Book Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

All Our Yesterdays

Cristin Terrill

368 Pages

Published September 3rd, 2013

"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.

This book confused the hell out of me when I first started reading it. Right away we jump straight into the action with some pretty intense scenes, and though it was confusing and I had no clue what was happening, I was still riveted. Slowly things are revealed to us and my knowledge and understanding grew. I may be a bit slow at times, but I think I was 75 pages in or so before I really got what was going on and who was who and such. After that.. things got so so so good!

All Our Yesterdays is a story about time travel. I should have gathered that through the cover, but I didn't. Since I jumped in blind, this may be why I was so confuzzled in the beginnings chapters. Chapters break between two viewpoints; that of Em and that of Marina.. two of.. the same character. Yup, they're the same character, just from two different periods of time.

Em and a boy named Finn are being kept in a dungeon type area and are regularly tortured. Em sees a drain in the middle of the floor that she is oddly drawn to.. because she has hidden a message from her previous self in it but just doesn't remember. The story basically follows the duo (Finn and Em) escaping from the clutches of their captor, "The doctor" and trying to change history and save the world. In short, they are trying to stop the time machine from ever being made, because with it the world turns into a pretty dark and scary place.

Was I the only one who knew who The Doctor was really early on? Like, as soon as I started reading about another key character, I knew who he was.. he just had to be. When it was finally revealed, I shouted Ha! and got some pretty strange looks, but it came as no surprise.

The story line did a great job of moving along fast, jumping along from place to place to keep your attention. I read this in two sittings, the same day, and though the beginning was strange the rest of the story more than made up for it. I'm sooo glad I picked this one up.