Book Review: All Our Yesterdays by Christin 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."
Genre: Dystopian, YA
Pages: 368 (hardcover)
First published: August 1st 2013

First of all: THIS BOOK IS FREAKING AWESOME.
Now we can start. I was going to visit a university and it pretty much took up an enitre day. I had to sit in the train for 4 hours total and I decided that it was the perfect opportunity to get some reading done. And oh boy I was happy that I took this one from my shelf and put it in my bag.

The story and characters in this book seem to be a bit complicated at first, as they the POV changes from the very first chapter until the end of the book. There are two couples involved: Em and Finn & Marina and James. The thing that connects them is a Cassandra, a time machine. The few chapters were incredibely confusing and I had absolutely no idea of what the hell was going on.
Em and Finn both know a guy named James, which actually is Marina's James, her best friend and the guy she has been in love with for years.
Due to Cassandra, Em and Finn are living in the future and they have seen what James and his Cassandra have done to them and to the world. They are trying to prevent that by getting their best friend James killed, because Em and Finn are Marina and Finn, but then from the future.


Are you still following me?

Luckily for me, it all made more sense when I got further into the book, but the only thing that kept confusing me was the change of POV. You had to pay attention what was happening in Marina's life and then switch to Em's life, who is with Finn and then you also have to find out what James means to them and what it is exactly that he has done.
CONFUSING.

Anyway, the characters clearly deve;opthroughout the book and so does the story itself which is awesome, since it does give this book a whole lot more depth.
The two intertwining storylines build up to the moment when all the characters meet each other, which actually wasn;t supposed to happen, but it is something that you just can't avoide in the second half of this book.
All the relationships that you can see developingg throughout the book eventually turn on each other and get all mixed up and become some sort of manipulating. They tend to play with your thoughts and therefore your brain and you get so sucked into the book that there is almost no escaping. It's that intense.
The time travel part is something to discuss as we never really get to experience the machine itself or any scientific form of it.

Considering the fact that I managed to read this book within 2.5 hours in a wobbly train is quite significant for my opinion on this book. I loved every page and I was so eager to find out what happened, that I practically flew through the pages. I'd definitely recommend this for anyone who is looking for a dystopian novel, but one that still takes place in the normal world. It has friendship, love, betrayal, loss and the added aspect of time travel and people coming from the future, makes this novel so much more exciting.

So, if you have been doubting whether you should pick this up or not, I am now telling you that you should. It is definitely one of my favourite books that I have read this year.