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. (from GoodReads)

Review:
I was really excited to read Yesterday, because I think C.K. Kelly Martin is a great author and I wanted to see what she would do in a new genre. Lucky for me, I very much enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it to fans of science fiction.

It's funny that I like Yesterday so much because I was super confused in the beginning. I didn't realize I was reading the prologue (which is set in the future), so when I moved onto the first chapter (which was back in 1985), I had no idea what was going on. Fortunately, I was able to figure it all out, which enabled me to actually invest in the story.

Ever since Freya moved back to Canada, she's been having vivid dreams that feel like memories, and her actual memories seem artificial. How terrible would it be to feel as though your memory had been changed? That's what Freya goes through during a big chunk of Yesterday. When she sees a boy on the street, she's positive that she knows him - even though they've never met. It takes awhile for Freya to learn the truth, which is revealed to the reader as a huge info dump. Normally I would hate that, but it really was the most effective way for the reader to quickly learn what had happened and to get an overview of the dystopian world.

I would definitely characterize Yesterday as science fiction, because that's a very important part of the story, but we only really see the future world through flashbacks and memories. Most of the book takes place in 1985, which doesn't feel any different than present day. The only differences is that there is no Internet or cell phones. Other than that everything is the same.

Once Freya learns the truth, Yesterday becomes infinitely more exciting and tension-filled. Freya and Garren (the boy from the beginning) are on the fun and I was really hoping everything turns out for them. There's a bit of a twist but I liked the ending. Overall I really enjoyed Yesterday and I thought it was a very different approach to the typical dystopian format.

Rating: 8 out of 10.
FTC: recieved from LitPick

2012/Random House/368 pages.