Review Detail

When I first picked up The Land of Yesterday I thought it was so strange and weird but I was also blown away by how beautiful it was. It’s filled with loss, love, family, and magic. K.A. creates a world where it’s okay to mourn, to cry, but with time we can move on. We can learn to let go of the grief never forgetting who we lost but not holding on to the pain. Cecelia has lost her younger brother in a tragic accident and has spent all that time since his death blaming herself. When her mother follows Celadon to the land of Yesterday, Cecelia knows it’s up to her to follow and put her family back together before she loses them completely.

I fell in love with Cecelia from the very first page. This is a young girl who suffers a terrible loss and still she is filled with incredible strength. The Land of Yesterday is a middle-grade book but deals with issues that affect everyone no matter what age. Loss, love, family, grief play a huge roll in telling this story. Cecelia has been blaming herself for the death of her brother but as she travels to Yesterday she learns how they all blamed themselves. How they held on to this grief and suffered in silence. Cecelia learned how to let go and that it’s those that love us that will share the weight we carry inside and help us heal.

The world was another thing that I loved, a lot of the book focuses on the characters and their journey and growth but we still get to see parts of the world that Cecelia lives in and the worlds that she travels to. I loved how imaginative this whole world was. The Dahl house is alive, Cecelia’s hair can move of it’s own free will and at times it comes to her rescue. Reynolds has created a strange world that is so magical and a story that is so beautiful. You feel the pain of loss and guilt but also the magic of friendship and love and family. Reynolds brings these characters to life and you feel yourself in every corner of this story. I don’t have the words to articulate how beautiful and moving this book truly was. I highly highly recommend you read this one. I cannot get it out of my head.