Review Catch Up

If you couldn't tell by the title, I'm trying something new. It's a big understatement to say that I haven't been the best blogger about writing reviews. I've been absolutely awful about it, really. I've wanted to do something about it for quite a while now, but I just didn't know how. Since I'm tired of feeling bad for having books from publishers that I've never reviewed, I'm starting with those.

So here's the plan. In the (8) weeks leading up to TLA this year I'm going to be posting a sort of monthly wrap up for the months April-November. These will have reviews for all the ARCs I read that came out that month. They will also have a review for my favorite book or series that I read in the month. Does that make sense? Well, I hope so because I'm starting with April right now.

I only have one ARC to review this month, but that's okay because I loved it.

Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Release date: April 15th, 2014
Received from Disney-Hyperion at TLA 2014
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?

This book proved to me that Jennifer L Armentrout can write just about anything and I'll love it. She's done greek mythology, hot aliens, New Adult, hot gargoyles, the list goes on. Now she's written a murder mystery and of course I absolutely loved it.


I love mysteries and really don't read them enough. Mainly because I tend to ruin them for myself. I spend so much of the book trying to put together all the pieces to see the big picture. I don't always figure it out-I'm not that smart-but I'm not always surprised, either. That wasn't the case with this twist. I had a fleeting what if in the middle of the book but then discarded it and thought something else was going on. Turns out I should have stuck with that. So even though it sounds like I figured it out, I didn't think that was really what was going on. When I found out it was, in a way, I was blown away.


While I love mystery, I'm not a big fan of memory loss stories. But this one was done wonderfully. I loved how Cassie didn't just have to figure out what happened-she had to figure out who she was. As she started getting her memories back she really had to figure out who she wanted to be. She wasn't the nicest person and seeing her get a second chance was refreshing. Being a JLA book it of course had a great romance. I liked seeing Sam's other relationships, too. It was nice to see the people that were still there for her.


I don't know why I was surprised, but this blew me away.  It was so much more than the usual murder mystery story and I never saw anything coming. Like I said Jennifer L. Armentrout can do everything. If you want another book by her or are just in the mood for a crazy ride, you should pick this up.

So this is what these posts will (hopefully) look like. I'm excited but nervous at the same time. I just hope I can keep it up. I'll be back next week with plenty amazing books that came out in May.