ARC Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill (Nara)

Title: All Our Yesterdays
Author: Cristin Terrill
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Release Date: 1 August, 2013 (UK/ANZ), 3 September, 2013 (US)
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
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A brilliantly brain-warping thriller and a love story that leaps back and forth in time - All Our Yesterdays is an amazing first novel, perfect for fans of The Hunger Games.

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.

Review by Nara

Note: yes, I realise it's weird that both Chantelle and I posted reviews of this book this week. I think Chantelle was supposed to post hers last week, but she forgot. lol. 

Wow. Freaking wow. I seriously don't think I've read a book this good in a while. This book is amazing. People in Australia/New Zealand/the UK- BUY IT NOW! People in the US- PREORDER IT NOW! And people who live elsewhere GET IT SOMEHOW! Frankly, everyone and anyone should be grabbing a copy of this book.

There is so much intrigue built up at the start- why are Finn and Em in custody? What formula? What papers? WHAT DA HECK IS HAPPENING?? I really love the way the novel is structured- throughout, there are these scenes a bit like flashbacks which show you the backgrounds of the characters. This meant that at times, you feel really sympathetic towards the villain (or the person he used to be). One thing though- the book is ridiculously predictable- pretty much all the "twists" are really obvious- but this doesn't take away from the story at all, because even though you feel like you know what's going to happen, you still want to see how exactly it unfolds. And near the very end- MASSIVE TWIST. Seriously was not expecting what happened to happen (sorry if that sentence sounds weird, trying not to spoil here). My status on Goodreads when I read that bit:

Oh. My. God. Oh my freaking god. NO! NO NO NO! OHMYGODAREYOUFREEAKINGSERIOUSWHATTHEHELLJUSTHAPPENED

I'm going to be honest, I teared up in that ending scene. It was so intense. AND SO HEARTBREAKING. And to the people who have read the book: how beautiful was the passage in italics near the very end with the conversation between Em and Finn. IT WAS SO AWESOME.

The romance: seriously, this book has one of the most bizarre and confusing love triangles (confusing as in hard to define, it's easy to understand) I have ever read in YA- what, with the whole time travel meaning that there are multiple of one person during one time period O.O I don't even know if you can call it a love triangle- a love mess, or a love tangle maybe.

The best thing about this book is the cast of characters- FINN IS AMAZING. I want me a Finn. Look at these awesome quotes! With Em:

"I know things are still kind of weird between us, and this is going to make me sound like a total girl, but..." He scoots closer to me in the dark. "Can I hold your hand?"

And with Marina:

His voice is so oddly kind when he says it that I burrow deeper into the quilt to get away from the sound of it and don't say anything back.

The ending was FREAKING PERFECT. Although the novel feels like it's a standalone, and it could actually finish here (as there's not really a cliffhanger), apparently the author is writing a sequel. Not sure how I feel about that because the ending was so amazing in this book and I feel like it should be left alone, but at the same time, I do want to read more about Finn and Em (mostly Finn).

Note: My bad for having a sporadic inability to turn off caps lock. BUT I'M SO EXCITED FOR PEOPLE TO READ THIS BOOK!
Another note: quotations taken from the ARC and may not be the same in the final edition.
Yet another note: Yeah I realise this review may read like a gushing mess. Well, alksdjfoawjef to that.

Favourite

Panacea Candidate

Ratings
Overall: 10/10
Plot: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 4/5