Super creepy and engaging. Keeps you on your toes about whether or not there's a supernatural element or not. I also like the use of a dual-timeline and the twists that I did not see coming.

This book was requested by a previous Lesbrary reviewer who did not finish or review it. In order to keep my Netgalley feedback up to date, I am submitting this review marking it as a DNF, though it was another reviewer who requested this.

"And Don't Look Back" by Rebecca Barrow is a gripping and emotionally charged thriller that keeps readers on edge with its suspenseful twists and deep character exploration. Its intense plot and relatable themes make it a standout in the genre.

Review made possible thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher. Content warning for child abuse.

And Don’t Look Back has some beautiful writing. There were times early in the book where some of the sentences sort of went on a little too long and I was like “crap, please no”. Thankfully as the book progressed, the sentences that had started out meandering in the beginning found their footing deeper in. They were beautifully written and had such a hold on me.

Honestly, this entire story did. It follows Harlow and her mom. Harlow is rarely ever allowed to be Harlow. She and her mom are always on the move. There’s no dad in the picture. Just the two of them. Which, you’d think, might make them close. But it doesn’t. They don’t hug or hold hands. They don’t even really talk. It’s been that way Harlow’s entire life. And just like the rest of her life, she’s always been someone else. Complete with fake ID. Not just her but her mom.

They move a lot. With no warning. Harlow would come home from school or get picked up when she was younger and her mom would say they were leaving. And that was that, no explanation. Pack up what you’ve got and we’re gone.

From the beginning I wondered if it was something supernatural. Especially because the author has such a good voice for supernatural elements. She wrote everything in a way where it would be completely believable if there were ghosts or ghouls waiting to grab the two of them. Seriously, she made things so creepy.

We get some queer rep in this book which is always an A+ for me and the cast is mainly Black people.

See, Harlow has only ever had her mom until something happens that leaves her on her own with her mom’s words in her head. “And don’t look back.” But when Harlow gets the contents of a safety deposit box her mom left for her, she gets far more than she could have bargained for in the form of pictures and a deed to a house. Plus $15,000.

I did enjoy this book. Harlow is a decent narrator and some of the twists were fun. When it comes to the queerness of her character, it isn’t hidden away. Harlow sees a pretty girl and basically starts building a life together with the girl in her head. If the book were a comedy she’d be a baby U-haul lesbian.

And while I did enjoy the book, I didn’t love it. When the third act rolled around and some things were revealed, I had guessed 75% of them. Sure, I’m an adult and this is for teens but a well read teenager could figure it out. That’s not a ding exactly. I just saw some things coming that made it difficult for me to give this book a very high rating.

I do have an issue with the book however and that is the lack of a content warning for child abuse. I have said it a million times: put content or trigger warnings in your books. In the coming sentence I’ll be describing child abuse as it was described on the page. So be kind to yourself and maybe skip this part if you have to.

That said, Harlow’s grandmother, a woman who went missing by the name of Eve, abused her children. White woman with Black daughters and she abused all of them. Verbally and physically. And it is described in detail. Slaps, verbal degradation, the description of abuse using belts.

I grew up in a similar environment, scarily similar actually with a white mom to a Black daughter and I was abused in an identical manner. When I read the descriptions on the page, I had flashbacks. Had to stop reading and had physical symptoms of PTSD that I had to manage because of it.

If I had known going in that this was something that I would have been reading, I could have prepared myself and had things lined up to make myself comfortable. Instead, I had to deal with the psychological unpleasantness and I know there will be others who will feel that as well.

End of child abuse discussion.

All that said, while I liked this book, I didn’t love it. But I did enjoy some of the twists in the end.

I give it 3 stars and would recommend it to older teens with the warning of the on page child abuse description.

Harlow and her mom have been on the run her entire life. She doesn't know why they're running, or what they're running from, only that they have to keep going. Each time they move, there comes a new school, a new name, a new personality. It's getting more and more difficult for Harlow to keep doing this.

We see this in real time as the story opens and they're leaving in the middle of the night once again. In the course of the latest escape, Harlow and her mom are involved in a fatal car accident. Harlow is frantic as her mom is dying, not knowing what to do. Her mom instructs Harlow to find the key to her safe deposit box, and to never stop running.

With no other choice but to say goodbye and leave her mother behind, Harlow does as she is told. When she locates the box, she finds money, insurance documents, and a plethora of fake IDs - things that would be expected. What Harlow is surprised by is a photo of her mom as a teen with two other girls, a deed to a house, and newspaper reports about the disappearance of Eve Kennedy, Harlow's grandma.

Harlow has to decide if she is going to keep running, or face whatever has caused her mother so miuch fear for the entirety of Harlow's life.

