Well this book was certainly unique and I have to say I really wasn’t quite sure about it, until I began to read! Then wow happy days what a great book. So basically it’s kinda strange world with two types of people with two types of memeory, one type can recollect the last day, the other can recollect the last 2 days. All of them have a daily diary where they write everything down so they can remember events.

So then you have a couple called Mark & Claire; Claire can remember 1 day and Mark can remember 2. This kind of coupling is frowned upon and so for them to be a couple is a rarity, and then a woman’s body is discovered and it seems from her diary she knew Mark quite well.

The story then starts to unravel into who she was and obviously who killed her, with the story told from Claire, Mark, victim and the DCI’s POV. That’s all I’m going to say 😉

Tbh I really liked the books and even though it flipped about it wasn’t confusing, it’s was full of twists and I eventually was like yes I know who it was haha and then the e ding said no I didn’t!

A great read and a different read too, breath of fresh air for sure I loved it.

Thank you to Netgalley for this book but I obviously didn't understand the bulb properly. Liking the book to Gone Girl was very misleading, I had no idea it was sci/fi, really is not my genre. I am giving it three stars as it is not the author's fault I cannot read it(seeing the number of 4 and 5 star reviews it must be a good book.). Sorry!

This wasn't exactly what I expected - it was way better! With elements of traditional crime/ mystery novels, mixed in with sci-fi elements (which I'm not always a fan of, but it's done so well in this novel), Yesterday is a hugely enjoyable novel which kept me turning the pages.

It was in no way predictable, which novels in this genre can fall into, and I found myself surprised along the way as more and more is revealed. I loved the whole idea of there being just two 'races' as such, determined not by skin colour or ethnicity but by whether you are a 'mono' or a 'duo'. Monos can remember only the last 24 hours, Duos can remember the last 48 hours - and are therefore seen as far superior. I liked the nod to Apple's increasing popularity (everyone carried around iDiaries to help them remember) and I loved the element of mystery. I couldn't wait to find out what had actually happened to Sophie, and how Mark and Claire may or may not have been involved. 

We hear the story from detective Hans, Sophie, Mark, and Claire's point of views, and this means you get to piece the missing elements together as the characters do and, at some points, know more than each individual does. There's still plenty of surprises, though, and the fact that the characters have to rely on their diaries to remember things means you're never quite sure who's completely reliable and who isn't - adding extra interest to the story!

I'd definitely recommend this for anyone looking for a new mystery/ crime novel with a difference. It's original, intriguing and beautifully written novel which I'd highly recommend - it might not be everyone's tastes I suppose, but I loved it!

There were some formatting issues with the copy i received which meant chunks of text were missing making it difficult to read the book, so much so that i had no choice but to mark this as a DNF albeit a reluctant one as i was enjoying it. I found the idea of the story to be an interesting one and will be looking to purchase a paperback copy for myself just as soon as i have the funds available.
Based on what i had been able to read this was going to be a comfortable 4 star... perhaps higher.

Received a free copy from NetGalley

The concept of this book had potential and it's what drew me to the book in the first place. However I could not get into the book at all and have struggled my way through it (whilst hoping it was going to get better ! ).

I had an issue with the writing of the story, felt it was confusing and disjointed. Due to this I couldn't connect with the characters or the story and found them to be one dimensional.

Overall a frustrating read.

Yesterday by Felicia Yap was just the novel I needed to break me out of a reading slump. The concept was refreshing, fascinating and added whole layers to the story while the characters were deplorable yet you ended up rooting for them regardless.

It is a thriller, set in world divided in two: those who can remember the day before (Monos) and those who can remember two days before (Duos). Due to their limited memories, the Monos tend to be treated as second-class citizens and marriage between Monos and Duos are both rare and frowned upon. As well as this, people can only remember their lives by writing ‘facts’ down in their journals, to be gone through the following morning. Add a murder to the mix and you have the recipe for a compelling novel about memory, society, fact and fiction.

There are four principal characters in Yesterday, all of which have their own point of view. Mark is a famous Duo novelist running for a political seat whose position stems heavily on his advocacy of mixed Mono-Duo marriages, being in one himself. Unfortunately, his Mono wife, Claire, feels inferior to him and unhappy in their marriage as a result of their memory differences. Enter Sophia, a woman who has just been released from an asylum after 17 years, who claims to have full memory capacity and blames Mark and Claire for ruining her life. Finally, we have Hans who is the detective tasked with solving the central murder of the novel, and whose whole career rests on the fact everyone thinks he is a Duo when, in fact, he is a Mono. This combination of characters makes for an intriguing cast, with conflict, emotion and revelations appearing in nearly all their interactions.

All in all, despite the characters and the intrigue surrounding the central mystery, what really drew me into this novel were the questions it raised around fact vs. memory. Hans, being a Mono, must solve the case in one day in order to be fully aware of all the facts. These facts, however, are mostly defined by what other characters have written down, and people could write down anything. The inability to remember gives people license to change the past but also allows that past to be taken away from them.

