Review by lmcclaran -- Yesterday by Samyann
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lmcclaran
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- Latest Review: Yesterday by Samyann
Review by lmcclaran -- Yesterday by Samyann
[Following is a volunteer review of "Yesterday" by Samyann.]
2 out of 4 stars
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Samyann’s Yesterday is a historical romance novel with a twist and on the rocks. It takes place in modern day Chicago, where we follow antique appraiser Amanda and mounted police officer Mark as they begin to fall in love, and discover an unusual connection to their past. Through regression sessions, we travel back in time to the mid 1800s and explore the concept of reincarnation. Is Bonnie really Amanda in a past life? And how does Mark, a burned clock, and a cat fit into all of this? These questions and more are answered by Samyann, while leaving you wondering about the possibility of your own past life at the end.
For me, this book was pretty middle of the road. It had an intriguing concept and I was drawn to some of the characters. It was not terrible writing, but it was not amazing either. Although there were variations in sentence lengths, many, but not all, of the sentences were structured in the same way, making it rhythmically boring and slow to read. For instance, on the opening page, nearly every sentence begins with the subject or pronoun followed by a verb.
Yesterday is sappy and cheesy at times, which is neither good nor bad - I often enjoy a cheesy romance novel for a quick, light read - but this one just didn’t do it for me. Other fans of historical romance may enjoy this aspect more than me though!
My main issue with this book was Mark. He is portrayed as the strong, macho hero while I read him more as a repulsive, entitled jerk who occasionally blurred the lines of consent. There were times in the novel when Amanda clearly said no, yet Mark would disregard her wishes for his own desires, thinking that he knew what was better for her. After the sentence, “‘I’m sorry, but “Don’t Mark” doesn’t cut it.’” I genuinely felt sick to my stomach. Ew. There is another male character who enters the stage later on in the book, and without giving away any spoilers, I will say I found him equally arrogant. Of course, a character can be written with any type of personality; if all fictional people were cast as good, kind, caring, generous, etc., it would get quite boring. We need antagonists and we need flawed characters who grow throughout the book, who teach us to grow and examine our own lives. I do not mind a book about a strong male and a weak female lead; I guess I just felt that story has been played out. I’m personally more interested in reading books about strong women, kind men, and characters who find the inner strength to stand up to people like Mark. That is what this book was missing for me.
This book seemed pretty well edited. I am rating this book 2 out of 4 stars for the repetitious writing style, for lack of holding my interest, and not enough character growth. Despite everything I disliked about this novel, for days after finishing it, it did leave me curious about my own past.
******
Yesterday
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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2 out of 4 stars
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Samyann’s Yesterday is a historical romance novel with a twist and on the rocks. It takes place in modern day Chicago, where we follow antique appraiser Amanda and mounted police officer Mark as they begin to fall in love, and discover an unusual connection to their past. Through regression sessions, we travel back in time to the mid 1800s and explore the concept of reincarnation. Is Bonnie really Amanda in a past life? And how does Mark, a burned clock, and a cat fit into all of this? These questions and more are answered by Samyann, while leaving you wondering about the possibility of your own past life at the end.
For me, this book was pretty middle of the road. It had an intriguing concept and I was drawn to some of the characters. It was not terrible writing, but it was not amazing either. Although there were variations in sentence lengths, many, but not all, of the sentences were structured in the same way, making it rhythmically boring and slow to read. For instance, on the opening page, nearly every sentence begins with the subject or pronoun followed by a verb.
Yesterday is sappy and cheesy at times, which is neither good nor bad - I often enjoy a cheesy romance novel for a quick, light read - but this one just didn’t do it for me. Other fans of historical romance may enjoy this aspect more than me though!
My main issue with this book was Mark. He is portrayed as the strong, macho hero while I read him more as a repulsive, entitled jerk who occasionally blurred the lines of consent. There were times in the novel when Amanda clearly said no, yet Mark would disregard her wishes for his own desires, thinking that he knew what was better for her. After the sentence, “‘I’m sorry, but “Don’t Mark” doesn’t cut it.’” I genuinely felt sick to my stomach. Ew. There is another male character who enters the stage later on in the book, and without giving away any spoilers, I will say I found him equally arrogant. Of course, a character can be written with any type of personality; if all fictional people were cast as good, kind, caring, generous, etc., it would get quite boring. We need antagonists and we need flawed characters who grow throughout the book, who teach us to grow and examine our own lives. I do not mind a book about a strong male and a weak female lead; I guess I just felt that story has been played out. I’m personally more interested in reading books about strong women, kind men, and characters who find the inner strength to stand up to people like Mark. That is what this book was missing for me.
This book seemed pretty well edited. I am rating this book 2 out of 4 stars for the repetitious writing style, for lack of holding my interest, and not enough character growth. Despite everything I disliked about this novel, for days after finishing it, it did leave me curious about my own past.
******
Yesterday
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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Latest Review: Yesterday by Samyann
