Armentrout has created, and you definitely won’t want to put it down!

Sam is our main protagonist, and I really loved her character! She was smart, kind, funny and a really caring person who really regretted who she was before the accident. You could really tell how disgusted she was with the person she used to be, with who her apparent ‘friends’ were and how they acted. It was amazing to see her continue to grow as a person, and slowly start not just to take her life back, but remodel it at the same time. At first, Sam really did try to fit back into her normal life, and I thought it was really great how she tried to keep things normal with her relationship with her boyfriend, Del. She really tried to fall back in love with him – and tried to be a part of her friendship group – but they just weren’t her anymore. Sam’s was a really incredible character, she was so well developed and I just loved everything about her.

Carson is the love interest throughout Don’t Look Back, and BOY did I love him! He isn’t usually the type of guy in books that I read that I fall in love with instantly, but I fell so hard that I’m surprised I’m still conscious! Carson is Sam’s twin brother, Scott’s best friend. His father also works for Sam’s and Scott’s parents – which means he’s a commoner, and you quickly learn that Sam used to think he was beneath her because he wasn’t rich. No matter how gorgeous he is. Carson has the most amazing personality though; he’s patient, kind, respectful, funny and absolutely swoon-worthy. He has his doubts about Sam’s sudden personality change, and he’s expectedly cautious. But eventually he realises that Sam has changed, and he begins to open up to her. Watching their relationship develop and unfold was fantastic, and beautiful. There wasn’t a speck of insta-love, but insta-attraction, and feelings that just developed from there. It really was amazing to read about.

Overall, I absolutely ADORED Don’t Look Back. I started it one evening, and I just could not put it down! I had to force myself, literally, to set the book aside for a while, but once I picked it up the following evening, I kept reading until I turned the very last page. Don’t Look Back is a creepy, intense and heart-racing psychological thriller that’ll keep anyone on their toes. Jennifer L. Armentrout’s writing is absolutely flawless and perfect in every way – I can’t find a single thing I dislike with her writing and plot lines – she has this incredible ability to create brilliant and unforgettable characters and relationships that’ll last even after you’ve turned the last page. If I could give Don’t Look Back more than 5 stars, I really would! I’d give it 5 billion stars if it were possible. I’m finding myself all of sudden feeling the urge to buy every single thing Jennifer L. Armentrout has written and I highly recommend this novel to anyone who’s a fan of thriller – you definitely won’t be disappointed!

Quotes

Trey leaned back farther, amusement dripping from his pores. The table of girls stared at me as if I’d stripped naked and done a little jig. I gripped my bottle, wanting to throw it at one of their heads.
“Jeez, that’s rude on so many levels.”

Rounding the corner, I smacked right into a rock-hard body with enough force that the poor guy let out a grunt and hit the floor. Thrown off balance, I toppled down on him. In a second, I recognized the clean, citrusy scent.
Carson.
Our bodies were pressed together in all the wrong places. Or the right places, depending on how I wanted to look at it. Not that I thought it was right. It was definitely wrong, especially the way his chest felt incredibly muscled under mine, his stomach like steel. Heat zinged through my veins.

“Are you finally going to kiss me?” I asked, dizzy with anticipation, want, and a thousand other things.
One side of his mouth tipped up. “Maybe.”
I leaned in, breathing the same air as him. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”
“Me neither,” he teased, his chest rising unsteadily against mine. Letting go of my hand, he cupped my cheek, running his thumb along my jaw. My hand fluttered to his chest, and his heart was pounding as fast as mine.
And when he lowered his head, the sheer look of passion in his eyes stole my breath.

Review: The 100 by Kass Morgan

Title: The 100.
Series: The Hundred, #1.
Author: Kass Morgan.
Publication Date: August 29th, 2013.
Publisher: Hodder.
Genres: Sci-Fi, Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult.
Format: Paperback, 323 pages.
Source: Provided By Publisher.
My Rating:

No one has set foot on earth in centuries – until now.

Ever since a devastating nuclear war, humanity has lived on spaceships far above Earth’s radioactive surface. Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents – considered expendable by society – are being sent on a dangerous mission: to re-colonize the planet. It could be their second chance at life... or it could be a suicide mission.

CLARKE was arrested for treason, though she’s haunted by the memory of what she really did. WELLS, the chancellor’s son, came to Earth for the girl he loves – but will she ever forgive him? Reckless BELLAMY fought his way onto the transport pod to protect his sister, the other half of the only siblings in the universe. And GLASS managed to escape back onto the ship, only to find that life there is just as dangerous as she feared it would be on Earth.

Confronted with a savage land and haunted by secrets from their pasts, the hundred must fight to survive. They were never meant to be heroes, but they may be mankind’s last hope.

 

Review

I’d not heard anything about The 100 until it arrived on my doorstep a little while back. I wanted to wait until everyone had finished reading it, and bypass all the reviews just for a little while, so I could make my own, unbiased opinion. I wasn’t expecting too much from The 100 as the ratings I’d seen looked a little disappointing, but I’m so glad to say I was very pleasantly surprised. The 100 was a really fantastic, fast-paced and action-packed book that I just couldn’t put down!

The 100 is told in the perspectives of our four main characters; Clarke, Wells, Bellamy and Glass. All of these characters are so unique and different and I loved them all. I loved how, throughout the book, there were plenty of flashbacks, letting the readers know what the characters had been done before being detained – and eventually, how they all got there. The 100 is a real page-turner and I loved pretty much everything about it, and actually found it quite difficult to find fault with.

