Title: All Our Yesterdays
Series: All Our Yesterdays, #1
Author: Cristin Terrill
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication Date: September 3, 2013
Genres: YA, Sci-fi, Time-travel
Reviewed by: Ellen Fritz
Ellen’s rating: 4/5
SUMMARY
What would you change?
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 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.
All Our Yesterdays is a wrenching, brilliantly plotted story of fierce love, unthinkable sacrifice, and the infinite implications of our every choice.
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 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.
All Our Yesterdays is a wrenching, brilliantly plotted story of fierce love, unthinkable sacrifice, and the infinite implications of our every choice.
REVIEW
All Our Yesterdays starts with a scene
that totally hooked me. Within the first 10% the story had me in nail-biting
suspense and kept me captivated until the very last page. Em, back from the
future, must commit a murder to save Marina in the past, and the world from war
and devastation. With her own feelings as well as time itself working against
her, this looks like a near impossible task.
Running
two timelines smoothly and without confusion, as well as keeping track of the
same three characters in both timelines, couldn’t have been an easy feat for
author Cristin Terrill, though she accomplishes this masterfully in this book.
Four
years into the future, Em and Finn are no longer the innocent youngsters they
used to be. The author fortunately and very realistically let them keep enough
of their old selves so as not to become monsters; the kind of monsters most
people would have become after the tribulations those two had been through.
The
character referred to as The Doctor, is so drastically changed from who he used
to be that he is unrecognisable in the future.
This
book contains remarkable character development. The slightly spoilt, happy
Marina becomes the practical, harder Em, and the gentle Finn becomes someone
who has the spine to do what needs to be done. James is the perfect example of
a character with a flaw just under the surface; a flaw that may or may not
become the main feature of his character.
The
suspense over the ultimate success of Em's mission becomes almost unbearable as
time itself threatens to pull her and Finn away.
From
the memories Finn and Em are thrown into every time she tries to pull them
away, the reader can accurately piece together what happened in the four years
during which the world, but America in particular, collapsed into chaos and
war.
For the
romantically minded, Em/Marina's devotion to James - both the original and the
future James - would be touching. I personally found Em, especially, a bit
irritating as she still obsesses lovingly over somebody who was responsible for
the worst imaginable horrors in her life. The author skilfully uses this
obsession to truly draw out the suspense and make for numerous
edge-of-your-chair moments during the course of the book.
Filled
with action, difficult choices, and some sweet, touching romance, All Our Yesterdays is a meticulously
planned, worthwhile read. I would definitely highly recommend this thrilling,
often heartbreaking, page-turner to readers of all ages.
PURCHASE LINKS
ABOUT the AUTHOR
Cristin Terrill has a bachelor of the arts degree
from Vassar College and a master of the arts degree in Shakespeare Studies from
the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK. She currently lives
outside Washington, D.C., where she teaches creative writing workshop for kids
and teens. ALL OUR YESTERDAYS is her first novel.
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