In AND DON’T LOOK BACK by Rebecca Barrow, Harlow Ford has been on the run her entire life with her mother, Cora. Every time Harlow readjusts to a new town and new friends, her life is uprooted again. Harlow doesn't know who they are running from and why her mother, although an adequate parent, is distant and disconnected at times. When they have to pack and hit the road again in the middle of the night, their car is hit by an eighteen-wheeler, and as Harlow’s mother lies dying, she tells Harlow two things; how to access a safety deposit box and "don't look back."
When Harlow makes it to the town of Crescent Ridge, she finds the contents of the safety deposit box includes cash, fake IDs, life insurance documents, the deed to a house, and pictures of her mother with two other girls. Harlow soon learns her mother had sisters and a mother who went missing. As she moves into her mother’s haunted childhood home, Severn House, she starts to unravel some of her mother’s past. Why did Harlow’s grandmother go missing? And what happened to Harlow’s sisters when left on their own in the house in the woods? Will a former cop and a private investigator help Harlow find the answers she's seeking, or do they have other motives? As Harlow digs deeper, she learns of family secrets, desperate actions, and the reason for her life on the run. Can she survive and forge a new life for herself and her newfound family?
AND DON’T LOOK BACK starts with a bang as the danger closes in on Harlow and her mother, forcing them to run again. Suddenly, Harlow is alone and thrust into a world full of secrets. Harlow is resilient and tough as she sets out to find the truth about her mother’s past. There are some nice twists and turns that increase the danger for Harlow, and some shocking reveals that change the story. The pacing is good at the start, slows in the middle, and then ramps up at the end. The characters are interesting, but almost all the characters are sapphic women, which feels a little unrealistic. Overall, this is an entertaining YA read, which will keep readers engaged and wondering until the final reveal.
After her mother’s death, a teen pieces together the truth of her family’s past and what her mom was hiding from in this thriller that’s perfect for fans of Courtney Summers and Tiffany D. Jackson.
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.
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