Yesterday [Hardcover]

With unique premise and absorbing plot line, C.K. Kelly Martin's Yesterday is a great time travel adventure! The intriguing cover instantly drew me in, and the fast-paced, thrilling and fascinating storyline kept me well entertained and captivated all the way through. Not to mention that I just love books set in places that I'm familiar with!

Taking place in 1980's Toronto, Yesterday tells the story of one girl's quest to discover the truth about her past, her family and herself. A quest that is just as thrilling as it is dangerous, and just as thought-provoking as it is moving. Freya Kallas has just moved to Canada from Australia and she seems to have trouble acclimatising to her new surroundings. Her memories are blurry and illusive, no matter how hard she focuses, she can't recall the details. It's almost as if they're not real... Nothing about her new life in Toronto feels right. Is it just a bad case of home-sickness, or is there something more to Freya's headaches and weird dreams? And things get even more weird when she meets Garren, a strangely familiar teenager who claims that they've never met before. And when they stumble across some well-protected, shocking secrets, they find themselves running for their lives. Everything they thought they knew, every memory they believed to be true - all that crumbles to pieces right before their eyes, and they'll have to fight to find out the truth about their pasts.

First of all, I have to say that C.K. Kelly Martin did a fantastic job capturing the spirit of 1985 Toronto! Through famous quotes and various pop-culture references, she managed to really breathe life into the places and people of the time period. 1985 is the year I was born in, so I guess you can say it was personally meaningful to me that she got it all right! The atmosphere was amazing and I could easily picture all the scenes, conversations and settings. Her depictions were spot-on accurate and very vivid, and the overall effect was wonderful, charming, and quite convincing!

I thought the premise was really great. I love twisty time-travel stories and mind-bending mysteries. Yesterday is both - and more! The pacing was good, there was never a slow or boring moment, and though I did get slightly confused at times, I can honestly say that I enjoyed this book a lot. I've seen people complaining about the prologue, they say it gives away too much, killing the surprise factor. Well, yes - the prologue isn't the best one I've seen in my life, but can you really imagine the story without it? I can't. The story would be even more confusing, and I probably would not know what on earth was going on. So, while I wasn't the biggest fan of the prologue, I did recognize its importance to the plot as a whole.

I liked Freya, though I can't say that it was love at first sight. Some aspects of her personality I liked and admired, others - not so much, but in the end she grew on me and I found myself caring about her, her quest to uncover the truth, and her relationship with Garren. She had some really great qualities, she was persistent and mentally strong, she didn't give up easily and even in very hard situations she found it in herself to push trough and continue her search for the answers. Most importantly, she grew as a person, and that is something I always appreciate in YA characters. Additionally, the first-person narrative made it easy for me to connect with her and get a good idea of what she was going through. C.K. Kelly Martin's writing was raw, emotional, insightful and thoroughly absorbing. Some of the passages were almost poetic, and they spoke straight to my heart. I loved it!

Overall, Yesterday proved to be just as good as I hoped it would be. I can't wait to read the sequel and find out what Freya and Garren will do next, what dangers they'll have to face and if they'll manage to find what they're looking for!

So yes it kind of starts like a tutorial....I was almost yawing in places, kind of thought I got yet another bummer book. WOW!!!! when this book takes off, it does so with a nail biting, white knuckle, can't put it down fire. I REALLY loved this book, the story was very compelling, extremely detailed and quite original..cannot wait to find out what happens next. Plus for a YA book it had a little more language(realism is very important and people do swear) and the sexual tension was more then you normally get in a YA book, but not disgusting like 50 shades....if you like really good dystopian scifi/time travel, this book is a great read and yes I know I don't go into alot of detail, I loathe those reviewers who basically tell me the entire story BEFORE I have read it....ever heard of TMI?

My second C. K. Kelly Martin book has me convinced that I need to write every single thing she writes. Martin has a very distinct style. Her writing is wonderful and her concepts, at least for the two books I've already read, are entirely original. Yesterday didn't remind me of any other dystopia, a very rare experience.

Yesterday is one of those stories where you'll spend most of the book confused, unsure what the heck is going on. However, rest easy with the knowledge that you WILL be given answers; Martin will explain everything. Her vision of the future is dark and complex, taking into account various ways that humans could destroy the world. Not only that, but, of course, the meddlesome government will take charge in a harsh way to try to control everything.

I really cannot say much of anything else about the world building aspect of Yesterday, because spoilers would be unavoidable. The only other things I need to point out in this regard are the reasons I rated it down a little bit. First, there was the clunky info dump when Freya realized what was going on. I'm not sure if there was a better way to do that, but that chapter read like a history text. I also felt like her memories came back too quickly and easily. Second, the time travel aspects were questionable, but, then again, I almost always have big suspension of disbelief issues with time travel.

Yesterday made a really nice change from most of my other reads, because of the unique setting. For one thing, the book is set in Canada, taking place largely in Toronto. Very few books I've read have had a Canadian setting, though I'm a bit surprised by that. Even more uncommon, Yesterday is set primarily in the 1980s. I loved all the mentions of music, like The Smiths, and other bits of pop culture from that time period. Also, picturing everyone in the horrific clothes greatly amused me.

Freya won my affections early on. She's gorgeous, in a way that could have made her completely obnoxious; literally, everyone stares at her. However, she is completely uncomfortable with that. She doesn't try to be popular; instead she befriends the goths, and even does a makeover on herself so people will pay less attention to her. I loved that, despite her beauty, she doesn't take advantage of it nor does she deny it.

Freya has premonitions, visions of the near future. These really could have felt out of place, and I am curious about them, but Martin made them work. They did not come off as an unnecessary paranormal addition to the plot, thank goodness. I love Freya for her intelligence, her forthrightness, her courage and her anger. She feels so real. It also entertained me that in this case, it wasn't a heroine falling for a vaguely creepy, gorgeous guy who stalked her; she does the stalking, although she does have her reasons.

Garren definitely was less dear to me, but I liked him because Freya did. I still question him a bit, because he had a girlfriend at the beginning. The switch of his feelings from Janette to Freya seemed rushed and unnatural. However, I can accept it, since, though they get close to one another VERY quickly, they don't instalove all over the place. In such a stressful situation, emotions developing is not a surprise, but I would have punched everything if they were declaring eternal love for one another. Thankfully, they did not. As an added bonus, Martin is a genius at writing steamy scenes, as evidenced here and in My Beating Teenage Heart.

Reading Yesterday was a pleasure from beginning to end, a refreshingly original addition to dystopian fiction. Now I need to go add her other books to my wishlist...