As we might expect of a lone teen who literally has almost nothing, Harlow decides to stop running. She heads to the house located in a town she has never heard of, to see what she can find.

One of the hardest things in the book for me, was Harlow's mental health. She has no time to even mourn her mother's death. She is completely alone in the world with this huge secret threat that was never hers to begin with, and having to unravel it on her own. Other characters do come in of course, though I do not want to say too much, so I don't spoil anything, but Harlow has to do so much on her own and that's a lot for someone who is still a child. Nothing in Harlow's life up to this point has prepared her for adulthood and she has so much to figure out without her mom around to guide her. On the other hand, her mom is the very person who has not helped prepare Harlow, so in a round-about way, maybe it is better that she is on her own? That sounds so awful to say. I don't know.

I've read enough YA thrillers that not much surprises me anymore, and that is mostly the case here. That did not stop me from enjoying the story though, becuase I feel it is well-written.

Recommended.

This a horror/suspense with a range of representation. The absolute strength of the novel is the plot twist, I was not expecting it. It was emotional and suspenseful. An enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. A little slower than I'm use to with thrillers. Toyed with supernatural and unreliable narrator. I wanted it to dig a little deeper than it did.

And Don't Look Back
by Rebecca Barrow
Pub Date: 03 Oct 2023

Harlow has never stayed in one place for very long. She and her mom have always been on the run, from who or what? Harlow's mom never told her. As teenager she was starting to think that maybe her mom was just paranoid, but still refrained from asking questions.
And suddenly, they are packing and off again in the middle of the night...and everything goes terribly wrong. Left alone with some clues her mom left her, Harlow makes her way back to where it all started and begins her journey to learning about the family she never knew existed surrounded by dark secrets that many feel should have stayed buried.
Harlow wants to know the true and will stop at nothing until she gets it.
#AndDontLookBack
#RebeccaBarrow
#Netgalley

Harlow Ford does not know who she really is because her mother for some unknown reason regularly l decides to leave town and change their names and story. Harlow is not on the best of terms with her mother because as a teenager in high school she would like a bit of continuity in her life. Then her mother is killed in an automobile accident and Harlow discovers some link to her mother's past along with some money her mother had saved. With those clues, Harlow decides to discover who she is and where she came from. Everything is difficult because Harlow is not sure who she can trust. This is a good read that I recommend for teens. I received this as an arc from NetGalley and am under no pressure for a positive review.

Rebecca Barrow is a certified thriller queen and I know I can always count on Barrow to deliver ever since Bad Things Happen Here. In And Don't Look Back it's a multi-generational story about unraveling secrets. About running from our fears. While there's this strong core of mystery and thriller, of the eeriness and suspense creeping up on us, there's this foundation of mothers and daughters. This relationship which can be tangled up with resentment, love, and anger all in one.

Harlow and her mother have been on the run her entire life, and Harlow reinvents herself at each new place. When they take off yet again, her mother doesn’t survive a car accident. Although mentioned in the description, it still caught me by surprise when it happened so suddenly. Before dying, her mother tells her where to find the key for a safety deposit box and to keep running. The items in the box give Harlow the means to do exactly that, but they also reveal more questions about her mother’s past and Harlow’s family. She now has a choice to make – carry out her mother’s last wish or find the people in the photos and learn why she and her mother were on the run for so long.

I enjoyed the alternating timelines that gradually reveal her mother’s past and the layered secrets Harlow discovers. There are a couple of plot twists I didn’t see coming, and I love it when that happens. The more Harlow uncovers, the more questions arise. Just when I thought I knew where the story was headed, some new discovery lead in a different direction.

The story starts as an intriguing mystery and ends as an exciting thriller, and I was satisfied with the ending. I’d recommend this to readers who enjoy unpredictable mysteries, long-held secrets, and family themes.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

And Don’t Look Back is a suspense-filled YA mystery that follows teen Harlow Ford, who has been on the run with her mother since she was young. After the death of her mother, Harlow goes to her mom’s hometown to try to find out her family’s secrets that have been buried for years.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the mystery was very intriguing and the story had a lot of twists that I didn’t see coming. I loved Barrow’s writing and I thought Harlow was a strong main character. I definitely recommend this thrilling read, especially to lovers of young adult mystery/thrillers. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

This was a fun and quick read, yet a little unrealistic. I understand it is a thriller and there are supposed to be twists and turns, but at times they seemed a little over the top.

Harlow and her mother have been on the run for as long as she can remember, until one day her mother dies in a car accident, leaving Harlow a safety deposit box as her parting gift. But all this provides are clues to a past that is shrouded in secrecy: a town she’s never heard of, a house in the middle of the woods and a missing woman. Can Harlow unravel the clues she’s been left before it’s too late?

