Review: If There's No Tomorrow

If There's No Tomorrow by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I’ve read a few Jennifer L. Armentrout books by now, and my feelings have been continually mixed. On the one hand, she writes extremely addictive stories. I’m always happy to continue turning the pages, more than willing to see how everything comes together. On the other hand, I’ve never fallen truly in love with any of her stories. They interest me, but I could gladly step away. In fact, after my last Jennifer L. Armentrout book I decided she probably wasn’t an author for me. I could appreciate why people enjoy her work, but I knew there were plenty more authors out there who interested me a lot more. That is not to say I believe her to be a bad author – the legion of fans would suggest otherwise – I simply couldn’t see the point of reading more of her work when I knew there were other things I would enjoy more.

And yet.

Despite this, there was still some lingering curiosity towards some of the author’s work. In the case of If There’s No Tomorrow, we have a book that had caught my attention a few times. I know of plenty of people who really enjoyed this one, I’d heard so many great things. Thus, I decided to give Jennifer L. Armentrout one final try. With If There’s No Tomorrow sitting in my local library, it only seemed fair.

Of all the Jennifer L. Armentrout books I have read, I find If There’s No Tomorrow is the most difficult for me to review. In fact, I spent a long time flickering back and forth on my rating. A part of me wanted to round the rating up to a three-star rating, but a larger part of me said it needed to be rounded down to a two-star rating. It’s more of a two-point-five-star read, in truth, and I couldn’t quite decide which way to go. In the end, the larger part of me – the part saying to round down – won.

What had me rounding down instead of up was the lack of emotional punch. This story had the potential to destroy me, it had all the things you need for a heavy read that sticks with the reader for a long time. However, I never really felt anything towards this one. There were plenty of times where I saw a glimmer of what could be, but it failed to pull a single emotion from me.

Actually, that’s not true. It did bring emotions out, but they were not in relation to the events of the book. I found myself confused and annoyed by the way the leading lady in this book felt so much like the leading lady in other Jennifer L. Armentrout books. I felt as though I was reading the same character, only this time there was a bunch of product placement thrown in. None of this added anything to the overall story, and I feel as though it took up space that could have easily been used to create the necessary emotional reaction.

Clearly I’m in the minority with this view, though. Most people seem to have loved If There’s No Tomorrow, but I really had been hoping for more. So much more.

I think, at this point, it really is safe for me to say I’m done with Jennifer L. Armentrout. I can watch from afar as others enjoy her work, but I doubt I’ll be one of those people – especially when there are plenty of other options for me out there, options I know I will enjoy a lot more.

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