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

Title: Don't Look Back
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher:  Disney Hyperion
Published Date: April 15th 2014
Genre: YA, Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary
Page Count: 369
Format: Paperback

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary: 
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?

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 My Review:

"Because it wasn't okay- it was never going to be okay. I was stuck in this life I didn't remember, squeezed into the shell of this girl- in this Samantha Jo Franco- and the more I learned about her, the more I was starting to hate her."

Samantha was a mean girl along with her best friend Cassie. Except since the accident and Samantha losing most of her memories, she starts to relearn who she was and how she treated people. She sees how truly awful she was and wants to try and make amends for what she had done. Except her old friends and boyfriend don’t really like this new her and want the old one back.

As for her family. Well her brother likes the new her for the most part. But her parents don’t really like this new Samantha, sure they kind of like it, but they also miss something things that the old Samantha did, mostly her ex-boyfriend's family.

"I didn't want to remember the terrible things I'd said and done, but I suppose it didn't matter. Even if I couldn't remember who I was, everyone else would never forget. No matter how badly I wanted to ignore the person I used to be, I couldn't escape a past I didn't remember." 

What really happened to Cassie was a surprise to me. I never would have guessed that on my own, but after we were told it was easy to see how the signs were there the whole time.

Samantha’s new romance I liked for the most part, but at times it just seemed a little weird as well considering how awful Samantha had been to him. 

"You deserve someone who can give you the world, someone who can stand on his own. Do you understand me?"

What I liked the most though was Samantha’s brother and the sibling relationship they had. Even though she had treated him like dirt for quite awhile he was still there for her when no one else was. And when a certain person was trying to make her believe that she really was going crazy. Her brother was there and made sure she was always okay. Which was a good thing considering how absent her mother was throughout the whole thing.

"Things weren't perfect. They were far, far from it, but they were getting there, and I wasn't look back. Not when there were so many good things in the future."

I’m glad I gave Armentrout a second chance with this book after I didn’t enjoy her Lux series. If she writes more books like this one I can’t wait to read them.