Review of "All Our Yesterdays"

"You have to kill him."

     Cristin Terill's All Our Yesterdays takes YA time travel to a whole new level. Twenty-year-olds Em and Finn have been imprisoned by the doctor, a horrible young man with direct control over a time machine that is tearing their world apart. They have tried fourteen times to stop him, each ending in failure and a struck-out possibility on the list previous Ems have hidden in a cell drain. Their only remaining option is to kill the doctor before he can create his machine, and though the three of them are linked by a powerful past of their own, Finn and Em are determined to go through with it. Meanwhile, in the history they intend to visit, a girl named Marina is struggling with her attraction to her best friend, James Shaw, a teenaged genius who is already working on a PhD at a big-name college. James seems to be noticing her at last, but when an attempt on his life sends them into hiding with his new friend Finn, she will have to choose between the boy she loves and the rest of humanity.

     Terill's take on time travel is instantly refreshing. Em and Finn are trapped in a world where Cassandra, the doctor's machine, has destroyed the delicate balance between chance and control, thanks in part to their own actions. Now they must set right their mistakes before the doctor catches up to them, while confronting the past versions of themselves that helped put him on the path to darkness. Em, Marina, James, and both Finns are brilliant, incredibly sculpted characters with remarkable depth and a strong sense of roundness that makes them startlingly real. Even the doctor is sympathetic and even likeable, in a way, which makes the ending that much more complicated. The bad guys are still the bad guys, but that doesn't mean the characters don't struggle to put an end to the mess he's created.

     The conflict in this novel is intense. Characters shoot, get shot at, and escape from a terrifying prison by the skin of their teeth. There is a bit of gore, though it isn't overdone, and strong language does slip past our heroes' lips every now and then. Although each side of the story includes romance, only one truly gets physical, and that is not described in great detail; however, Marina's friends begin the story by telling her to sleep with James. The only major point of concern here would be the violence, as assassination attempts, torture, and death share the pages with these lovable characters and their heartbreaking quest to save the world before it is lost for good. Time travel is described in a way that makes sense without turning everyone into scientists, and time itself is much less fragile than other books paint it, which adds to the story nicely.

     I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a wonderfully written time travel book featuring a cast of determined, unique characters who make intelligent decisions about the problems they face. The themes of knowing one's limits and unconditional love are fundamental here, and though readers would be hard-pressed to find them in other titles, Cristin Terill has done a great job integrating them into All Our Yesterdays. This is truly a five-star novel worthy of any reader's bookshelf.