Ladies first! Clarke was a really strong-willed and determined character, and I just adored her right from the beginning. Arrested for treason, Clarke is still haunted by her past – and was a medic in training before her detainment. I loved a lot of Clarke’s different traits, but the one I loved most was her ability to look past peoples faults, and things they may have done in the past – and see the person they really are. I just thought she was an amazing character. Glass escapes the ship right at the beginning of the novel, and at first I just thought she was a coward, but you learn overtime the things she’s had to deal with, and I instantly changed my opinion. I thought that Glass was weak, but as it turns out she was an incredibly strong and interesting character, and I loved being able to read about the life up on the ship, as well as on earth.

Onto the boys! Wells got himself contained to be with the girl he loves, and to protect her from anything dangerous on earth – no matter what would happen to him in the process. If that isn’t true love, then I don’t know what is. He made some pretty terrible mistakes, but you can tell that he only did them to try and protect his girl, and I really loved his character as well. Not only was he a mentally strong person, but he was also extremely forgiving and loving – he was just fantastic. Bellamy was a strange character, and he seemed a little too full of himself in my opinion. He has his own reasons for jumping aboard the ship to earth, his little sister, as he’d do anything to protect her. This whole thing made up for his arrogance and inability to connect with anyone other than his sister. I liked his character though, but I won’t be jumping on the Bellamy loving band wagon any time soon.

Overall, I really loved reading The 100 and I could only find a few, very small flaws, hence the 4.5/5 star rating, instead of a 5/5. Even though I loved the characters, I thought that they could have been developed a little more – and also I thought that the world-building could have been developed a little more, with more details and specifics. These little flaws though didn’t detract from the beautiful writing and fantastic storyline that I just couldn’t get enough of. Kass Morgan has her own unique and wonderful writing style that’s engaging and had me hooked right from the very beginning. And BOY, that cliff-hanger ending had me cursing the book and whacking it against my head at the same time. I can’t wait to read the next instalment in this series, and anything else Kass Morgan may write in the future – she’s definitely an author to keep an eye on!

Quotes

She heard voices everywhere. They called to her from the corners of her dark cell. They filled the silence between her heart-beats. They screamed from the deepest recesses of her mind. It wasn't death she craved, but if that was the only way to silence the voices, then she was prepared to die. - Page 01.

Humans had abandoned Earth during its darkest hour. It wouldn't care how many died trying to return. - Page 55.

“Of course I know.” Thalia looked at Clarke with a mixture of frustration and pity. “But I also know what he risked to come here.” She smiled. “He loves you, Clarke. The kind of love most people spend their whole lives looking for.”
Clarke sighed. “Well, I hope, for your sake, that you never find it.” - Page 106.

Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Title: Before I Fall.
Author: Lauren Oliver.
Publication Date: March 2nd, 2010.
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books.
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult.
Format: Paperback, 341 pages.
Source: Bought.
My Rating:

They say to live every day as if it's your last - but you never actually think it's going to be. You always think you'll have more time. That's what I thought. But I was wrong.


The thing is, you don't get to know when it happens. You don't remember to tell your family that you love them or - in my case - remember to say goodbye to them at all.

What if, like me, you could live your last day over again? Could you make it perfect? If your whole life flashed before your eyes, would you have any regrets? Are there things you'd want to change?

 

Review

Sam is just your average, popular girl, waking up one day on Cupid's day - a day most people are eagerly anticipating. The evening involves a party, which is loud and parent less. On the way home with her friends that night, the best friends; Sam, Lindsay, Ally and Elody are in a car accident and Sam is pretty sure she's dead when things go black. However, Sam wakes up in the morning to the same day, the same conversations, and the same party. Sam has seven days to make her last day on earth right, to set things straight, to change what happened.

I'd heard a lot of hype about this book and I thought it sounded really interesting so I started reading it. I have to say, at first, I wasn't overly impressed and was debating about just putting it down. I wasn't sure how I'd keep reading repetition and everything. However, the more I read, the more amazing the book got.

I don't usually like overly popular characters, because they're so full of themselves and makes me want to strangle them, and that's what Sam's and her friend’s characters are. However, Sam's character develops over the books and she begins to wonder why she's being to mean and rude to people she barely knows and judging people before she knows who they really are. She changes and grows and only when that started happening did I actually like her character.

This book plays with your emotions and had me crying at different points throughout it. I thought I knew what Sam would do next, but her character constantly surprised me and was always doing things I didn't think she'd ultimately do.

Overall, I thought this book was amazing. It's written in a way that makes you actually think about what you're reading, rather than racing your way through the book without taking in all the details about everything. It makes you realise that any day could be your final day living, and that you should make the most out of the time you have and not fritter it away being rude or dwelling on the past. I can't wait to read more from Lauren Oliver, she's an incredible writer! :)

Quotes

'How come Sam always gets shotgun?'
'Because you're always too drunk to call it.' - Page 88.

'You are so lucky your parents give you a credit card,' Courtney says, trotting after me as we leave the store. 'I've been begging mine for years. They say I have to wait until I'm in college.'
'They didn't exactly give it to me,' I say, raising one eyebrow. Her mouth falls open. - Page 167.

'Will you stop that?' Elody leans forward and presses my fingers - which have been tapping - flat against the table. 'You're driving me crazy.'
'You're not turning rexi, are you, Sam?' Lindsay gestures to my sandwich, which I've only nibbled around the edges. Rexi is her word for anorexic, although I've always thought it sounded like something you would name a dog. - Page 258.