A story of family history and family trauma and the impacts it has, long after it seems, on the surface, the repercussions should be gone. Those who need shiny bows and wrapped-up stories will be frustrated with this one, but it's the way the story was meant to be told.

This reminded me of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, though plots are not similar, but the incredible depth of characters and lyrical writing are the standouts.

This book was good. It lived up to the hype given by other reviewers. this was my first read by the author but hopefully not my last.

Yesterday does exist? Why do we all regret about yesterday?
Grown up is the mavellous dream of all childs. But being mature, you will know you can't return to yesterday.
Happiness or sadness, the moment would be unique.
Let yesterday go, or keep it in a beautiful memory. It's depend on you.

The writing is lyrical, the storyline is atypical...these are the strengths of Gone Like Yesterday. Still, I found it hard to get into and while not a favorite for me, clearly Janelle M. Williams is one to watch and I would read her forthcoming works. Thank you for the ARC.

This was a very interesting debut novel surrounding magical realism, family dynamics, mother-daughter relationships, ancestral history, PWI-vs-HBCU, being a black woman in America, belonging and finding purpose. I also feel it’s an exploration of what it means to be aware of the world yet lost in it at the same time.

In the novel we’re given a dual POV from two characters Zahra, a college prep coach and Sammie a young teen still finding herself as she’ll be heading off to college soon. They were introduced to each other by Sammie’s Uncle Trey who thought Zahra could assist with her college essay. Realizing they have things in common Zahra begins to assume the singing gypsy moths may have brought the two together. When she invites Sammie along with her to Atlanta in hopes of locating her missing brother Derrick a lot of family secrets and truths about both their past and futures are revealed.

I read this book while I was kind of in a reading slump so it seemed a bit elusive especially with the singing moths. Although confused I did still enjoy the authors symbolic use of the singing moths. As moths can symbolize change, transformation, endings, intuition, and psychic abilities. I do believe all of the characters went through some form of a transformation. I just don’t feel the magical realism was executed to the fullest with the gypsy moths but that could just be me.

Overall, the book was okay definitely has potential. I recommend if you’re into magical realism then it might be worth the read. If you’re not then approach this with an open mind and no expectations lol just read to enjoy it. It may leave you with a lot of unanswered questions but when dealing with this kind of writing style and story it’s expected.

Special thanks to the author, @tinyrepbooks, & @netgalley for my advanced readers copy‼️

The characters of Gone Like Yesterday will have your heart. Zahra and Sammie were kindred spirits on more ways than one and I applaud the detail in Williams characterization of them. I was really looking forward to the magical realism element in the book. It took a long time to unfold; I would say my only challenge with this book was the pacing. There’s beautiful, meaningful reveals at the end, but the reader has to hang on to tiny details for so long.

Janelle William's debut novel is exquisite. Her book left an indelible mark on my heart. The writing was musical. It danced across my eyes and into my soul, often leaving me rereading phrases and paragraphs just because of their beauty. Sometimes (often) magical realism is a miss for me, but William's use of the form was perfect. Every character deserved an investment of my time to get to know them. I rooted for them and grew very attached by the end of the story. I am already sure that Gone Like Yesterday will be one of my top books of the year.

Readers who loved Jesmyn Ward's Sing, Unburied, Sing will find Gone Like Yesterday pulling at the same heartstrings.

This book would make an excellent book club selection. There are so many discussion topics to bring forward - I want one of my book clubs to pick this book because I need someone to talk to about it.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ebook ARC in exchange for a review.

I thought the premise of the book was interesting. However I think the reveal of what the moths and dreams were came a little too late. The characters’ time in Atlanta was a little slow for me and then the story was a bit anti climatic when Derrick came back and no one saw a note. Sometimes the connections to gentrification and bigger systemic issues or issues in Atlanta was also random for me, I think in theory the book had a good idea and some compelling moments but wasn’t my favorite book.

A nice, modern story that weaves together pop culture, race relations, and magical realism in a lyrical package. Things get a little slow in the middle, but the climax of the story is surprising and worth the effort. I thought that the author felt too much of a need to explain themselves for white audiences, but maybe that can be attributed to the main characters' backgrounds as a heavily code-switching prep school student and graduate.