This book was fully of mystery, suspense, and a little horror. I enjoyed this book and learning about Harlow, her mother, Cora, and their family history.
Harlow and her mother have been on the run for as long as Harlow can remember. They never stay in one place long, always have a new identity, and are always looking over their shoulder. The only problem is, Harlow has no idea what they are running from. Her mother refuses to tell Harlow the details in order to shelter her. When Harlow and her mom are involved in a horrible are wreak, Harlows mom is killed. Before she dies, she makes Harlow promise her will not stop running.

Harlow knows she should honor her mother’s wishes but she also has always dreamed of being herself and staying in one place. She sets off on an adventure to fill in the pieces of her history.

There are twists and turns and lots of mystery thrown in. I enjoyed this book and imagine YA audience would love it.

I enjoyed the beginning of the book but by the end it kind of dragged on. The big twist at the end felt like it was added on at the last minute. Ultimately this book wasn’t for me.

Oh, this was GREAT! I've been a fan of Rebecca Barrow's books ever since her debut novel and have gladly followed her into the realm of mystery/thriller novels. And Don't Look Back follows Harlow Ford, a teenage girl raised constantly on the run by her paranoid mother, who refuses to elaborate on her past or who she believes is chasing the two of them. Harlow has grown used to crafting new personas for a few months at a time before abruptly departures, so she's not surprised when her mother tells her its time to leave their current home with no warning. What's different this time, however, is the eighteen-wheeler that crashes into their car as the two of them flee town, fatally injuring Harlow's mother. She begs Harlow to keep running and gives her the key to a deposit box a few towns over, inside of which Harlow finds fifteen grand in cash, a stash of fake IDs for the two of them, an old photo of her mother with two aunts she never knew existed, and documents that lead her to the family home she never knew existed. Determined to get to the bottom of her mother's secrets, Harlow heads to Crescent Ridge, Washington in an attempt to untangle the secrets that have defined her life.

Like Barrow's previous thriller, Bad Things Happen Here, And Don't Look back is a character-drive thriller that combines a mystery with a coming-of-age arc for the protagonist. Raised on the run and constantly wary, Harlow is a canny protagonist who's spent her life longing for normalcy, but finds only more secrets when she returns to her family home. This is a slow burn of a thriller, but it helped that I was quite invested in Harlow as a character and that kept me reading as she dug into her family's history. Chapters from the point of view of her mother as a teenager are also sprinkled throughout, offering tantalizing hints at what drove her away from home for decades.
This is also kind of a haunted house story (despite not having any paranormal elements), which I personally loved, as Harlow settles into her mother's childhood home, empty and abandoned for years, and tries to piece together what lead its former inhabitants to leave. The result is an atmospheric and suspenseful story starring a smart, likable heroine I couldn't help but root for.
The last twenty percent of this book also had my eyes absolutely GLUED to the page. Barrow's slow-burning plot and sense of suspense really pay off at the end and I was TRULY shocked by some of the plot twists that come to light near the end. Rebecca Barrow definitely hit the ending out of the park with this one!

If you like twisty curvy types of reads without knowing exactly what could be lurking around the next page, this could be the book for you. There were a lot of (ha, you thought you had this solved) moments and enough action to keep the pages flying. Recommend for those that like ya murder mysteries with twists.!

Fast-paced horror with twists that hits all the right tropes, and is diverse and sapphic- literally how could a reader ask for more?

Perfect for spooky season reading, but really, just perfect to read anytime.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this diverse and unique YA horror novel. My opinions are my own.

This is a great Horror/Mystery book that will keep the reader on their toes.

Harlow has been on the run with her mom since she can remember. It’s not until they get into a car accident that Harlow has to now continue on her own. Her mom, tells her where their emergency supplies are and to keep running. Instead of following her mom’s instructions, Harlow goes back to the place it all started for her mom, to find answers to questions she’s had for years. Harlow ends up on a journey that she wasn’t prepared for and finds out the actual truth about her missing “grandma”.

This book keeps the reader guessing from start to finish and it’s not until the end where the reader realizes Cora still took a secret to the grave with her.

"Keep moving. Keep Running. Don't ever look back!"

When Harlow Ford's secretive mother dies, Harlow inherits a house that may be haunted as she searches for answers. Does the house have something to do with her mother Cora? This mystery thriller kept me guessing from the beginning to the end. I rooted for Harlow Ford because she deserves love, joy, happiness and a normal life. If you're looking for a book that has autumn twisty mystery and coming of age vibes.

Thanks to Turn the page tours and Simon Teen for hosting this scary book tour.