Book Review: Don't Read the Last Page by Catherine Downen

Welcome back to Bound to Writing! It’s been a minute since I’ve done a book review. My goal this year is to incorporate more indie book reviews on the blog. So here is the first one of the year. We’re starting with an author I’ve been following for quite some time on Instagram and picked up her YA contemporary second chance romance book last year. It’s titled, Don’t Read the Last Page by Catherine Downen.

I have been completely in love with romance books lately, so I figured I should start clearing the ones already on my Kindle/shelf. This cover had me hooked which is the driving reason for me picking this book up to begin with. Now let me get to the review on this book and why it wasn’t my favorite read.

Don’t Read the Last Page

Author: Catherine Downen

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Series: The DON’T Series Book 1

Publication Date: January 25, 2022

My Rating: 3 stars

Goodreads Synopsis: How many chances does love get?

Penny Wilson never wanted to break up with Christopher, but when she’s whisked away to college by her controlling best friend, Penny says goodbye to her hometown in Colorado and the boy her heart never wanted to leave.

Christopher Samson was the star of the basketball team, but his passion has always been photography. Now taking classes at the local community college, Christopher tries to heal his broken heart through his art.

When Penny decides to come home and take a semester off from school, her world crosses paths with Christopher, bringing them back together where it all ended the first time. A photography contest makes the ex-lovers partners once again. It’s only supposed to be five photos, but each picture they take—each second they spend together—reopens old memories and feelings.

Somehow, Penny’s quiet visit home with her family has turned into nights at her favorite diner with Christopher, photo shoots at the hot springs, and slow dances under the stars. Knowing she’s supposed to return to college in California that fall, Penny and Christopher walk a fragile line of reigniting their relationship and threatening another heartbreak.

Penny came home to rethink her future, not to fall back in love with Christopher, but for that to happen, she would have had to stop loving him in the first place.

“I know I’ve been here before. I’ve lived these pages with him already. It feels like I’m rereading our story, but this time, I won’t read the last page.”

Source: owned eBook

Topics & Triggers: Bullying, Eating Disorders, Second Chance Romance

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Don’t Read the Last Page is a book I really wanted to enjoy. However, as I’ll explain in my review, there are several problems I had with this book making my enjoyment of this book to only have me rate it 3 stars.

Characters

Our main character, Penny, goes through a huge transformation throughout the book. She learns to take control of her life and finds her voice. However, all that growth doesn’t seem to matter in the climax. She acts out of character and unlikable.

The love interest, Christopher, is a sweetheart. I wish we got more of him.

The mom is a great representation of an understanding parent and I really liked her. Then she acted out of character in the end.

And the controlling friend, yeah, I don’t believe her character development after everything in the story.

Writing Style

I like Catherine’s simplistic writing style. I feel like it was easy to read and become enveloped into the story. Though there is a lot of repetition in either dialogue or character thoughts. I enjoyed reading Catherine’s writing.

Plot

This second chance romance as a main plot works well. I like the relationship Penny and Christopher develop throughout the story. It’s the subplots that I struggled with enjoying. They didn’t provide much to the story and honestly felt as if they were taking away from the main plot. I think there are some important messages in this story that could have been better executed.

I truly wanted to enjoy this book and for a bit, I did. However, Don’t Read the Last Page didn’t deliver the way I had hoped. The characters were mostly enjoyable, until they went out of character to further the plot. The plot dragged on. Though the second chance romance plotline kept me reading, other plotlines felt like filler. The middle of the book was the best part. I like that this book kept me reading until the end even if I didn’t enjoy the ending.

Well, I know this wasn’t a fabulous review. Though, I’m optimistic that I’ll have better reads this year. Thanks for sticking through this review, so let’s chat about it below!