Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

"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.

Publishes in US: September 3rd 2013 by Disney Hyperion
Genre: YA Science Fiction, time travel
Source: Disney for review
Series? Yes. No info about 2nd.

Buy it: Amazon / BN / IndieBound

Find Chrisint online: ~site ~twitter ~facebook ~blog ~book trailer

 

    I loved this book, and it is a well done time travel novel. I was deliciously confused as everything wove together.

    As far as Em. I knew that the world outside was falling apart, and I just wanted to know why she was witholding information and what got her locked up in the first place. She has an intense voice, and I connected with her because I saw good in her, a desire for freedom, and this sacrificial nature that I really admire. 

    Finn was amazing. I loved their bantering and the chemistry between them. I also liked that there was a history there not just some kind of instant attraction. There was also the time and conversations shared while they were locked up together. As the story progresses you really get to see the depth there, and I love Finn more and more. There is a depth to him, and how he is with his family and with Em makes my heart flutter. 

    At first, when it jumped to Marina, there was a startling contrast of normalcy. Marina is worried about a boy, and giggling with her friends, and I was so curious to see how it all connects. James is her neighbor and the boy she is in love with and has for years. Her support of him, and their history together was sweet to learn about and it became all so important later on, but I had no idea how as I was reading it. 

    Cristin knows how to write a staggering romance, the stolen moments together on both side and things like a hand just the right amount of high on the thigh were all things that made me sigh. 

    As the story unravels I begin to question everything I thought I knew, and examining characters I thought I loved because of pieces of each story that were revealed. And I can't believe it took me as long as it did to connect some of the dots, especially with the Finn clue. But it was still just so emotional and hard to see both sides of the story. It was pretty hard to reconcile the two parts of the story at times, because I didn't see the transformation as slow as it was, it was just the stark contrasts, and that made the story all the better though. 

    By the way, this is one of the most complex and unique love triangle circle jumbles that I have read but since it is two points in time, it makes me love it and my heart was divided because of everything I knew. But it was all so believable. 

    The ending is shocking, bittersweet and heartbreaking. But it wrapped up everything well. Even though I will jump at the chance to get back into this world, I wasn't left with that gaping, can I hurl this book because there is no way that its ending like this, and I am thankful for that. Though I will say that I was a little curious how some of it resolved with a few of the events, but I think I have pieced it all together, and I know that is no flaw on the book but on my reasoning. 

    Great world building, superb romance, characters I loved and felt for, and beautifully woven together. 

     

Bottom Line: Intense roller coaster of action, breath taking romance and intrigue.

Books similar to :(links go to my review) Pivot Point by Kasie West, Parallel by Lauren Miller,  Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone

My question to you, my lovely readers:
Could you sacrifice yourself to save those you love?