The novel itself isn’t perfect. The society is difficult to get your head around and the characters are very difficult to like. I also didn’t enjoy the ending and, if I were to read this novel again, I will probably stop reading before the epilogue, which just felt a little bit unnecessary and added a reasonable amount of confusion when it should have been rounding everything off. However, the writing and concept of this novel did capture my attention and, ultimately, Yesterday was the perfect novel for helping me to get back into reading.

More sci-fi than mystery and I don't read sci-fi novels, unable to engage with the concept and gave up at chapter two

A rare DNF for me. I hadn't realised that this would have such a strong element of sci-fi/dystopia and I struggled to engage with the setting, characters or plot.

It took me awhile to gain an understanding of this book and where it was going. It is quite removed from reality and contains an element of sci-fi. I suppose that is because I was expecting to read typical psychological thriller. Having said that, and when I got my head around Mono's and duo's. It all clicked into place and it gripped my attention.

The victim Sophia Alyssa Ayling, remembers everything (neither a Mono nor a duo), who is set to deliver revenge against MP Mark Henry Evans and his wife Claire (Mono). And yes it does take awhile to get your head around who is who and what they remember. This distracted from the book for me.

Sophia is suddenly found in the River, is it suicide or murder? Inspector Hans Richardson is set to investigate.

This is the type of book you will love or hate.

I received a free e-arc from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 9%.

I normally try read a lot more than 9% of a book before I decide not to finish it but unfortunately this book is just SO not my cup of tea. It makes no sense.

Its such a good premise but for me it really doesn’t work. So, everyone has some kind of memory issue- Monos remember only what happened yesterday, while elitist Duos remember the day before yesterday as well. But riddle me this: our main male character, Mark, a Duo, is a novelist. How can you write a novel if you can only remember what you did two days ago? He claims he rereads what he forgets, but surely that is impractical? I’ve written a novel or two and I’m sure if I had to spend every morning refreshing myself on what I’d already written, word for word, I’d never get round to writing very much at all!

Also, there are certain “facts” that the characters remember, but how does this work if they have little to no long term memory? And how do they choose what they remember and what they don’t? Claire, the female protagonist, can’t remember what she did two days ago but she remembers she is married, and to whom, and what his job is, etc. How?

Perhaps this is explained later in the book? Maybe I’ll pick this one up again one day to figure that out, but for now, I just can’t get past how illogical the whole thing is.

A good book with a surprising Si-fi twist. An exceptional example of it’s genre.

REadable thriller set in a world where some people can remember 2 days and some only one, they keep their memories on tablet computers. The plot is complex and the investigation of a crime partly depends on who remembers what. the investigating policeman has a one day memory but pretends to be a two day person (higher grade) and is forced to solve his cases in 24 hours so as not to be found out. The denouement is very twisted.

Yesterday is set in an alternate reality where society is divided by everyone’s ability to retain new memories. Monos, whose memories reset every day, are the majority, while the elite Duos, who retain two days of memories, look down on them. Everyone gets by with the use of personal diaries, where they store every minute fact about their lives. Claire and Mark have been in a rare mixed marriage for 20 years, but not everything is as idyllic as novelist-turned-politician Mark wants the world to believe. And the facts in Claire’s diary might not be as real as she believes they are.

The premise reminded me a lot of Memento, which I absolutely love, and so I was really looking forward to reading Yap’s debut. I’m sad to say that I was rather disappointed with the whole thing, though.

I found the world building to be severely lacking. Yesterday is set in an parallel universe of sorts, where the only real difference to ours is people’s lack of long term memory. I was surprised at how very similar our worlds were; I find it hard to believe a society with such an impairment would have developed exactly the same, and at the exact same rate, as ours. It felt like Yap hardly put any effort into developing the world her characters inhabit. In fact, the more I read the more I was sure that the memory thing was nothing more than a gimmick.

I found the characters unlikable, and I never felt invested in their stories. I didn’t care about Sophia or her revenge plans, I didn’t care about Mark and Claire’s relationship, and I didn’t care about the detective and his secrets.

Despite taking place in a span of 24 hours, the action moves along sluggishly, the plot twists are predictable, and the whole thing felt repetitive and tedious. The ending was convoluted and unbelievable, brought on by perfect coincidences rather than clever actions. It was my favourite part, though, because it meant it was over and I could finally move on to something else.

If you find the premise interesting, by all means give it a shot, but keep your expectations low to avoid disappointment.

liked the idea, liked the writing but the ending was weak, and i was left with too many unanswered questions

Yesterday starts off with a fascinating premise. The world is divided into Monos, who only remember events of the past 24 hours, and Duos, who by virtue of remembering two days back, enjoy immeasurably higher status in society. Monos and Duos both need to keep meticulous diaries to be able to look up past events of which they have no recall, but 'facts' can be learnt - so people don't wake up with no recollection of the past at all, although what comes across as memory is in fact something that has been learnt. And anyone who claims to remember their full past is placed in a mental institution on the grounds of being delusional.

