Name: Yesterday
Rating: 3.285714285714286 (7 reviews)
ISBN: 9781472242211

FELICIA. YAP

How do you solve a murder when you can only remember yesterday? There are two types of people in the world. Those who can only remember yesterday, and those who can also recall the day before. You have just one lifeline to the past: your diary. Each night, you write down the things that matter. Each morning, your diary tells you where you were, who you loved and what you did. Today, the police are at your door. They say that the body of your husband's mistress has been found in the River Cam. They think your husband killed her two days ago. Can you trust the police? Can you trust your husband? Can you trust yourself?

Yesterday

Felicia Yap

'The Thriller of the Summer'

Eva Korosec

** spoiler alert **
           Damn. This book really keeps you going until the very last page. I loved it immensely, Yap's writing style is incredible and the characters are so brilliantly complex and they reveal themselves so gradually that you don't even think there is something wrong about them until their ultimate truths are revealed (save for Hans Richardson though – I didn't care much for him or for his police work. I get that he was a side character who was mostly there to tie the story together, but his character-arc would require a bit more depth in my opinion, and the way he was written seems like the author did not put a whole lot of effort in her research). Not to mention that the idea for the book alone, a classic murder mystery drama set in a dystopian universe where no one can truly rely on their memory, works incredibly throughout the whole story. It really makes the final plot twist that much daunting.

My only critiques are Anna May/Sophia's stepmother and her Belarus accent, depicted in the story (author writing the accent into a dialogue always feels dicey to me: "Vat ze hell are you doink here?" There's too much unnecessary mockery veiled into it for my taste), and the overall Insanity/Madness label the women in the book are marked by. Sure, Claire's "insanity" is at least explained with her depression, but Sophia is just. Inexplicably insane. For no specific reason, with no mental illness tied to it (and it doesn't really help that she's painted as the villain in the book – and that her motives for revenge are more or less driven by insanity). It borders on ableism and it generally did not set the right tone. Of course, Claire's depression is at least explained and the insanity label on falls on her once, but Sophia's so-called madness is never truly explained aside from the fact that she can, aside from everyone else, remember everything from the past. That fact alone doesn't really explain why she was so set on getting revenge (for Mark, firstly, as it is implied that he is the one she wants to ruin, aside for the chilling twist at the end where it turns out she has wanted to get her revenge on her stepmother).

Overall, it is a good book. The plot twist in the end nearly made me fall out of my chair – it has been a while since a crime novel surprised me this much in the end, and its gripping originality truly makes it worth the read, despite my problems with it, as stated above.

High-concept meets hot-mess in this story of unreliable memory, betrayal, and murder. Imagine a stratified society where classes are divided not by wealth, nor religion, nor property, but instead by memory. Imagine a world where upper class Duos have two days worth of memories and plebeian Monos only one day worth. Imagine, too, that the only way to understand your spouse or your child or your mother is to jog your brain with daily e-diaries. And then imagine someone is murdered. How do you find a killer when all who are involved have their memories constantly reset? Claire and Mark are a surprising mixed-marriage that on the surface seems brilliant. Claire is a conscientious Mono housewife, Mark a novelist-turned-MP Duo on the political rise. But when a woman turns up dead, and she is then revealed to be Mark's mistress, their perfectly constructed life begins to fall apart. Told from four different perspectives--Mark, Claire, the detective on the trail, and the victim--Felicia Yap's staggeringly inventive debut leads us on a race against an ever resetting clock to find the killer. With the addicting cleverness of Before I Go to Sleep, the science fiction world-building of Minority Report and the relatable madness of Gone Girl, Yesterday is a smart, utterly unique, mind-blowing page-turner.

Kiara Formento

Steve Parks

A brilliant high-concept debut thriller - just how do you solve a murder when you only remember yesterday? 'The thriller of the summer' - Observer 'Yap is a phenomenon' - Guardian 'The intrigue of Gone Girl and the drama of Before I Go to Sleep' - iNews 'So hotly tipped it should come with scorch marks... Quite literally mind-bending' - Red Today, the police are at your door. They say that the body of your husband's mistress has been found in the River Cam. They think your husband killed her two days ago. You can't recall what he did that day, because you only remember yesterday. You rely on your diary to tell you where you've been, who you love and what you've done. So, can you trust the police? Can you trust your husband? Can you trust yourself?

The phenomenal debut thriller of secrets, lies and betrayal

𝓋𝒾𝒸𝓉𝑜𝓇𝒾𝒶

steffi

How do you solve a murder when you can only remember yesterday? Imagine a world in which classes are divided not by wealth or religion but by how much each group can remember. Monos, the majority, have only one day's worth of memory; elite Duos have two. In this stratified society, where Monos are excluded from holding high office and demanding jobs, Claire and Mark are a rare mixed marriage. Clare is a conscientious Mono housewife, Mark a novelist-turned-politician Duo on the rise. They are a shining example of a new vision of tolerance and equality-until... A beautiful woman is found dead, her body dumped in England's River Cam. The woman is Mark's mistress, and he is the prime suspect in her murder. The detective investigating the case has secrets of his own. So did the victim. And when both the investigator's and the suspect's memories are constantly erased--how can anyone learn the truth? Told from four different perspectives, that of Mark, Claire, the detective on the case, and the victim--Felicia Yap's staggeringly inventive debut leads us on a race against an ever-resetting clock to find the killer. With the science-fiction world-building of Philip K. Dick and the twisted ingenuity of Memento, Yesterday is a thriller you'll never forget.

Yesterday

Reviews

Highlights