Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens
Pages: 320pgs
The Story
Em is locked in a bare, cold cell with no comforts. Finn is in the cell next door. The Doctor is keeping them there until they tell him what he wants to know. Trouble is, what he wants to know hasn't happened yet.
Em and Finn have a shared past, but no future unless they can find a way out. The present is torture - being kept apart, overhearing each other's anguish as the Doctor relentlessly seeks answers. There's no way back from here, to what they used to be, the world they used to know. Then Em finds a note in her cell which changes everything. It's from her future self and contains some simple but very clear instructions. Em must travel back in time to avert a tragedy that's about to unfold. Worse, she has to pursue and kill the boy she loves to change the future.
Em and Finn have a shared past, but no future unless they can find a way out. The present is torture - being kept apart, overhearing each other's anguish as the Doctor relentlessly seeks answers. There's no way back from here, to what they used to be, the world they used to know. Then Em finds a note in her cell which changes everything. It's from her future self and contains some simple but very clear instructions. Em must travel back in time to avert a tragedy that's about to unfold. Worse, she has to pursue and kill the boy she loves to change the future.
The Review
A big thanks to Bloomsbury Australia for sending me a review copy of this book!
A big thanks to Bloomsbury Australia for sending me a review copy of this book!
Cristin Terrill's debut novel, ALL OUR YESTERDAYS, is nothing if not a very ambitious read. And it's pretty ambitious indeed. With a ton of different elements blended all into the one book - elements including the likes of time manipulation, attempts of many assassinations and mere complications of everything lying in-between different timelines, it's definitely something that will get your mind both spinning and reeling. In fact, my head still hurts from thinking about it right now.
But with this particular book being very hard to describe, which you can only imagine already just by reading the blurb alone, I think it would be best to keep it as a mystery for the meantime, especially for those who have yet to read it, so I'll just quickly talk about what I did and didn't like in the book. On a whole, I thought the execution of the book was really well done and I certainly can see why many readers were so enthralled by the storyline alone because it was a very interesting one at that (not to mention complicated) and is unlike any other book I have read before, at least in terms of what the author accomplished into a single book with the many, many elements all rolled into one. It's definitely not something just any other average author can write about without dealing with a lot of flaws so I'll definitely give the author a lot of credit for that.
But did I really, really love the book like those other readers whom had highly praised and recommend it? Well, not particularly. At least not in a oh-my-god-epic kind of way. I mean, don't get me wrong here, I absolutely loved how detailed the book was and the genres inside of it because I'm a big fan of those sci-fi like elements, but I don't know . . . it's just the kind of read where you finish it, like half of it but you're still sitting on the fence over. So I did kind of like the book but for the majority of it I also didn't like it either.
So if I was being really honest here in the I-didn't-really-like-it sense or rather the average liking sense, I think this had a lot to do with the narratives presented in the book and the chapters that alternated between the main characters and their different timelines. I mean, because of that crucial narrative part - the part where you have to somehow connect with the characters or somehow care about them - in the end of it all, I just got really confused by the storyline and I don't like being confused in any sense, even a little. Still, while I don't mind the present characters talking in alternative chapters (just as long as I can keep track of what is actually going on) because you know . . . I love that sort of thing, but when chapters switch back to the present characters who have something to do with the future characters we read about or whatever, it's just not enjoyable for me and it's so bloody confusing if you can't tell already, so again in that sense it's the reason why I'm rating this book down more than I thought I would. Still, I'm going to read the sequel in hopes of less confusion and more story action and progression. So fingers crossed.
So if I was being really honest here in the I-didn't-really-like-it sense or rather the average liking sense, I think this had a lot to do with the narratives presented in the book and the chapters that alternated between the main characters and their different timelines. I mean, because of that crucial narrative part - the part where you have to somehow connect with the characters or somehow care about them - in the end of it all, I just got really confused by the storyline and I don't like being confused in any sense, even a little. Still, while I don't mind the present characters talking in alternative chapters (just as long as I can keep track of what is actually going on) because you know . . . I love that sort of thing, but when chapters switch back to the present characters who have something to do with the future characters we read about or whatever, it's just not enjoyable for me and it's so bloody confusing if you can't tell already, so again in that sense it's the reason why I'm rating this book down more than I thought I would. Still, I'm going to read the sequel in hopes of less confusion and more story action and progression. So fingers crossed.
Overall, despite the slight room for improvement, ALL OUR YESTERDAYS was - as I said before - a very ambitious read and is a great thriller-romance book for any genre fan, especially if you're looking for a very detailed book with a great complexity about it. If you're into that sort of thing you'll definitely come to enjoy this book!
The Rating
3/5 stars
It's definitely hard to review this without being spoilery! It's a shame you didn't love this one, but I get what you mean about it being confusing with all the switches - it definitely was at times. I hope the sequel will be better for you - I'm very intrigued by what they're going to do with it, I felt like things were pretty much wrapped up! Great review, thanks.
ReplyDeleteYes! It's SO hard because it's well . . . very complicated. Fingers crossed the sequel is better for me. There's still some hope left I think. I agree with you on things being wrapped up in this book . . . but I'm sure the author will come up with something even more whacky than this book right here which I'm looking forward to.
DeleteThanks Liz!