Member Reviews
After everyone and their mother was raving about All Our Yesterday's I was excited to read it to say the least. I think the main reason I didn't absoleutly love this book to be honest is because of all the amazing things being said about it, because of this I set my standards a little too high. But I still found All Our Yesterday's to be an enjoyable read with a less confusing and more dynamic take on time travel.
I think this aspects of All Our Yesterday's that I enjoyed the most is the more scientific take on time travel, it really makes you believe that is could be possible some day, and how Cristin Terrill gave readers an insight into how that what the main character became and who she was in the past. Both aspects were really well written and backed up and made for an enjoyable read.
I can't really pin point why I didn't love All Our Yesterday's more than I did, everything from the writing to the character development was extremely well done so I have nothing negative to say about it. Mostly again I would say its because all the hype surrounding it and I was let down a bit and I didn't absolutely love the plot of the story.
I would still strongly recommend this book to everyone, it is a fantastic novel that I'm sure will appeal to many. It's definitely a book with very few flaws, All Our Yesterday's is an all around great book.
I did not have a chance to read this book, but it is effecting my feedback rating. I am giving books 5 stars that I haven't read to improve my feedback rating. I am not recommending the book for my classroom or students since I have not read the book. There needs to be a better system of leaving feedback for books not read.
All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill is a time travel novel. It begins with Em. She's in a concrete cell. She talks to the male in the next cell. Other than the guards and the sadistic man, the doctor, who orders her torture, there is very little human contact. The voice from the next cell is her touchstone to sanity. The drain in the floor contains a list, written in her own hand, that she's never seen before, that notes things she's done. More frightening is the notation, "you have to kill him".
Alternating chapters are narrated by Marina, a girl living in an affluent neighborhood who goes to a private school and is in love with the boy genius, James, who lives next door. James is already in college while Marina and James' best friend, Finn, are in high school. When tragedy strikes, Marina and Finn try to help James cope.
Marina and Em very different in how they react to their environment. Em is cautious, controlled, and totally focus on what she believes is her mission – to change the past and erase the future she lives in. The only person Em can trust completely is the boy in the next cell. Marina, on the other hand, lacks self-confidence and tends to be a follower rather than a leader. She's built her life around James, trying to be what he needs her to be while hoping that someday he'll notice her as more than a friend.
The two narrative threads eventually begin to come together in what, for some readers, may be a total surprise, but for others may be the only way it could have made sense. Their two lives, Em's and Marina's, are one of desperation and the other of affluence and going from one to the other is a bit disconcerting at times.
There's a lot of emotional tension in All Our Yesterdays and not all of it is raised by knowing that Em has been tortured. The world Em lives in resembles some of the worst nightmares of war-torn countries that you see in nightly news programs. This is not an easy story to read as the tension, violence, and emotional toll on the characters can be hard to handle at times. The characters are well-drawn and, at first, may seem to be flat but as you get into the story they become more than they seemed at first.
The book was hard to put down even when things got dark. Em had a lot on the line. If she's successful in changing the past, she'll cease to exist. And yet, she tries over and over and over. Will she succeed finally, and what will actually happen if she does? It's the answers to that question that keeps you reading.
I did not end up getting this book. It felt like yet another dystopian book for young adults, and was OK but not anything new (in my opinion).
It feels like I've been hearing a ton of buzz about this book. Everyone who read it before me loved it. Kirkus gave it a starred review. But the original blurb didn't really draw me in. I'm not usually into light sci-fi, which this book is, so I'm not sure what convinced me to pick it up. I'm just glad I did!
I've tried lots of YA sci-fi, but most of them just don't punch as hard as I want them to. All Our Yesterdays definitely doesn't have that problem! This is a gritty, emotional book that drips with tension. The beginning has a little bit of a slow start, but once it winds up (and you get about 20% through), the story really takes off and doesn't let you go until the end.
First, I have to talk about the plotting, because WOW! this book is plotted so expertly it left me feeling totally inadequate as a writer. All of the plot threads interweave in such a complex way, but I was never confused. The dual narration is done expertly, the POVs switching at just the right time, and I was really interested in watching all the twists and surprises be revealed.
Second, the pacing is great. This is definitely a thriller. Each chapter is exciting and full of tension and conflict that keeps you reading--and reading. Typically, I'm not much into thrillers. I feel like they often sacrifice emotion and character development for excitement, but this book definitely doesn't. I think what made the story so engaging were the characters' emotions, especially Em's.
And the end. THE END!!!
It was so amazing. I was a little worried, because Cristin Terrill had set the stakes so high, she had to deliver, and I was afraid she would shy away from how she'd set herself up. BUT SHE DIDN'T! OMG! It was even more powerful than I thought it would be.
In terms of characters, I have to say I totally loved Finn! He's light-hearted and funny in just the right places, to release some of the tension, but I also loved how brave and loyal he was. His and Em's relationship sucked me in from the beginning. I also liked Em, but Marina drove me insane - until I realized she was supposed to. Once I understood that she was supposed to be catty and privileged, I was able to better accept her as a MC, and she ended up really growing on me.
My only complaint with this book was minor, but it irked me nonetheless. I appreciated that Cristin Terrill used a lot of contemporary politics and international tensions in the book to make it feel more contemporary and relevant, but I felt like she was sometimes a little too political, for my taste anyway. I'm not a fan of the Patriot Act myself, but I didn't really appreciate her using it as a launching pad to some sort of dystopian future. Also, I didn't want to know what political party Nate was a part of or that Marina thinks "right wing" crazy people are threatening his life. I know I tend to be really tuned into this kind of stuff and any little bits of it rub me the wrong way, but I thought it was worth mentioning, though I think most readers won't notice.
Overall, I'm really impressed with Cristin Terrill's debut! I'm definitely going to be looking forward to her books in the future - I can't wait to see what she turns out next!
I didn't get a chance to read this before it expired on my nook. I'm sorry! I do hope to one day buy and read this!