Yesterday by C.K. Kelly Martin

 

Summary:

 

THEN: The formation of the UNA, the high threat of eco-terrorism, the mammoth rates of unemployment and subsequent escape into a world of virtual reality are things any student can read about in their 21st century textbooks and part of the normal background noise to Freya Kallas's life. Until that world starts to crumble.

NOW: It's 1985. Freya Kallas has just moved across the world and into a new life. On the outside, she fits in at her new high school, but Freya feels nothing but removed. Her mother blames it on the grief over her father's death, but how does that explain the headaches and why do her memories feel so foggy? When Freya lays eyes on Garren Lowe, she can't get him out of her head. She's sure that she knows him, despite his insistence that they've never met. As Freya follows her instincts and pushes towards hidden truths, the two of them unveil a strange and dangerous world where their days may be numbered. Unsure who to trust, Freya and Garren go on the run from powerful forces determined to tear them apart and keep them from discovering the truth about their shared pasts (and futures), her visions, and the time and place they really came from. Yesterday will appeal to fans of James Dashner's The Maze Runner, Veronica Roth's Divergent, Amy Ryan's Glow, Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and Ally Condie's Matched. 

Summary & Photo taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 368 pages (Hardcover)

Source: Toronto Public Library

Publication Date: September 25th 2012 by Random House

 

Time travel, dystopian, romance, young adult those were the key words that made me want to read this book. Well, those words and the fact that it came pretty highly recommended by Kimba @ Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

 

Anyways I'm always wanting to read more books written by Canadian authors so when I found out that this novel was written by a Canadian author I made sure that I put my library hold to active so I could get my hands on this one even faster.

 

Yesterday was an entirely unique read and in a book world where so many books are similar in plot it's awesome to come across one that is so refreshingly different. C.K. Kelly Martin was able to create a wonderfully unique plot line with an awesome and seldom used time setting.

 

The book follows Freya a young girl from the future who is sent back in time with her younger sister and mother shortly after there is an epidemic that claims the life of Freya's brother and caused her father to be left behind. However, Freya has no real recollection of the life she led before she landed in Toronto in the year 1985. She has the memories but they feel as though she never really lived them. Despite the holes in her memory she begins to adjust to life in Canada until she sees Garren and something tells her she knows him. From there the novel takes us on a wild ride where we find Freya and Garren running for their lives trying to keep their hands to themselves and trying to find a way to have a future together.

 

For me my favourite thing about the book overall was that it was set in Toronto where I was born, raised and still live in. While the book takes place in 1985 (5 years before I was born) there are some references to locations that I recognized like streets, shops and even the odd bus stop and that really endeared this young adult novel to me. I have no idea why but this city is so seldom used in novels it makes it even more especially when it is used and the fact that the author is actually from this city and grew up in the time period made the book's setting all that much more authentic and I really enjoyed reading about my city.

 

The characters were interesting too while I didn't adore Freya and Garren I did like them. For me Freya was a little too unsure of herself in a lot of situations or she was too confident so it felt as though she had a bit of a split personality disorder. I did like that she was willing to get to the truth about who she, her family and Garren really are and why she things are not what they really seemed.  Garren though was probably my least favourite character. I thought that he was really rude, sometimes cruel in the way he said things and I didn't appreciate the way he treated Freya as an inconvenience for much of the novel. He just didn't sit well with me even after he begins to remember Freya from his past I just couldn't connect to him. Plus, I wish that the author had made Freya and all the other characters a little more detailed I would have liked to have gotten to know them better and I think that would have helped bring the story line together more.

 

The book was a little bit slow at first but it sure sped up and sometimes I was left grasping at straws because things would happen in the novel so quickly that I was left baffled and had to go back and re-read a few pages here and there. The plot was interesting though. I went into the book expecting it to be the typical dystopian book but it turned out it wasn't like that at all in fact to me this novel wasn't much of a dystopian read but I suppose that depends on the reader. To me this was just more of a light sci-fi read. I really enjoyed all the twists and turns in the plot that kept me reading. I never knew what going to happen next and what really hooked me on the book was one big surprise character in the end of the book and I have to say when that character was introduced I fell hard for the story itself and I give huge kudos to the author for adding that character in. I also liked learning about how and why Freya and Garren were placed almost 100 years in the past but I wished that more detail had been used to explain it all. I liked the mixture of romance, science fiction, with a bit of mystery that the author wove into this novel and I thought she wrote a really successful book. The way the book ended also made me wonder if there is a sequel to this book in the works because I have a lot of questions left unanswered.

 

I would recommend this to novel to fans of young adult romances with a sci-fi/dystopian twist. It's a unique read and it's one that I think shouldn't be missed. The author is a fresh voice in this genre and I hope she writes more book this. I for one am going to be reading as many books as I can by this author because she's wonderfully talented!

 

Liked it!
★ ★ ★ 1/2 

 

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