If you haven't read Don't Turn Around, the first book in the series, there's probably some spoilers here, and some of what I say may not make much sense. We get both Noa's and Peter's perspective in Don't Look Now, but they are not together and barely even communicate because of security risks. Noa and Zeke and several other new and returning characters are trying to find Project Persephone facilities and save kids. Peter is working on the data, trying to hack into servers and find incriminating information.
I just felt like Don't Look Now is just more of the same. For about 80% of the book our characters are just spinning their wheels, The last 20%, while exciting, still didn't add much to our plot. The characters are basically in the same spot they were at the beginning of Don't Look Now. Yes, there were some secrets revealed, but I didn't think they were that earth-shattering and certainly didn't require an entire book to expose.
Don't get me wrong. Don't Look Now is written well, and it kept my interest. There were exciting points, they had some adventures, and I never wanted to quit reading. My problem is that at the end of the book, I didn't feel we had gotten anywhere. I think this is a perfect example of what people call "second book syndrome." I think you could cut Don't Look Now down to about 50 pages and stick it on the beginning of the next book and things would have been much tighter. It seems that many authors think that three books is the way to go, no matter what story they are telling. You know, some series could be much better with only two books. Three books should not be required.
So, yea, if you liked Don't Turn Around I'd still recommend Don't Look Now. I just wouldn't have high expectations as far as these kids being anywhere closer to solving their mystery than they were at the beginning of the book.
Published by HarperCollins, August 27, 2013
eBook obtained from Edelweiss
336 pages
Rating: 3/5
I read book 1 but I didn't love it enough to really give this one a try, especially knowing it's more or less the same. Meh. But glad it wasn't a total loss at least :)
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