With this backdrop, we are presented with a murder mystery - a woman if found dead in a Cambridge river, wearing a too-large men's coat with the pockets weighed down with pebbles. The prime suspect is a famous Duo author married, unusually, to a Mono wife; the investigator is also a Mono, something he keeps secret from colleagues. So the case must be solved within a day, before his grasp of events slips his mind.

I found the set-up to be clever and riveting at the outset, but it's a hard one to sustain. Too many questions arise about the Mono/Duo world, and they get in the way of following the plot. How can facts be learnt if memory is wiped after a day or two? How do people manage to do things like remember their neighbours, go about daily activities like cooking and driving, find their way around? How does anyone manage to be an author??

There are many incidental pleasures, especially in the earlier part of the book - Steve Jobs and his amazing success with the iDiary, for instance, and Duo Tim Berners-Lee's announcement of 'a public memory-storage device called the World Wide Web... a means of placing and exchanging memories on an 'Internet' with no central manager or database'. But as the story progresses such pleasures become fewer and the plot gets a little bogged down in the logistics of maintaining the mystery-solving aspect without falling into too many holes created by the sci-fi premise. It's a well written story that is extremely readable, but I kept thinking that it would have worked better as straight-up sci-fi.

This book had a very good concept. The idea of being unable to remember anything beyond your immediate memories intrigued me. All you know is written in a notebook which you must always have with you in order to answer questions if necessary. This comes to the fore in the story as someone is murdered and the suspects have to rely heavily on what they deemed important enough to put in their diary. Unfortunately the various twists ended up confusing me, especially the ending which wasn’t quite right to me.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.

3.5 Stars

After reading the blurb for this story, I was so excited to read it! This story is about a society where you are divided not by class or race but by how long your memory is. You are either a mono (remembers 1 day) and Duo (remembers 2 days). Everyone keeps a diary to remind themselves of what has happened before.

This is told in four different perspectives, Claire and Mark who are in a mixed memory marriage (claire is a Mono and Mark and Duo), the case detective Hans and the victim Sophia. Hans has to try and solve a murder case in rapid time while he still has his memory.

This was a very intriguing read and a fantastic concept. Great characters, especially Sophia who I found very interesting. However I felt at times that it needed more work. With the society the way it was I was expecting more of a sci fi genre and not the present day society that was used.

A good read but could be so much better, and has a lot of potential. I will be very interested to see what the author comes up with next.

From the initial 'blurb' and genre listing of psychological/thriller/mystery, I din't expect this book to be fantasy/science fiction at all.

This is a world of mono's and duo's – mono's remember just one day, duo's remember two. Mono's are inferior to duo's. Mark and Claire are a mixed marriage; Mark is a duo and Claire a mere mono. The body of Mark's mistress has been washed up on the river Cam and Claire initially suspects her husband might have something to do with her death. Hans is the detective trying to solve what he suspects is murder, by the end of the day. He needs to do this within a day because he is a mono but also needs to keep this fact from his duo colleagues.

I found parts of this book confusing and also I wanted to shout “What does it matter? all will have been forgotten by three days anyway” - only they didn't seem to forget everything, which just added to my confusion of how all the mono/duo memories worked.

I can't say it's a favourite book and, as none of my friends read fantasy, I can't think who to recommend this book to other than fantasy/sci-fi readers.

I find myself kinda disappointed by this novel. The concept is interesting, that of people being divided by how many days they can remember of their life, but the plot was boring and predictable. It felt very cliche.

Claire, a Mono who can only remember the previous day of her life, is married to Mark, a Duo who can remember the last two days of his life. They are a very rare mixed marriage, and I liked this idea and how it is explored that this type of partnership is actually rather harmful to a successful marriage and mental health of the couple, despite its backing from the government.

I also found the difference between fact and memory really interesting. As the world relies on iDiaries, which they use to record their days in order to refer back or 'remember' people can effectively rewrite their memories, or what they believe are their memories.

However, the plot was rather loose, consisting of the murder of a Duo, with ties to Mark. The plot line is rather transparent and obvious from the beginning and I found it quite boring.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Yesterday is a novel set in Cambridgeshire in an alternate reality about a couple - Mark, who is a Duo and Claire, who is a Mono. This means that Claire can only remember things that happened yesterday and not before. Mark can remember things that happened yesterday and the day before. To overcome the fact that the most anyone can remember is the day before yesterday, everyone writes an iDiary at the end of every day to be able to check for facts of things that have previously happened.
Then one morning, the body of Mark's mistress is found floating in the river Cams. The detective, Hans, has the job of trying to solve the murder. Preferably in the same day.


I really enjoyed this book. Although at times it annoyed me slightly because obviously if your memories are coming from something you've written in a diary, you could completely fabricate the whole thing. However, I really didn't see the ending coming. Felicia Yap did well to put in her red herring. When you're getting towards the end you're thinking "well what about...?" And then bam, you find that was completely insignificant and the big reveal happens.