ARC review: 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.

Source: Tiffany from readbreatheread

Format: Arc paperback

Reviewer: Chyna

Rating: 4

My thoughts....

According to my ever so demanding friend, Tiffany, this book rocked her mind off to Las Vegas. She must have been totally shattered after finishing it. I'm also in a huge mess that I can throw all my old books and rant how much I need the next book so badly. I am a disgrace to all reviewers. I should act professional to those people who hate endings. Especially endings like these....I feel like slapping a character.

It flabbergasts me that this book totally made me fall in love with time traveling, what's so unique about the book is that it did not only focus on time itself, but also the relationship and friendship including the character development. Up until now I am still in shocked that what Crisitin Terrill wrote engulfed me. I couldn't leave the book alone, but I had to savore it. All my friends were thunderstruck when Crisitin Terrill pulled off the whole time traveling synopsis. I was never a big fan of time traveling, I hated it as a matter of fact. Not because it was stupid, but it was very confusing. The time paradox and shit....I can't catch up, but the author was able to help adjust her readers to have the capability to fully understand the plot and climax of the story.

The story had a very unique plot that the main protagonist was actually one and the same person. That's right. Em and Marina are the same people, sometimes Em could be a bit confusing. Her conflict that emphasized in her background was her relationship with Finn and James. James has over an IQ of 168, who graduated high school 3 years earlier and received one of the highest rewards-you get my point. He's a total nerd, but a super antisocial hottie. Finn the idiot, is my favorite character. He's a ball of sunshine in the book, not to serious maybe vague. I knew the older version of Finn more than the younger one, he was sweeter and toothsome. He plays an important role in the story, so I had my eyes on him a lot. He's was really reliable in the story, he supported Em throughout the whole paradox. I can't say the same for Em, she seemed empty and helpless. My connection with her became stronger, I knew how she must have felt in the story, Betrayal hurts a lot...it's even more painful that dying.

Let's not get to depressing here. Are you curious why I didn't give AOY a perfect star rating? I did not like the way Em handled herself, she developed a whole lot, but not in the places she needed to improve on. Her choices weren't the best and she seemed childish in some moments when the answer was so obvious. I was not impressed, it was like talking to a wall. For book's sake. She had no common sense....she had a selfish trait in her. Even if the author mentioned the unthinkable sacrifice she had to make. No matter how smart and beautiful she was, she wasn't the character I wholeheartedly admired. I didn't hate dislike her...I love like her, but no character in the world had ever been defined flawless by a reader like me. I'm very miserly. I do recommend reading this book to all those dystopian-time-traveling-lovers to have a bitter taste of this sweet book. LOL.