Don’t Look Now by Michelle Gagnon

Series: PERSEFoNE (bk. 2)

Genera: Action Thriller/Suspense/Sci-fi

Subjects: hackers, computers, technology, experiments, foster care 

Setting: Boston, Massachusetts, Arizona and California

POV/Tense: 3rd person POV (alternating between Noah, Peter, Amanda and Teo), Past tense

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 319 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Noa Torsen is on the run. Having outsmarted the sinister corporation Pike & Dolan, Noa and her friend Zeke now move stealthily across the country, protecting runaways before they become test subjects for P&D's horrific experiments. Noa knows all too well what that feels like: Whatever they did to her has left her exhausted and scared.

Back in Boston, Peter anxiously follows Noa's movements from his computer, using his hacker skills to feed her the information she needs to stay alive. But he's desperate to do something more, especially when he learns what P&D has done to his ex-girlfriend Amanda.

Then, in an explosive confrontation, Noa and her team are trapped in the one place they thought was safe. It will take everything Noa and Peter have to bring down the corporation before it gets them first. And with no one to trust and enemies hiding at every turn, they may be the only people alive who can.

This stunning second book in the critically acclaimed Don't Turn Around trilogy raises the stakes to their absolute limit and will leave readers begging for the exciting conclusion, Don't Let Go.”

My Review: This sequel was definitely more thrilling and exciting than the first book. Still this series is lacking in the sci-fi department. It’s got its good point. There’s action and adventure and a bit of a mystery. The characters are okay, but I don’t really care much for them. There’s more romance in this book than the first. Not between Peter and Noa though. Peter and Noa are on opposite side of the country, and don’t meet up till the very end. Noa has a relationship going with Zeke, a hacker we met in the middle/near-end of the first book. They are in the southwest, California and Arizona. Peter is back with Amanda and still in Boston. We also get to meet a few new characters including Teo, a Hispanic boy from California. The story alternates in 3^rd person POV between Noa, Teo, Peter and Amanda. I don’t recall ever getting Zeke’s perspective. I’m not a big fan of switching perspectives when it’s written in 3^rd person.

I recently read a book called Blackout by Robison Wells, and this somehow remind me of it. This book didn’t have kids with superpowers, but there is a disease in this book called PEMA, and there’s teen vigilantes called Persefone’s Army. Most of the kid in the PA are runaways, orphans and kids who were in foster care. They’re living on the street or on the run. Peter just helps out by hacking, but he’s not a runaway. His parents are rich. Noa is the leader, and the team leader of the Southwest group. A lot has happened since the first book ended and I feel like there should have been a novella to abridge that gap. Four months have passed, and suddenly Zeke’s Noa’s boyfriend, the PA is created and Noa’s in the southwest and has connections. We missed out on a lot. The time line is definitely confusing.

Other than those issues, there’s solid improvement in this installment. I kind of wish that Noa did more hacking herself, or maybe that her extra-thalamus would give her super powers. She still has irregular eating and sleeping habits from it. I was also hoping to see what they did to other kids. Maybe the third book will have a twist or what I’ve been waiting for. There’s a twist near the end that’s about what PEMA is. I can’t wait to find out more. Don’t Look Now is a fast read, and I suggest reading Don’t Turn Around first. If you like books by Robison Wells, or Find Me by Romily Bernard, you may like this. If you like books about hacker, technology and teens on the run, then you should totally try this book series.

Cover Art Review: I like this cover better than the 1^st book’s hardcover. The orange, yellow and turquoise work well as a color scheme. The hexagons and the pixels are cool graphics. The title is nice and big. The hair photo is okay, and says thriller.

Don’t Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon

Series: PERSEPHoNE (bk. 1)

Genera: Action Thriller/Suspense/Sci-fi

Subjects: hackers, computers, technology, experiments, foster care, Massachusetts

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 310 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover (and now in Paperback!)

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “In Michelle Gagnon’s debut YA thriller, Don’t Turn Around, computer hacker Noa Torson is as smart, tough, and complex as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’s Lisbeth Salander.

The first in a trilogy, Don’t Turn Around’s intricate plot and heart-pounding action will leave readers desperate for book two.

Sixteen-year-old Noa has been a victim of the system ever since her parents died. Now living off the grid and trusting no one, she uses her hacking skills to stay anonymous and alone. But when she wakes up on a table in a warehouse with an IV in her arm and no memory of how she got there, Noa starts to wish she had someone on her side.

Enter Peter Gregory. A rich kid and the leader of a hacker alliance, Peter needs people with Noa’s talents on his team. Especially after a shady corporation threatens his life in no uncertain terms. But what Noa and Peter don’t realize is that Noa holds the key to a terrible secret, and there are those who’d stop at nothing to silence her for good.”

My Review: Kind of disappointed with this book. I was hoping it would be more sci-fi. There were a few things that were on the science fiction side, but also possible. PEMA, a made-up disease and what happened to Noa.

There were parts of this book that had a lot of action. Noa was on the run and Peter got his laptop stolen by guys in black suites. The main genera is definitely thriller. I though the hacking stuff was pretty interesting. I just got a MacBook Pro myself and was at the Apple Store setting it up. I could totally picture Noa just walking into the store and doing her thing. There were some funny parts too. Especially stuff that Peter said, or even Cody (a friend of Peter).

I enjoyed the setting in this book. I’m sick of books set in New York City or Los Angeles. I can’t think of a book that I’ve read set in Boston. It’s kind of refreshing. And with the events that occurred in Boston this year, kind of eerie. If I read this book last year, then I don’t think I would say that. This book talked a lot about foster care and runaways. This place called the Center, too. Noa spent a lot of time there and in foster home. When she learned to hack, she set up a fake family so she could live on her own.

This book is very well researched, clearly. I know the author isn’t a hacker herself, but she did a good portrayal. She actually used to work with foster care kids. I don’t think I’d compare this book to the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I didn’t read the book, but the movie was kind of weird. I’d compare Noa and Alex to the hackers on TV shows I like instead. I really wish there was more romance between Noa and Peter. I didn’t care much for Amanda, Peter’s now ex-girl friend. And I didn’t see why the parts from her perspective were really necessary. There was a lot of disjointedness in the plot and tons of unanswered questions.

I enjoyed this book enough that I’ll read the sequel, Don’t Look Now.

Cover Art Review: I can’t decide whether I like the hardcover or paperback version. Both the orange or the blue works. The hand and grid are cool. The hair is okay. The like both type treatments.