All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill Published by A&C Black ISBN: 9781408835197
on 2013
Pages: 359
My rating:
Check it out in Goodreads
Synopsis
"You have to kill him."
Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain. 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 the day he moved next door when 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 apart, and with it, Marina's hopes for their future. Now someone is trying to kill him. 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.
All Our Yesterdays is a wrenching, brilliantly plotted story of fierce love, unthinkable sacrifice, and the infinite implications of our every choice.
All Our Yesterdays messed me up so much. It’s been about half an hour since I finished the book and I can already tell you with absolute certainty that it’s become one of my favorites.
Time travel done right,
Said the blurb, and I have to agree with it.
I mean, wow.
It was just so perfectly plotted
I’m not tat good at it to begin with but… I couldn’t find one plothole. Not even one. Time travel stories tend to suffer from those, and mainly because authors start having so much fun with the concept that they think that the more complex they make their time traveling, the more we’ll be wowed by it. To everyone’s dismay, they only succeed in alienating us.
But this authors’ work is so simple, and it works. It’s just damn near flawless. I can’t help comparing your typical time travel book to the doodles of a toddler who’s barely discovering the power of crayons, to the contained strokes of a sesoned artist that is All Our Yesterdays.
It’s really not that unique a book, but the execution is very well done, and that’s all I ask, really.
It has one of those satisfying open endings
So this is what has me tied up in knots, because to be honest, it’s a good ending, a perfect one even. But you know how I just prefer the complete happy ones :/
An epilogue would’ve been nice.
It doesn’t leave you hanging, so don’t worry about that, it just leaves you wanting more, which is good and bad, depending on how you look at it.
The plot twist
There is one little twist that takes place super early, and that I caught like just a page or two before it actually took place and that’s it. I was hooked from that moment on because it was just too awesome. Everything made sense and I was so excited to see where it all led.
The author keeps you on your toes
Nearing the end, I was genuinely filled with dread. I was fairly certain in the grand scheme of things, the world would be alright. But I feared for these flawed but lovely characters. At one point, shit hits the fan and I was positively terrified because this gal is not messing around, people.
Those stupid emotions
Yes, those human emotions, remember them?
They suck.
Because when everything should be straightforward and logical, the pop up like daisies and demand attention. Even in life or death situtions.
In this story, emotions and feelings are very, very much important. Because our characters can’t just easily go epic and badass and take out the bad guy. That’s actually kind of the point, because it’s all just so difficult, and we as the readers get that. And we’re right along with them wondering if they’ll beat their reservations or not.
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Do yourself a favor and read this book!
YES TO ALL OF THIS. This is one of my favorite books of all time, and I am so glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. The plot was so intelligent and well thought-out, and the characters were written flawlessly. It was emotional seeing the difference between Em and Marina and James and the Doctor. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous review! <3
Yes! I the difference between all the characters made the final showdown so exciting! Have you checked out the authors’ bonus scene?