All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill


All Out Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
Young Adult Dystopia, Audiobook, 368 pgs 
"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 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. 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. Em and Marina are in a race against time that only one of them can win.

All Our Yesterdays is a wrenching, brilliantly plotted story of fierce love, unthinkable sacrifice, and the infinite implications of our every choice.
I’m going to keep this short and as sweet as I can because everyone seems to adore this story and sadly, I really didn’t. Before you beat me over the head with the fact that I am a moron who is too ignorant to follow a time-travel story, I have to say that I enjoyed both Stephen King’s 11/23/63 and The Time Traveler’s Wife so it wasn’t the time-travel bits that put me off. Those books worked for me because of the characters. Though this story has very strong characters and it was interesting to see how much Em changes as she matures, something about them just didn’t grab me enough to become emotionally invested in their story. I’m sure it’s a case of “it’s me, not you” and I’ll leave it at that.

Were I you and considering this audio I would recommend opting for the paperback instead. Something about the narrator’s tone, almost bordering on monotonous here and there, made it very difficult to get through and two of the characters, friends of Marina’s whose names escape me, were cringe inducing. One sounded like an insipid moron and the other sounded like some snooty old socialite with some sort of strange accent and I believe the character was only 16 or so. The rest of the voices were decent but those two? Those two were truly awful. It's a good thing they only played bit parts or this would've been a DNF because the voices bothered me that much.

With that said, well, there's not much more to say. Everyone else loves it but I just thought it was okay.

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Comments

  1. Thanks for the warning about the narration. This is one I thought of trying.

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    1. You're welcome. You may want to try it in paper instead.

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  2. I never finished reading this in ebook form, but sounds like the audio isn't any better.

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  3. I'm glad I didn't get an audio version! In fact, not knowing what I'm getting with a narrator is what puts me off paying so much for audio versions of my favourite books. The only ones I own are the Stephen Fry narrated Harry Potter books which are brilliant. I thought this was a decent enough story and I liked the elements with Em and the time travel. Not as keen on the Marina parts so I gave it 3 stars. Certainly didn't love it.

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    1. I agree. This is why I get my audio's from the library, paperbackswap, whispersync or when they're deeply discounted. I would never buy one for full price unless I absolutely adored the narrator and the author.

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  4. That's too bad. I hate when everyone seems to love something and I'm like meh.

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    1. Yeah, it's always a bummer :( Makes me feel like I read it wrong.

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  5. This sounds like a book I'd like. Thanks for the warning about the audio. I've given up on more than one book that everyone loved because I couldn't listen to one more minute of the narrator! Perhaps this is one I should get from the library.

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    1. A narrator can really make or break a book. I hope you enjoy this book, if you get a chance to read it.

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