I just finished reading Yesteryear and I need to talk about it.
Overall, I thought it was very good, although it didn't go where I was expecting. Normally I'm a very slow reader, but I managed to finish it before my two-week Libby loan was up, so it held my attention.
I didn't find Natalie quite as unlikable as a lot of people seem to (and I also just really enjoy unlikable protagonists). I really related to her struggles with not fitting in and not wanting to be part of the party scene when she first got to college, and I think a lot of her future decisions stemmed from that. I also think that she was really trying to find something that would give Caleb some sense of self-worth. I wish the book had gone more into his backstory and what made him so useless (because even among his family he was the odd one out).
I was a bit disappointed that >!there wasn't any actual time-travel, since I love a good time-travel story that's more slice of life and not "we have to stop the Lincoln assassination" or something like that, although I had seen Yesteryear labeled as a thriller before I started reading it, so I figured that was going to be the case.!<
I did think it was a little slow in places. I would have liked less time spent on Natalie and Caleb's early marriage and more on >!the post-scandal descent into the "1800s" lifestyle. That seemed really interesting and it was mostly just glossed over.!<
I didn't see the "twist" coming. I thought something else was going on.
Finally, I just want to say that, as an Idahoan, the author got almost nothing right about Idaho. So if you're thinking of visiting, don't let this book scare you away. It is mostly a very nice place. I promise we're not all Natalies!