Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

****1/2

From Author's Website:

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?

I loved Sam.  She finds herself wandering in the forest, unsure of who she is, how she got there - just lost, in every sense.  Her path of discovery is fascinating.  What do you do when you realize you don't like who you were, but you don't remember any of it?  The Sam that everyone describes to her is completely foreign and at odds with her instincts.  And for her family - her mom, dad and twin brother - the change is disconcerting to say the least.  

I don't know what it is about douche-bags (or as JLA would say douche-canoes) in the books I'm reading lately, but Sam's boyfriend is a complete douche-bag.  I'm anti-spoiler, so I won't say anything more, but someone needs to beat that boy.  Luckily, Don't Look Back also has an awesome Forever Boy in Carson.  Of course, Sam's mean girl past pretty much guarantees that she treated Carson like crap (him being the son of the "help" and all).  How will Sam figure out what happened when everyone had a reason to want to hurt her and Cassie?

I'm pretty stingy with my ratings.  I believe I've only given 5 stars to two books in the three years that we have been blogging, so giving Don't Look Back 4 1/2 stars is huge!  I am a JLA fan, a devoted adorer of Daemon Black, loved The Covenant series, et cetera, et cetera.  That said, Don't Look Back may be my favorite JLA book.  It is incredibly well written, a phenomenal plot, intriguing and down right creepy!  I stayed up far to late reading Don't Look Back and then was too creeped out to sleep - this is the sign of a great mystery!

~Shel

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terril

* * * 1/2

What would you change?

Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain.

Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present—imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor while war rages outside. 

Marina has loved her best friend, James, since they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’s life crumbles, and with it, Marina’s hopes for their future. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it... at least, not as the girl she once was. Em and Marina are in a race against time that only one of them can win.

All Our Yesterdays is a wrenching, brilliantly plotted story of fierce love, unthinkable sacrifice, and the infinite implications of our every choice.


Review:

I’ve told you about my issues with time travel.  Time travel stories send me into an absolute tizzy that inevitably ends up with me getting into an argument with the Executive Officer about the impossibility of it all which then leads to the world’s biggest headache.  So the question I have to ask myself is this: Why am I such a masochist?  Because I willingly chose this story to read.  I requested it from Netgalley and then the library.  Twice, people.  I requested it TWICE.

Apparently I’m a glutton for punishment.

Or am I?

Because this book was pretty darn good.

The first chapter begins with Em staring at a drain in her prison cell.  By the end of the chapter she has found a way to open the drain and finds a list written in her own handwriting.  Everything on the list is crossed off except the last one, “You have to kill him.”  So she and her friend, Finn, escape their cells and go back in time to try to stop the creation of the time machine, Cassandra, before it can wreak havoc on the country and the world.

This story is in constant motion.  From beginning to end.  Some of it was predictable.  The relationship between Em and Marina was obvious (as was the identity of The Doctor) from the beginning even though I got the idea it was supposed to be a big surprise.  But that didn't detract from the story or lessen the anticipation I felt as I was turning the pages.  I found myself chewing on my nails in nervousness as I waited to see if Em and Finn would follow through with the last item on the list and, if so, how it would change their existence.

There were a couple things I didn't like about the story.  Em’s inability to commit to her task 100% drove me crazy at times.  But since that failing is a driving part of the story I can’t complain too much.  Also, there is a fairly useless scene at the very end of the book that tries to explain the inevitability of the person Marina will fall in love.  I think the message of hope and magic of the future’s possibilities would have been just as obvious and possibly had more of an impact had that scene not been included.

In the grand scheme of things, my complaints are small.  This was a fun and action-packed read.  If you enjoy stories of time travel, you will certainly enjoy All Our Yesterdays.

Nat

Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland

* * * 1/2

Available May 7th, 2013

For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she’ll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.

Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn’t.

When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.

But it’s the things Cricket hadn’t counted on--most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits--that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.

A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.

It's the cover that sold me on this book. I mean, look at the gorgeous blue ocean! And hey, rolling around on the sand with a hottie can be fun too. Who wouldn't want a getaway like that?

Cricket's dream summer isn't exactly getting off right when she arrives on the island and her best friend Jules is less than enthusiastic about her being there followed by her crush rejecting her. The adversity she faces here and learns to overcome are relevant to this particular time in a teenager’s life. Your friends are everything. Your longstanding crush is your constant obsession. So what does she do? She decides to stay low, give them space and come up with Plan B. This is what I like about Cricket. She may be hurt, confused and at a loss about why her friend has become a major pain but she hangs in there without giving up hope. Knowing that Jules is going through a rough time and that no matter what, she wants to be there for her, Cricket makes the most of the uncomfortable situation to open herself up to new experiences.

Since the invitation  to stay with Jules is off the table, she ends up working at a bed and breakfast where she befriends a fellow “chambermaid”, Liz and becomes an intern for a writer who’s working on the biography of a local celebrity politician. I have to give her kudos for making the most out of things and not just throwing in the towel to run back home because things turned upside down. She uses this time away from her divorced parents to figure herself out. And it’s during this time that an unlikely bond develops between her and someone else that changes her outlook on things but that could also complicate the friendship she's trying to repair.

I won’t go into any more details because to be honest, I simply enjoyed how this story unfolded and I hope that you do too once you read it. It’s not a story with a mind-blowing ending but it has plenty of merits. While most teenagers would be utterly devastated that their best friend isn’t speaking to them or is purposefully shunning them, Cricket puts on a brave face and goes about her business. Though I realize that would be rather difficult to accomplish in the real world, her attitude is something to aspire to. Which is why I stayed up late to finish this book in one sitting – sleep be damned!

Nantucket Blue is simply delightful and it's a nice reminder that sometimes when things don’t exactly go your way, may be it’s because something better is going to happen.

~ Bel