Fast paced action with a couple of twists at the end. This story felt really familiar to me, a de ja read type of situation. So have I read a similar story line or is this just too full of tropes? I'm really not sure. I did enjoy the characters and story line though.

Very spooky, and mysterious. Perfect for fans of Rory Power. Harlow is a really believeable teenager. Even though she made some questionable decisions, I really liked Harlow. Her flaws and surprisingly trusting nature, despite everything that has happened in her life, are what make her such an interesting FMC. The fact that she is young and trusts the adults around her, like most teens, is actually very important to the story. When everything comes to a head you do feel an intense dread for her. Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this one just in time for Halloween.

This book was so compulsively readable, I finished it in one day. It's a propulsive thriller with the highest of stakes and some excellent commentary on family trauma, abuse, racism, and a variety of other things, all while having incredibly fun moments and some truly exceptional character development. I do think one of the twists before the end was a bit...anticlimactic and didn't work as well as I'd hoped. There was a lapse, to me, in logic and behavior that took me out of the novel for a bit. BUT the final twists worked very well and somewhat made up for that. I think it's one of the best YA thrillers of the year.

YA horror/thrillers are in an era of their own right now, and this is one to prioritize on your ever-growing TBR.
Harlow is real, tangible, equally paranoid, gullible, and courageous. Her entire life was a lie up to the last few pages. I'm sure the savvy will figure it out, but those who love to be surprised and thrown for a loop you will not be disappointed. After several attempts at getting to the truth of her life, Harlow finally finds honest connections but she goes through hell to get there. Definitely some serious generational trauma and difficult issues are dealt with.
I will say I am usually a fan of sweet sapphic romance and what it can add to character dimension. In this case nearly every relationship was girl/girl, but Harlow's love interest was a sideshow of insta-love that felt a bit like a means to an end.
Many thanks to NetGally, Rebecca Barrow and publisher for the e-copy and opportunity to review.

This was a quick read for me. Cora and her daughter have been in the run Harlows whole life, until one night when her mom is killed in a car accident. Harlow decides to visit the home her mom grew up in, to learn that she kept too many secrets from her daughter. There were many twists and turns, some of which seemed unnecessary. Overall, this was a good read.

I couldn’t put this one down, and just had to know what was going to happen next. And Don’t Look Back was very suspenseful and I appreciated that it had multiple mysteries going on at once in the plot. There were a couple of moments that I thought were a bit annoying, and that the characters had an overreaction to an event, but overall I enjoyed it. Seeing the main protagonist come into her own was also very intriguing. After so many years of having to pretend to be others she can finally discover who she actually is. That combination of self discovery alongside the uncovering of family history is secrets made for a satisfying read. If you’re into thrillers and mysteries, I recommend this one!

Although I was set to really this enjoy this novel, I had a very hard time with actually finishing it. The idea is good- blindly running from her mother's past, but I was a bit confused by the beginning and found there to be large plot holes- big enough I couldn't get past them. I also had a hard time with the writing.I can't out my finger on it exactly, but it felt as though there was a lot of switching between points-of-view. There was something off-putting about the third person and the repetition of "Harlow" in place of appropriate pronouns.

An edge-of-your-seat thriller that follows Harlow Ford as she scrambles to uncover an unknown past and family secrets. Harlow and her mom, Cora, have spent Harlow's entire life running from someone. Her mom never tells her who or the details, they just keep a low profile and are ready to run at any hint of danger. During their most recent run, they are in a fatal car accident and Harlow is now on her own with nothing but clues of the past her mom left in a safety deposit box. As Harlow starts piecing the clues together, she returns to her mom's childhood home, the Severn House.

I found some parts of the book, especially the middle, to be a little slow and difficult to get through. I also struggled to connect with some of the characters, especially Sloane and Ruby. Overall, an enjoyable read for fans of dark, twisted thrillers.

Thank you to Rebecca Barrow, NetGalley, and Margaret K. McElderry Books for an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

The cover of this book is what first drew me in, and the synopsis really cemented my desire to read this book.
Harlow and her mother have been on the run seemingly for no specific reason as far as Harlow knows. Anything could be the trigger to jump ship and travel to a new place. When Harlow and her mother are in a car accident and her mother dies, Harlow finds out about a past she never knew existed, and even though her mother told her to keep running the lure of learning the secrets her mother never spoke of is too much to resist and she heads to her mother's childhood home to see what she can uncover.

I really enjoyed Harrow's journey to finding not only her past but who she really is without all the pretending. Each secret she uncovered about her family led to 10 more, and there were a lot of twists within the story that kept me guessing.

