Blurb A brilliantly brain-warping thriller and a love story that leaps back and forth in time - All Our Yesterdays is an amazing first novel, perfect for fans of The Hunger Games.
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
US COVER:
,
Source: Netgalley! (Thanks Bloomsbury!)
My Thoughts:
I've been reading amazing things about this novel. Almost everyone has only good things to say about this novel. Needless to say, my expectations for this novel were sky high and you know what usually happens when you have high expectations from a novel.
All Our Yesterdays starts off in a manner very similar to Shatter Me but in the third or fourth chapter, you can see that this novel deals with things that series does not.
What does this book deal with, you ask? It deals with time travel and love and paradoxes .Now I, for one, am fascinated by time travel but almost every novel I've read about time travel so far has been disappointing. The best thing about this novel is the fact that it becomes VERY clear that time travel is central to the plot but the focus of this novel is not time travel.(I hope this makes sense) Anyways, the time travel element is never forgotten and I love how it's used in this novel. Well done Ms. Terrill , especially for a debut novel.
This novel is told from dual perspectives and at first it's a little confusing but only for the first two or three chapters after that it makes perfect sense (to me atleast because I figured out why the perspectives were needed and whose perspective it was from ). I must say this way of writing the novel is brilliant, because it's something different yet similar.(Avoiding SPOILERS)
Aside from the writing style, the first half of the book was good but as I had such high expectations, I was a little disappointed. The second half is unpredictable and pretty great.So I understand the hype and even though I'm not in love with the novel ,I really liked it.
The characters
Em is such a relateable character.She's mature and she's going through a lot! I really liked her and admire her strength and how she follows her gut.
Finn is a character I wanted to learn more about.I liked what I saw, but I want to see more. I especially want to see more of him showing off his computer genius skills.
Marina is like a typical teenager.Even though she should have irritated me, she didn't because I can see why she's acting the way she is. Also her character grows a lot in this novel and I loved seeing that growth.
James is a character that is flawed and is going through a lot.I don't hate him .
The doctor is a character that I hate. That is ALL.
Overall, this is a great novel that can be read as a standalone. I have no idea what the sequel will be about because this book doesn't end with a cliffhanger (YAY!!) but I'll most probably be reading the sequel. (Unless and until it gets horrible reviews. Then I would like to finish the series at it's high note)
My Rating:
4/5
I'm so happy you enjoyed this one too!! :) I can't wait to see the next book in this series and see more of this story. Great review :)
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I was confused too in the first few chapters, luckily everything got cleared up and I found it a great book after that:) I'd have been satisfied with one book, but now I'm curious to see what the writer has in store next.
ReplyDeleteEveline's Books
Right?? The Goodreads page still has such few negative reviews about this book. High expectations are partially what are scaring me off from reading this one. It's the worst when your expectations fall short.
ReplyDeleteHa, true. I never thought of the Shatter Me connection, but you're right, it's there but does something so different. (Based on the reviews I've read, at least.).
In most of the reviews I've seen, people keep mentioning that time travel is something they're fascinated with but that most novels dealing with it aren't up to par. It's nice that the aspect is developed / included enough to your tastes :).
I'd heard of the dual perspectives and it's nice that you found it to work well :). Shame that it wasn't a complete success since you were confused in the beginning but at least it did end up being better.
The first half of books I always find slightly disappointing. How to establish the world and characters in such a way that you'll never lose momentum? I don't know. But it's good that the second half lived up to your expectations.
Yay for the characters! I heard that some of them weren't quite developed and just seemed to be reacting to things, but that might not have been these characters - I have seen these quite praised, and characters make or break a novel for me. I've also heard the same about the sequel, but I do hope it works out for you as this one did :).
Ok, I'm sorry I didn't read your review. It's just that I got this one last week and I've heard that you should go into it without knowing anything at all. All I know is that it's time travel, I read the blurb when the cover was revealed (and luckily don't remember it) AND that readers (mostly) love this one. I'm glad you were one of those lovers lol. 4/5 is such a great rating. I hope whatever you're reading right now is just as awesome:)
ReplyDeleteWow, I've no idea that the series is getting even more addictive! I can't wait to read this one myself!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts!
I've seen this book a lot lately on many blogs. It sounds like a good read, and I also love anything that has to do with time travel.
ReplyDeleteYou say that the books you read so far that dealt with time travel were disappointing... Have you read the Ruby Red trilogy by Kerstin Gier? It is focused heavily on time travel, and I loved it so much that I read all three books in three days.
Oana @All Fantasy Worlds