ALL OUR YESTERDAYS by Cristin Terrill

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 . . .

 

 

I received this ARC last week. I knew nothing about it, but as soon as I read the blurb and the first chapter, I was excited about reading it. Actually, I started it yesterday morning and finished it this afternoon because it's just so good. I was hooked!

 

Em is a prisoner inside the cell next to Finn. They were on the run, but since they got caught every day is filled with torture from the doctor, the director, and the soldiers they order to do their bidding. Their only hope is to escape, not only their cell but their time. In order to make things right, Em and Finn travel four years into the past so they can kill the person who ruins their lives and the world.

 

Marina is a teenager from a wealthy family. Her self-confidence is low, but her friends are popular and the boy next door is her best friend. James is not only her friend, but she's been in love with him for a while now. The problem is that she doesn't know how he feels, and ends up realising she doesn't know him as well as she thinks she does.

 

The night his brother is shot, their lives get thrown into a downward spiral that only Em and Finn can fix. At least, they're hoping to this time because they've failed so many times before...

 

This is one of those stories that throws you right into the middle of all the action, where all the characters are presented but you don't know how they all fit in yet. Not until Em and Finn go into the past and the heartbreaking tale starts to unfold. It's told in the POV of Em and Marina. Though they happen to be the same person at different stages and experiences in their lives, each voice feels and sounds different--almost like two different girls, which I thought was an excellent approach.

 

All Our Yesterdays is amazing! I loved every single minute I spent in this unstable world, where the past is continually tweaked by the future. It kept me on the edge of my seat. I just couldn't put the book down. I loved it! 

 

It's a little time travel, a little love triangle, with a dash of conspiracy, a sprinkling of heartache, and a whole lot of awesome. Yep. This one's a total keeper!  

 

All Our Yesterdays, August 2013, ISBN  9781408835197, Bloomsbury Childrens