I did it!!! I finally finished my first book of the year. This year I want to go more in depth with my book reviews. I want to grow the way I write book reviews to give you the most spoiler free knowledge I can give. So, please bear with me as I try to figure out what this will look like. Let’s start with Never Look Back.
Never Look Back Summary
Never Look Back is a mystery thriller written by Alison Gaylin. It is a standalone and we follow multiple POVs throughout the book. The two consistent views are from Robin Diamond and April Cooper, but we get a scattering of other viewpoints as well throughout the book. The main premise of the novel is that we have this story of a teenage serial killing couple that went on a spree back in the 1970s. They were presumed dead after a fire and we are now dealing with the aftermath years later. Let me break it up more for you.
April Cooper
The 15 year old girl is half of the serial killing team. She and her boyfriend, Gabriel LeRoy, got away with multiple murders in the 70s. She was accused of being the instigator, but all may not be as it seems. When we read April’s point of view it’s in the form of journal entries as she documents parts of her life as letters to her future daughter.
Quentin Garrison
Quentin is a podcaster working on the story of the killings from the 70s as his aunt was a victim when she was just 4 years old. His best friend and his husband thought that Closure would help him after a rough upbringing. But as Quentin delves deeper into the story and a source says they think April is alive, things quickly spiral out of control and he may have just opened a can of worms that he can’t contain again.
Robin Diamond
After Robin hears from Quentin that he believes her mother is a serial killer, she thinks the accusation is absurd. However, before she can talk to her parents about it, tragedy strikes. In an apparent home invasion gone wrong her parents are both shot; her father dies and her mother is hospitalized. Robin struggles to find out what happened, if her mother has a secret, and has to deal with suspecting her husband is having an affair. As Robin wrestles with all of this she’s left wondering if she wants to know the truth after all.
What I Liked
I enjoyed the aspect of trying to figure out the truth along with Robin. And watching as Robin processes everything and tries to grow as a character leaves you rooting for her the entire time. The pacing of the story was also decent and I would say I flew through the last half of the book. I also think it’s a good story that leaves the reader with this one thought; How well do you really know your loved ones?
Never Look Back – My Negatives
I really thought I would eat this book up and enjoy it from start to finish. Unfortunately for me, I was left lacking. It felt like things were forced on so strongly, like the Alison was trying really hard to make you think. Now, maybe because I’m a fan of crime shows and true crime shows, but it wasn’t subtle. The story tried very hard to make you think one way, hoping to catch you off guard with a plot twist at the end. But there were so many aspects of the mystery that I figured out before the halfway point of the book. So when the gasp moments hit I was just like yup, I was right. Now, some things did catch me off guard, but not many.
Never Look Back Rating
Around the halfway point of the book I was ready to give this book a 2 star rating. However, the second half saved it a bit and I’m giving this a 3 star rating. The second half of the book I did enjoy and wasn’t as ready to put the book down. But, whether that was because I was completely consumed by the story or I just wanted to finish the first book of the year – unknown at this time. It wasn’t a terrible book, by any means. I was just annoyed at how blatantly obvious the finger pointing was, so I knew that the person was not guilty. When I have a story like this I want to be going back and forth in my head on if they are guilty or innocent.
What’s Next
I am already a few chapters into my next book. And I think I figured out a fun motivator for reading more. Anyone who watches BookTube knows all about the TBR Jar. I am going to make one and start in March. For those who are wondering what I’m talking about, a TBR (to be read) jar is filled with prompts to help you pick your next read. You figure out how many books you want to pick for the month and blindly pick that many prompts. Then you match them with books on your book shelf that you have not read. For myself I will use the library for prompts that do not fit any of the books on my shelf.
Until Next Time
I think it will be a fun little way to encourage me to read. And, with that I will also try to put more content out on my socials. So, if you’re interested in following along with that you can find the links to my socials on the bottom of my homepage. I am hoping to get at least one more book finished this month. But of course the next book I chose is really thick. I just checked and it’s 674 pages. Now, after hearing that there are people reading books that are over 1000 pages, I feel silly saying that. But I’m not there yet, so this is a chunker for me. Wish me luck and remember that anything can happen if you try.