Wow! What a beautiful read. So much to unpack with this one. Zahra is a young women working in New York as a college prep coach. Her brother is missing and she is dealing with the fear of what has become of him. After a rude encounter with an Uber driver she offers to counsel his niece and the intertwining of their lives begin. Going back to Atlanta and searching for her brother leads Zahra to find herself in ways that she never knew she needed. The moths in the book provided beautiful imagery. I look forward to hearing an interview with the author regarding what her interpretation is of the moths. This book was beautifully written, flowed well, and had unforgettable characters. Highly recommend and look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

This is not a book for people who do not like reading books where unexplained things happen and those things also don’t really have a name.
By nature, I am an analytical person who thinks that there are logical explanations for almost everything. One of the problems I have with my need to analyze almost everything is that I cannot enjoy things that don’t align with my expectations. When too many things start happening in a novel that do not make sense to me, I will go back and re read chapters and passages wondering WTF I misinterpreted or misunderstood because my brain sometimes has a hard time accepting the unexplainable and unexpected.
I honestly did not start TRULY enjoying this book until about 60% or so in. That’s not to say that I only enjoyed 40% of this story, it’s just that I was so wrapped up in trying to understand what the hell was going on.
And that was my fault.
I did not go into this book realizing that while it is a story of fiction, it also toes the line of historical fiction and fantasy/mysticism and once I understood what the author was doing, a switch flipped in my mind and everything became clearer.
As much as this novel is about a young woman who is looking for her lost brother, it is also a story about her being found. It’s a story about destiny and a story about life and what our lives truly mean to not only us but to those who love and care for us.
What I liked most about the book is even in my confusion, I still felt like all of the characters were fated to meet and travel a journey together. The parallels between the main characters Zahra and Sammie were very intentional but not in a way that made the story predictable, it actually kept me on the edge of my seat wondering when the similarities would be significant.
I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Janelle Williams is a literary daughter of Toni Morrison. The way she manages to weave this story together is nothing less than purely creative genius, I just hate that I spent so much time initially not enjoying the ride.

In "Gone Like Yesterday", debut author Janelle Williams weaves together the stories of two separate families, highlighting what draws us together can be deeper than ties of blood.

Zahra makes her living as a college prep coach in New York City, helping children of wealthy families get into elite colleges. As a black woman who attended Stanford, she certainly has the experience to for her job, but nonetheless struggles with the irony of her work. She unexpectedly meets Trey when he's assigned as her Uber driver, and offers to help his niece Sammie with her college aspirations. Despite Sammie's initial reluctance, she and Zahra slowly connect beyond just her college essays and applications, and when Zahra finds out her brother Derrick has disappeared from their home in Atlanta, Trey and Sammie immediately offer to drive her and join in the search.

We come to learn that both Zahra and Sammie are able to see and hear the illusory gypsy moths; they've been present throughout both of their lives and appear just as quickly as they disappear. As Zahra's and Sammie's lives and pasts are slowly revealed, and as Derrick's story also comes to light, we come to learn what these moths represent - and the complex and lengthy weights of their pasts and their ancestors. This novel does certainly utilize aspects of magical realism, but it doesn't rely on it beyond the ability to create a tangible, concrete form for what many of us carry with us that's invisible to others.

Williams' writing is beautifully structured and emotional, and I appreciated how she alternated perspectives throughout the novel to carry the story forward as well as reveal different histories and aspects across each of the characters. Both Zahra and Sammie were complex, empathetic characters that I couldn't help but root for, and the relationship that the two are able to develop was one I wished I'd had with an older sibling. A number of weighty issues, including racism and multi-generational trauma, are covered with care and depth, and are especially relevant today.

An impressive debut work and one I'm sure many others will come to love.

We were pleased to share this title at our live Spring Book Preview event for the Modern Mrs Darcy and What Should I Read Next communities on January 10, 2023, when 1200 readers attended live and twice that many watched the replay in the following week. The PDF from that event is attached. Long story short: I've come to love Tiny Reparations and this title captures why. (I do feel the reviews are spoiler-laden: I'm glad I didn't know the meaning of the gypsy moths until it was revealed in the actual story.) Also mentioned in Episode 360 of What Should I Read Next.

Beautiful prose and strong characters. A brilliant debut! I didn’t want the story to end. Thank you for the arc

I absolutely adore Zahra. And her moths.

The air of magic and mystery, the feeling of not being quite sure of anything, the fog between magical realism and the blurred lines of activism and contemporary fiction. This book is such a brilliant blend of the best kind of character-driven stories. Debut novel? Simply excellent! And I was hoping for a playlist of songs since there are so many snippers and pieces of amazing music sprinkled throughout.

"Even the moths sing love songs."

And the final third of the book is un-put-down-able.

Alright.

'Alright is reconnecting with an old friend.' 'Alright has been getting to know you.'

"A ring shout, a call and response, from the past to the present, to the future and back again."