Can't Look Away by Donna Cooner

Can't Look Away by Donna Cooner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Torrey Grey is famous – at least, she is on the internet. Thousands of people watch her beauty vlog for tips on how to be popular and pretty. But when Torrey’s sister is killed in an accident her world implodes, especially as she feels partly to blame. And that’s when the trolling starts

How can Torrey mourn her sister in private, when her bubbly public persona is all over the web? Then she meets Luis, whose family owns the local funeral home, and he challenges all that Torrey thought she knew about love, life, and loss.

This is a book that I had been sent to review ages ago and just never got round to it...Sorry! Finally I have though and I thought overall it was an O.K read. I actually give it 3.5* however have rounded it up to 4 for Goodreads and Amazon.

I thought from reading the blurb that this book was going to be about a YouTube vlogger and this made me excited as I haven't read any books like this before, yes I know there are tons out there based on this theme but I haven't yet got to one. However I found this more emotional than expected and the YouTube vlogging aspect didn't have such as a prominent part in the plot as I expected.

Torrey and her mother and father have just moved to Texas, there was an accident which killed her sister in their home state and have gone to live near her fathers brother for a new start. Torrey finds it difficult to have a new start due to her popularity on her channel and many people know who she is, some are sympathetic, however others blame her for the accident.

This novel is about how Torrey copes with her sisters death and dealing with the other issues that being a teenager brings. There are times through the book which slip back into the past, where Torrey is remembering something that has happened with her sister. This was quite nice as her sister is quite a main part of the story and the reader gets to know her a little.

I didn't like how shallow Torrey was for the majority of the story, being an internet sensation and popular was not the be all and end all and at times I thought she was mean to others. I guess this was Torrey just trying to find her feet, however I also think that if she had just lost her sister that should have put things into perspective for her and realise that those things are really not important. This may though come with age and Torrey hasn't got there yet.

Overall it was a quick, easy read and relatively short, I managed to read this in a couple of sittings and the only reason I couldn't finish it in one go was because I had to visit people. I didn't love it but at the same time it wasn't dreadful either. I think this book would appeal to those who are trying to become 'famous' or being popular at school. I feel the book is very current with the use of YouTube and perhaps would help deal with cyber bullying.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.