4 out of 4 stars
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Yesterday is a wonderful novel that is historical fiction and also is a romance novel. It is a novel of reincarnation. The book was written by the author Samyann.
The story takes place in modern day Chicago, Illinois. In the beginning, Amanda Parker is looking out of her window and talking to her cat, Oprah. She's telling Oprah that talking to her is more beneficial than her therapy sessions.
Later in the day, she decides to go out. After getting off a train, she gazes at two policemen that are on horses. She can't help how nice they looked with their spotless Chicago Police Dept. uniforms, and their polished belt buckles and stirrups. Before she has time to do anything else a train derails and a horrible crash happens right in front of her. She ends up saving a police officer's life but gets injured in the process. The police officer carries her into an antique shop before help arrives. The antique shop owner and the police officer, Mark Callahan, take care of Amanda as she falls in and out of consciousness. While waiting for an ambulance, Amanda hears a sound of a grandfather clock. She is mesmerized by the sound and later remembers it.
Curious who saved his life, Mark comes to visit Amanda in the hospital. Hs is instantly attracted to her and also thinks he knows her somehow. Amanda feels that she also knows Mark but she doesn't know where from. The more she gets to know Mark the more she likes him. That scares her because she has had a troubled past.
Mary, Amanda's godmother, offers to help them out. With Mary's help, Amanda is able to go back in time through her mind in order to find out how the two of them know each other. She also wants to find out why the grandfather clock was so familiar to her. She is able to go back to her reincarnated self in the 1800s. She is now a little girl named Bonnie. She gets to experience what it was like to live through the Civil War and also gets to experience the Great Chicago Fire.
When I learned that the story was about reincarnation I wasn't confident that I would like it. After the first two chapters, it was hard to put the book down. I wasn't really into romance novels before but this story was easy to get into.
You get to know the characters very well. There are many of them. It is easy to get to know their personalities. Some are very easy to fall in love with. My favorite character was Penelope. She seemed very caring and selfless. She took two children into her home that she didn't even know. I also liked Jack a lot. He was Bonnie's cousin. He always looked after her and continued looking after her through her adult years. I thought Daniel was very funny and charming. He was very straightforward. I also enjoyed many others. Mark was also very charming and he seemed to love Amanda a lot. He also seemed like a good police officer. I did think that he drank a lot. I remember very few scenes where he wasn't drinking. Amanda seemed self-centered and cold-hearted a few times. She acted like she was cursed somehow because she had to experience a few people in her life dying. I wished that she would grow up a little and realize that that is part of life. She seemed to believe that she was made to be alone.
I thought it was nice that the author let you know that it was a novel of reincarnation at the beginning of the story. It gave you some idea what the book was going to be about. Also, the author let you know what time zone you were in, in each chapter. The author also let you know what year it was and also the location. The chapters were not too long. It was easy to find places to leave off.
There were interesting historical facts at the end of the book. I've learned that back in the Civil War, church bells were being confiscated and were being recycled for artillery equipment. There is a recipe called,"Idiots Delight", in the back of the book. It was a dessert that was fed to Confederate soldiers in large quantities. The recipes looked very simple and didn't have a lot of ingredients. There are also directions on how to make a Confederate candle, although the author does not recommend anyone trying to make one at their house.
The author added a lot of detail throughout the book. He put a lot of detail into the grandfather clock.
There wasn't a lot of sex scenes which is nice. I wouldn't be worried if my child wanted to read the book.
I thought that Mark should have been allowed to have more chances to go back and research his past lives. He was only given one chance but it was very vague. Maybe if he was given more chances they would have both found their answers a lot quicker.
I did not find any grammar errors. The book was very well written.
I give Yesterday 4 out of 4 stars. I loved reading the book. It kept my interest from the beginning to the end. There are parts in it that will make you laugh while other parts will make you cry. Anyone who enjoys romances would enjoy this book. It is also a great book for anyone who is looking for a fun history lesson. For anyone who is not into either genre, this book might not be for you.
I think Samyann is a great author. I think this book could use a sequel. I hope I can find more books by this author.
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Yesterday
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