3 out of 4 stars
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Yesterday by Sammy Ann is a book about the power of love, the kind of love that transcends time and death. Amanda, the heroine, has led a difficult life and had major losses. Thus, she is afraid to love because she has no intention of going through the heart-wrenching experience of loving and losing again. Then she meets the incredibly good-looking Mark who makes it his business to painstakingly take down the wall she has built around her heart, brick by brick, until she learns that true love never dies.
The author did a great job in developing characters who are interesting, relatable, and likable. This particularly pleased me because I have read a lot of books which have good storylines but the characters are mostly one-dimensional and boring. I also was intrigued by the theme of reincarnation and very much appreciated the way it was handled. This is probably because reincarnation has always fascinated me or maybe because I have mixed beliefs about life after death but either way, it made the reading all the more enjoyable for me. The best part for me was the witty dialogue between the characters. I constantly found myself grinning or laughing out loud while reading.
I, however, did not like the constant italicized thoughts of the characters just because the writing was mostly flat in those parts. The wording in their thoughts was too simple and mostly unnecessary because a good reader can figure out the feelings of a character from the dialogue and other descriptions without it being spelled out. Also, towards the end, one of the things the characters were trying to figure out was too obvious and I did not understand why it was dragged out to the end. This made the ending underwhelming which is what I disliked most about this book. I feel that the author could have done more with the ending, maybe a revelation of a mystery that the reader has not figured out.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I give it 3 stars because I enjoyed reading it very much. It made me think, challenged some of my beliefs, made me laugh and the editing is superb. I did not give it 4 stars because I was dissatisfied by the ending but I would give it a 3.5 if it was allowed because the plot was so good and surprised me in a good way. I did not give it 2 stars because I read the entire book in one day. After I started, I did not stop until I had finished reading it. It was that good. Any book that has that kind of grip on me deserves more than 2 stars.
Even though this book is a work of fiction, the backdrop for some of it is the civil war which is a historical fact. Like the civil war, there is a liberal scattering of other historical facts woven into the story and that makes it a good read for lovers of history. It would also appeal to those with an open mind, who are willing to view life from a different perspective. However, this book would not appeal to the unrepentant skeptic and those who are not interested in romance.
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Yesterday
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