Book Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

Title: All Our Yesterdays (Cassandra Chronicles #1)
Author: Cristin Terrill
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Pulishing Date: September 3rd 2013
Length: 368 pages

Keywords: YA, fiction, time travel, romance, action

Source: Netgalley

"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.

Summary by Goodreads 

Someone caught in a tiny space, not knowing when or if they will ever be free again. That's the best way to start a story that I want to keep reading. Em our heroine finds herself in such a situation, confined in a cell. There are just so many unknown constantes in this equation, who is keeping her hostage, what did she do to get herself in there and how will she escape? It's the deperate search for a way out that always appeals to me on a very instinctive level. Seeing the main character caught in such a hopeless scenario is an immediate bonding guarantee for me.

In the cell next to hers is a boy who we fast learn stars as leading male character and will make for a gorgeous love interest. With the looming threats of a mad scientist hunting them there isn't much time for romance so I even more savoured each scene piecing together their grand love story. Finn is one love interest who's worth a sleepless night equally spent reading and swooning.

Finn and Em are so good together. They aren't trained agents or spies but they are just as bad-ass and determined. Being given a time frame of only a few days makes solving the puzzle and ending their task so much more urgent and thrilling.

Em has to figure out the list she finds in her cell, written by her future self with some of the hardest decisions that will change her life forever. Destroy the life you know and work against another version of yourselves and friends to save the entire world. Working against your own past self has something very emotional and tricky about it. It's about the person you were and you could become in future if you just tried hard enough to change. Cristin Terrill wrote a story so complex and basically mastermind I'm sure she'll have countless fans by the time her second book comes out.

The two different persons they are, Marina in the past and Em in the future, are in love with two different men. Finn and James. The (internal) character conflicts and love conflict proved to be very engaging and threw up a lot of questions.

Every thing they change in the past makes the future even more unpredictable. It's like a never-ending (admittedly slightly confusing at times) mystery, a puzzle with endless pieces that needs to be solved.

We are given information about the past, as Finn and Em are seeing their old selves living it in form of flash backs. And hints at what happens in the future if they fail, who has to suffer and who won't make it. This story works on so many different levels and is layered with so many emotions you better pick up a copy yourselves and make sure you don't miss Cristin's stunning debut. 

5/5 ***** ALL OUR YESTERDAYS – A multidimensional quest of two teens set out to save the world, their future and themselves. Astonishing in its addictiveness, disarming in its time travel glory, ALL OUR YESTERDAYS will constantly have you pining for just one more page. 

I read ALL OUR YESTERDAYS expecting it to be a standalone and I really loved it. The story could've been wrapped-up in only one book but it definitely leaves room for more content. And I was so stoked when I found out there will be a sequel coming in 2014 because Cristin's characters Marina and Finn had grown on me so much I wouldn't want to let them go. Time can be a tricky thing and for all its endless possibilities it brings you love ALL OUR YESTERDAYS even more.

"I start to shake. In this time and place, a letter I don't remember writing means something very specific.

But it's the last line that makes me scramble for the toilet in the corner of the cell.

You have to kill him." ― p. 11

ALL OUR YESTERDAYS you should also enjoy HOURGLASS by Myra McEntire, TEMPEST by Julie Cross and PIVOT POINT by Kasie West. All three are just as action-packed, cleverly thought-out and have the best romances.

* How do you like the UK cover for ALL OUR YESTERDAYS?

* Click here to read an excerpt.

* Want to find out what happened before ALL OUR YESTERDAYS? Watch the prequel web series.

* For further information about Cristin Terrill and her books visit www.cristinterrill.com

* Thanks to Disney Hyperion and Netgalley for the chance to review ALL OUR YESTERDAYS!