BOOK: And Don’t Look Back
AUTHOR: Rebecca Barrow
PUB DATE: 10/3/23 by Margaret K. McElderry
PAGES: 336
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
GENRE: YA/Suspense/Thriller

A BIG THANK YOU to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

AUTHOR ACCOLADES: Rebecca Barrow is the critically acclaimed author of Bad Things Happen Here, Interview with the Vixen, This Is What It Feels Like, and You Don’t Know Me But I Know You. She is a lover of sunshine, Old Hollywood icons, and all things high femme. She lives and writes in England.

GR’s SUMMARY: Harlow Ford has spent her entire life running, caught in her mother’s wake as they flit from town to town, hiding from a presence that Harlow isn’t even sure is real. In each new place, Harlow takes on a new name and personality, and each time they run, she leaves another piece of herself behind. When Harlow and her mom set off on yet another 3 a.m. escape, they are involved in a car accident that leaves Harlow’s mother fatally wounded. Before she dies, she tells Harlow two things: where to find the key to a safety deposit box and to never stop running. In the box, Harlow finds thirty grand in cash, life insurance documents, and several fake IDs for both herself and her mom—an on-the-run essentials kit. But Harlow also finds a photograph of her mom as a teenager with two other girls, the deed to a house in a town she’s never heard of, and a handful of newspaper clippings discussing the disappearance of a woman named Eve Kennedy, Harlow’s grandmother…relics of a part of Harlow’s life she never knew existed. With these tantalizing clues about her mother’s secrets and the power to choose her own future for the first time, Harlow realizes she has two choices: keep fleeing her mom’s ghosts or face down the nebulous threat that’s been hanging over her for her entire life.

REVIEW: This was my first novel by Rebecca Barrow and I am hooked on her writing! This thriller had me turning page after page. There are many twists, and I didn’t see the ending coming. My heart went out to Harlow after she lost her mom and then had to be on the run by herself, not knowing what she was running from. I hung on to every word as I watched pieces of the puzzle come together. This was suspenseful and I was anxious to see how it would all play out! I look forward to reading more books by this author!

Happy Reading!

𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙞𝙗 𝙘𝙖𝙜𝙚, 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙤 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙥. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮.


A delightfully twisty mystery that gave me all the atmospheric autumn vibes, AND DON’T LOOK BACK is a story of a girl on the run who’s forced to find herself and forge her own path in the world, all while having the threat of the unknown breathing down her neck and hiding around every corner. I was so invested in Harlow’s story and why she and her mother ran for so many years, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to get to the big reveal. And while I knew the reason had to be something dark, I certainly wasn’t expecting the reason to be what it was. Barrow did a fantastic job of fooling the reader, leaving plenty of options of what the reasons *could* be, and I was certainly way off the mark.

I loved Harlow, she was such a resilient and strong character and you couldn’t help but feel for her so deeply. The teen years are such a tough time and when you factor in the fact that she’s trying to figure out who she is, she has no family and no support system, no guidance whatsoever, and it just makes the job of figuring out her personal identity and her queerness that much harder. She’s a character that deserves all the happiness the world can give.

With an overall eerie quality to it that’s perfect for autumn and spooky season, this is the type of book that will make you think you’re being watched and will have you checking around just to make certain you’re not. Definitely pick this one up if you like atmospheric mysteries, thrillers, and coming-of-age tales. 4 stars.


*Many thanks to the publisher and Turn the Page Tours for having me on the IG tour and gifting a copy for review.

Not creepy but more so suspenseful
Interesting and intriguing. Straightforward plot! Loved the twists.

4.5 stars

Harlow Ford has spent her entire life running, caught in her mother’s wake as they flit from town to town, hiding from a presence that Harlow isn’t even sure is real. On their latest run, Harlow's mother dies in a car accident, and Harlow decides to face her mother's past and find out exactly what they were running from.

This book was amazing. I loved everything; the writing, the characters, the setting, the plot, the mystery. This is an amazing mystery thriller, with the perfect touch of spookiness. Harlow was a compelling and imperfect main character. She was a realistic teen, trying to navigate life and a world her mother didn't really prepare her for, while dealing with her grief. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I enjoyed the other main characters as well. A little touch of messiness was perfect.

I loved the mystery and all of the twists and turns this story takes. Those last few pages? *chef's kiss* The reason I'm giving 4.5 stars and not a solid 5 stars is that I sometimes struggled with the third person present tense POV, but that's just a me-problem. I also think the pace could've been a bit faster.

Overall I loved this book and will recommend it to both teens and adults.

