Hi there! I’m here to talk about an incredible own voices debut that puts a unique twist on time travel. **And as always, the work to support the Black community is not done, whether there is media coverage for it or not, so here is the link to click in order to support the Black Lives Matter movement in any way you can, and thank you to StarlahReads for compiling these resources. You can also visit the description of this video by booktuber Jess Owens, which has links to several additional resources about global events.**
I’ll admit, I’m not entirely sure how an advanced copy of Yesterday is History, a debut contemporary (soft sci-fi) book by Kosoko Jackson, ended up in my possession. I must have been scrolling through NetGalley, was drawn in by the cover (I mean can you blame me? It’s stunning), found the synopsis interesting. requested it, and was accepted. It sounded like a hard-hitting read that would contrast the light and fluffy books I was reading at the time. I didn’t know what to expect going into it, and, let me just say, I was incredibly impressed.
On December 22nd, 2020, Daniel McIntyre dies unexpectantly in a car crash. Andre Cobb, recently diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma, is the recipient of his liver through a transplant, and six months later he finds that he might have gained more than just a vital organ. When nodding off to sleep, Andre finds himself in the year 1969, under the magnetic pull of a mysterious stranger named Michael. Before long, he is whisked away back to his present-day Boston home, where he requires a little more than an explanation from the donor’s family. Blake McIntyre, Daniel’s younger brother, is tasked with ensuring Andre has the tools he needs to control his new-found time-traveling abilities, and while the two grow closer Andre just can’t seem to stay away from Michael. But it can be dangerous to meddle with the past, and at the end of the day Andre will be forced to make a choice that will greatly impact his present and future.
I was really blown away by this debut. I think it’s great for readers (such as myself) who tend to gravitate towards contemporary novels but enjoy a slight fantastical or sci-fi twist. Since Andre is just as new to time travel, it really felt like we were learning the law of the land right alongside him, through lessons with Blake, sit-downs with Claire, and even self-discoveries while in the past with Michael. Andre, as a character, was super dynamic for me, as he has been pushed in the direction of medicine for so long by his parents, even having a personal connection to it with his cancer diagnosis, but struggling to differentiate between pursuing it because he wants to or because his parents want him to. Additionally, he is fully aware that he has been handed a social disadvantage because of his race – Andre is consistently pointing out the prejudices put upon him by society as a whole and people in his life because he is Black. In terms of the McIntyre family, I thought this novel was an important portrayal of grief – Blake and his parents have all lost a loved one, due to tragic circumstance, and they each have their own way of dealing with the pain, but sometimes that blindsides them and they don’t see how their coping mechanism can actually hurt each other. It’s something to be worked through with communication and understanding. I’m usually not one to root for love triangles, but I appreciated what both Blake and Michael had to offer Andre as a respective love interest, and in turn what Andre helped them both work through in their personal lives. And the slow buildup to the climax was, well, something I definitely didn’t see coming, but looking back was really well incorporated into the story and I should have caught on. That’s just a nod to good writing and story-telling.
I am sure, as with every other book I’ve read, I can comb through the details and nit-pick things that I wasn’t the biggest fan or think of the story more critically, but I think I’ll leave my thoughts as they are. Because at the end of the day, I read this months ago and am still impressed with the story and how the characters and their story arcs impacted me enough to make positive change in my personal life. I think that provides more insight than anything else I have to offer. Hats off to Kosoko Jackson – I can’t wait to see what he has to offer in the future. Yesterday is History is set to be released on February 2nd, 2021 (which is just a few days after this has been posted), so if you want to reach for a contemporary with discussion of grief, consequences of your actions, and time travel, please consider preordering a copy, as those sales do help the author greatly (and if you’d like to support a local independent bookstore, you can find one here). I hope the story sticks with you as much as it has for me. *Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Sourcebooks Fire, for the e-arc, all thoughts and opinions are my own.*
Places to find Yesterday is History:
Bookshop
Amazon
Goodreads
Kosoko Jackson’s site
Thoughts About Things 