It develops a central character in two time frames, which is incredibly fresh. It explains things perfectly!īut for those looking for a truly enjoyable romantic novel with a dash of thriller in a fresh and unfamiliar setting, All Our Yesterdays ticks all the boxes there are. I don't think it is, but I do think avid sci-fi readers might not get what they are looking for here. I feel as though saying this is somehow denigrating the book. While the various scientific ideas and potential paradoxes involved in time travel are discussed and reasonably carefully incorporated into the intricate plotting, this is primarily a romantic novel about the relationships between a girl and two boys. I'm going to say - and please don't take it as a criticism - that All Our Yesterdays is 70% romance and 30% sci-fi. You won't stop reading until you get to the end. But it hooks you in right from the get-go and after it the book has you entirely in its grasp. The opening sequence, in which Em and Finn are held in a secret facility and interrogated and tortured by the Doctor and the Director is mind-numbingly awful. Told from the perspective of Em, the prisoner from the future, and Marina, the naive, lovelorn girl in the past/present (whatever you'd call it when that timey-wimey thing is involved!), All Our Yesterdays is a real, barnstorming, page-turner. Who must Em kill? Will this fifteenth journey back in time be the last? Will the Doctor ever be beaten? Can time really be altered? Will Marina find love? But Marina's life is about to collide with the future and everything will change. She lacks self-confidence, her parents show little to no interest in her and she's utterly, hopelessly in love with her neighbour. She's a spoiled, shallow girl from a wealthy background, but her life isn't the cakewalk you'd think it would be. Em must kill someone she loves.įour years previously, Marina is oblivious of the horrors about to beset the world. And fourteen failed trips back to the past to try to put things right. It's from her future self and it tells of fourteen escapes. Neither talks but how much can they take? And then Em finds a note hidden in her cell. This is a blessing but also a curse: they can each hear the interrogations and torture meted out to the other. They never see each other but are able to communicate through the cell wall. But we will note (perhaps for boys): it's 70/30 romance/sci-fi.Įm and Finn are being held prisoner by the Doctor. Summary: Time-travel romantic thriller! Cool! Exciting, fiendishly plotted and very, very romantic, this novel will hit the sweet spot for many, many readers.

Cristin terrill