Harlow and her mom have lived a life on the run. Picking up at a moments notice, new schools, new ids, new apartments, new everything. It is all Harlow has ever known. Until one night while on the run her mom is tragically killed in an accident. In her last breath telling her about a safety deposit box that will hold all the things Harlow needs.
What Harlow discovers is more than she could have imagined. But why were they always running?
The book had an amazing plot, perfect not only for the targeted YA audience, but adults as well, and the twist was well written and I felt unpredictable.
The romantic storyline seemed poorly written to me. Bits and pieces thrown in here and there and at times it didn’t make sense why. It also never closes out. Is it there with the purpose of have a romantic interest or to introduce a character?
Overall, 3 stars.

Wow. I feel like it’s been a hot minute since I’ve sat down to write a review! 😅

And Don’t Look Back is a different type of thriller. It’s slow paced, more of a mystery than a thriller in my opinion. I didn’t love this read, but I also didn’t hate it.

The story was slow, which was annoying for me. I appreciated that we got a lot of Harlow’s inner monologue and how she felt along the journey. But it was like wading through the mud, waiting for the thrills and chills to come.

The twists at the end were predictable, and that made me sad. I really wanted the shock factor to be high on this one, especially with all the build up. I mean, the synopsis, the COVER. It’s all stunning and a little creepy. But the story just didn’t deliver that.

All in all, it’s a good cozy mystery with incredible sapphic representation! Thank you Turn the Page Tours and Simon & Schuster for sending me a finished copy to review!

I thought this was a very interesting read. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I was very fast paced and I enjoyed it.

"And Don't Look Back" by Rebecca Barrow is a heart-pounding thriller that masterfully weaves together a teenager's search for the truth about her family's past and the secrets her mother left behind. This book is a gripping journey that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and is a must-read for fans of Courtney Summers and Tiffany D. Jackson.

Harlow Ford's life has been a constant whirlwind, marked by endless moves and the shadow of an elusive threat. From town to town, she and her mother have been running, leaving behind not just places but fragments of Harlow's identity. But when a car accident takes her mother's life, Harlow is thrust into a world of secrets and mystery that she never could have anticipated.

The story kicks into high gear when Harlow's dying mother imparts two crucial pieces of information: the location of a safety deposit box key and the command to never stop running. What Harlow discovers inside that box is a game-changer, revealing life-altering secrets about her mother's past, including fake IDs, a substantial amount of cash, and most intriguingly, a photograph of her mother as a teenager with two other girls, one of whom is her grandmother, Eve Kennedy.

Rebecca Barrow excels at creating a suspenseful atmosphere, drawing readers into Harlow's quest to uncover the truth. The book brilliantly explores the dichotomy of choice, as Harlow is faced with the decision to continue fleeing her mother's ghosts or confront the enigmatic threat that has hung over her throughout her life. Harlow's journey is one of self-discovery, resilience, and determination, and readers will find themselves rooting for her every step of the way.

The narrative is skillfully constructed, with each revelation and twist building upon the last, creating an intricate and satisfying mystery. Barrow's writing is evocative, capturing the emotions and tension of the characters as they navigate a web of secrets and lies.

"And Don't Look Back" is a riveting thriller that delves deep into the complexities of family, identity, and the consequences of running from one's past. It's a story that will leave you breathless and eager to turn the next page. Rebecca Barrow has crafted a compelling and suspenseful tale that will keep you guessing until the very end. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys a thrilling and thought-provoking read.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy!

This book was great. The writing was so beautiful, I'm definitely a fan of the author now.

Harlow is a very strongly written main character. The whole plot of the novel is her trying to find out what her mom was running from and keeping Harlow from for her whole life. The courage and bravery and just utmost strength that Harlow showed during her journey of discovery was very admirable. I loved how she didn't give up no matter how hard the situation became.

The pacing got a bit slower during the middle but bare with it because the ending packs a huge punch with so many revelations thrown within a short period of time.

I loved the theme of family and finding a place to belong that was spread throughout the book. I loved the bond of sisterhood and I loved the setting of the small town atmosphere. I also loved the representation of queer characters, there were so many!

I can't wait to read more from this author in the future.

I loved this one from the very start! Harlow and her mom never stuck around one place very long, always on to the next town and the next identity. However, as they leave another town in the middle of the night, tragedy strikes and Harlow’s left alone, but with new information about her mom and her life before Harlow. With this newly discovered information, Harlow heads across the country to her mother’s hometown to figure out what happened to her grandmother and, hopefully, solve the mystery of her mother’s need to escape. Along the way, she meets family members she didn’t know existed. Twists and turns abound, leading to an unexpected conclusion. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Turn the Pages Tour and NetGalley for allowing me to have an advance reader copy of And Don't Look Back. This was such a fun read full of twists and turns. I loved seeing some of Cora's past life as Harlow starts learning of the reason to why they can never stay in one spot. Not too mention I love that there was LGBTQ represented strongly in this book. The ending though. Oh my goodness, I had some ideas of what was going to happen but then this was a major flip. I love it.