All Our Yesterdays

All Our Yesterdays is a brilliant debut filled with compelling characters and a gripping plot that keeps readers guessing at every turn. From the first page, I knew I was going to love this book. It was instant love, and despite my dislike of it in literature, when it comes to my reaction to books, it is a reaction for me that comes far and few between, so I was a little obsessed when I was reading All Our Yesterdays and simply didn't want it to end.

By the end of the first line, I was essentially hooked. There was this constant battle of questioning and discovery to find out answers for all the things that Em knows. Cristin Terrill's prose is gorgeous - it is that special style of writing that sticks with you and just keeps luring you in, reading faster and faster. I think every page I read got me a little more hooked and made me a little more desperate to just keep reading.

With one of the most unique premises I've read in awhile, I was just so intrigued by all the events of the book. I loved Cristin Terrill's time travel as it was so different from the others in its genre.

By the time I had finished, I instantly wanted to go back and start rereading it all over again. It was that sort of book.

Seriously y'all, All Our Yesterdays is one of the best books of the year and one of the finest debuts I've read in a long while. Every word just screams talent and I fell in love with the characters. The bar has been set and I cannot wait to read more from this promising new author.

What I Liked:
Terrill tells this complex time-bending story through two first person perspectives, Em and Marina. The two girls could not be more disparate. Em is hard and desperate to save the world. Locked in a prison with only Finn, her friend in the neighboring cell to talk to, she schemes her escape so that she can travel back in time and save the world from an evil dictator. Marina meanwhile has more average teenage concerns: friends, appearances, and a boy. Marina is selfish and vain. These perspectives are brilliantly done, even Marina's though I was not a fan of her.

My favorite aspect of the novel is the relationship dynamics. Marina and Finn have a connection forged over years, specifically the same set of years over and over. They've had to watch one another be tortured and been separated by the wall of a prison. Though technically still fairly young, they're aged and matured by their experiences, ones such as no person should ever have to go through. Hardened and prepared to kill, they have this intense and touching love. Even more delightful is that, though their love feels real, they do not put that first, and are ready to say goodbye to one another to save the world. They both put survival first and love second.

Marina, on the other hand, has romance foremost in her mind. She's been in love with her best friend for ages now, still amazed that he turned into such a hottie and grateful that, in so doing, he raised her social status at school. Unfortunately, he treats her like a kid, both because he's slightly older and a genius who graduated early and is off at college being brilliant. When he comes home to visit, she can't make much progress because James' other friend is always there like one big, obnoxious cockblock. Of course, the friend has an obvious crush on her, well, obvious to me but not to Marina. Both guys are fantastic, and, frankly, Marina does not deserve them, though she is young and may learn.

Terrill really does some surprising and daring things with her plotting, and I loved that too. Where a lot of YA novels really wimp out on the villains, this one is epic and terrifying. At several points, I was surprised by what happened, even in ways not surrounding the resolution, with which I took some issue. The plot is dark and intricate, and kept me constantly curious to know where the story would go.

What Left Me Wanting More:
However, the time travel elements all depend on whether you can accept her time travel theory which suggests that time will take care of a paradox. Personally, I don't. It's all just too convenient, and really doesn't make sense to me. In the end, I'm left feeling like that convenience took what should have been a devastatingly heartbreaking ending of amazing into a sad but hopeful ending. That will work for some readers, but for me was frustrating. Now, I've always been completely awful at science, so it may be that Terrill's explanations make perfect sense, but they don't to me and that's all there is to it for my personal reading experience.

The Final Verdict:
The plot of All Our Yesterdays is full of drama, action and will make you scratch your head more than once. I loved how dark and thrilling the story was. Assassinations, chases, fights, kissing all combine to make All Our Yesterdays an edge of your seat read. For readers who are less particular about time travel mechanics, All Our Yesterdays is a must read.

Initial Reaction: This is one of the best books I have ever read!

What I Loved: Let me start with the author, who I had the pleasure of meeting last year when I attended my very first book signing. I have seen Cristin Terrill several times since then, including BEA where she so graciously signed my ARC for me. She is just as awesome as this book she's written.

With it's fast-paced, heart-stopping action, ALL OUR YESTERDAYS is time travel at it's best. It had me on the edge of my seat with my heart in my throat from page one and left me in a puddle of feels at the end. (I hate to cry in front of anyone including my husband, who saw the struggle I was having to finish and suggested I turn the shower on when I escaped into the bathroom, where I buried my face in a towel and proceeded to SOB for the next fifteen minutes.) That's how good this book is.

It's beautifully written and expertly plotted, but it's the characters who take hold of your heart refusing to let go with their unyielding love and steadfast loyalty to one another.

Em is a good person tasked with doing a bad thing and my heart broke for her repeatedly. James is complex and often times frustrating, but he has such a good heart, it's easy to see why Marina loves him. And then there is Finn, *clutches Finn tightly* the boy whose unwavering devotion and courage, not to mention witty sense of humor, makes for the best of friends as well as a finntastic love interest.

I loved every minute of this story, even when I thought for sure it was going to kill me, and I can not WAIT to read the sequel!

Final Verdict: Brilliant debut and one of the best books I have ever read!

Favorite Quote: "There's always hope for us."