Book Review: All Our Yesterdays

“Time travel isn’t a wonder; it’s an abomination.” 

 

“I guess you can never really know what's going on inside another person.” 

I once again have a list of books to review.  Darn it.  I thought I'd caught up on that.  (On an unrelated note, I just spent about thirty seconds trying to remember how to conjugate "to catch."  I suppose night-shift sometimes does get to me.  I was thinking "had catchen," for a bit and then it went to "had caughten."  Oh well).  

I was trying to decide which book I should review.  I have a few stellar reviews to write, which I'm excited about because I loved the books so much.  I have a few awful reviews to write, which I'm excited about because, as Anton Ego says, "We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read."

But I settled on this book, which is in the first category.  Thanks to my Aunt Evelyn for the recommendation. 

I have found, in my endless recommendations of this book to other people, that it is nearly impossible to say what this book is about without seriously spoiling it.  So, I'm going to use the official "back-cover summary."   Here you go:

"Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present—imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor while war rages outside.

Marina has loved her best friend, James, since they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’s life crumbles, and with it, Marina’s hopes for their future. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it... at least, not as the girl she once was. Em and Marina are in a race against time that only one of them can win."

This book was, frankly, fantastic.  For one, most time travel books just don't stand up to scrutiny.  This one really does.  I'm not saying that it's entirely realistic, but it's more plausible than most.  So, the plotting was really quite strong.  

Second, we all know that I'm a characters person.  And the characters in this are complex and intricate.  The subtleties to their mannerisms, their motivations and their relationships are out of this world.  The character of James, especially, is so realistically enigmatic and wonderful.  Generally, the characters blew me away.  The author really understands people, and that's something that I wish more authors did.  

Third, the emotions that this book invoked!  There were literally times when I had visceral responses to the emotions of this book.  And I'm not misusing literally.  My stomach flipped, my trachea tightened, the smooth muscles of my intestines created butterfly-effect.  

Fourth, in the end, there are things that you don't understand, but in a beautiful way.  There is one final action of one character that you don't know their motivation for (there are three or four plausible lines of reasoning that went into it), but it creates a beauty that surpasses most.

The only thing that I could say to improve it is that the start is a bit slow and slightly confusing at first, but all the pieces fall into place in such a wonderful way.  When I started reading it, I thought, "Okay, it's your average, YA, slightly dystopian, futuristic novel. Hum-de-hum..."  It's not.

Five stars for All Our Yesterdays (by Cristin Terrill, because there's more than one book by that name).