I received an advanced copy of Yesterday is History from Sourcebooks’ Early Reader Program so I could share my review with you!

Andre Cobb recently received a life-saving liver transplant, but the gifted organ comes with a side effect no one could have predicted. With his new liver, Andre has gained the ability to travel through time, a skill he can’t control. Though he didn’t ask for this power, Andre soon discovers that there are certain perks to being able to time travel. On his first accidental trip to the past, he meets a boy from 1969 named Michael, and they share an instant connection. When Andre returns to his time, he receives a message from his donor’s family; time travel runs in their family and they want to help him learn to control his new ability. Andre becomes torn between 1969 and his own time, and between who he is and who he wants to be.

You can get your copy of Yesterday is History on February 2nd from Sourcebooks Fire!

I first encountered Kosoko Jackson’s work in the Out Now anthology last year, as his short story was by far my favorite from the collection! When I saw that he was going to be publishing a full-length novel this year, I couldn’t contain my excitement! Yesterday is History brought some of my favorite elements of Jackson’s storytelling style into a longer format, giving them time to develop into something truly spectacular. This book crosses between genres, exploring contemporary issues against the backdrop of time travel.

My Recommendation-
This book would be an outstanding pick for fans of Shaun David Hutchinson’s style of incorporating the surreal into modern settings. If you have been looking for a fun time travel story full of ageless emotions, you need to read Yesterday is History!

I loved everything about this book. So often we see books with three straight characters in a love triangle but rarely do we see stories of messy queer kids falling in love. Add in the fact that the main character can time travel? Even better! This is also great own voices representation of what it's like to be a young queer Black man. Though Andre might joke about it he knows that being Black in this country as well as queer can be challenging. I also love that his parents are still together and in love and it's not traumatic. We need more parents like that in stories just existing and being happy. Please check out this amazing queer romance if you're a fan of time travel, of a queer Black kids discovering what they want in life while also finding love.

Stories that blend time travel and romance together have my whole heart. One of my greatest and most vulnerable hopes in our existence is that love transcends time and space; that love can exist independently of both. And then I read Yesterday is History, a wonderful YA story about a boy time travels and, against all odds, finds a love of his life in the 1960’s. I struggle to accurately describe the feeling that reading Yesterday is History gave me – all I know is that this story is beautiful, heart-rendering, and filled with so much hope.

Yesterday is History by Kosoko Jackson follows Andre, a Black teen who has survived cancer and is given a second chance of life when he receives a liver donation. But what Andre discovers is that his new liver has given him the ability to time travel, and when he travels back in e, he meets Michael, a stunning and sharp boy who just might be Andre’s match. As Andre oscillates between past and present, Andre also starts to form a relationship with his dead liver donor’s brother, Blake.

As you can probably tell, I love books that have to do with time travel – especially when there’s a romance involved. In this story, time travel isn’t just a random ability that Andre so happens to inherit after his surgery; time travel is thoughtfully embedded into the reality of Yesterday is History. Like Andre, readers will be pulled into a secret world of time travel. And listen: the time travel in this is fantastic. It’s a kind of time travel that has its own rules and adds an intense and incredible emotional layer that just pulls you back into another sitting.

The cast of Yesterday is History was fantastic. I enjoyed getting to know Blake and Michael, but the character that shone brightest was Andre. Smart, sharp, thoughtful, and just, Andre is a memorable character that most people will find themselves relating with. (Me personally? I enjoyed how Michael reflected on his career path, doubted, and settled at a place where ‘still figuring things out’ was a valid conclusion to his development.) In particular though, I think readers will find Andre’s agency across the book really refreshing. Though the path of the story is clear, I enjoyed that Andre challenges, questions, struggles, finds joy, learns, and grows, which made the story incredibly interesting and engaged me throughout.

Of course, what I really enjoyed about Yesterday is History is the sublime romances. Yesterday is History has probably one of the best love triangles that I’ve read. I enjoyed that the love triangle challenged Andre; enjoyed that the romances that he forms with two very different boys made him question, reflect, and, best of all, so incredibly and tenderly vulnerable. Andre’s story and his feelings – all wonderfully written – feel so genuine. If I have to choose a word to describe Andre’s characterisation and his journey, it’s ‘brave’.

At the heart of Yesterday is History, is a story about love in its most vulnerable, most tender and most selfless. Yesterday is History presents a compelling and complex romance where ‘the one’ isn’t straightforward and that choice has consequences to explore what ‘love’, in its purest form, is. What I loved about this book the most is how the story explores love, and whether there is a time for it. Can two people love each other even if the time isn’t right? Does love have a ‘chance’? Can love extend and exist, independent of the confines of time and space?

I loved that Yesterday is History was able to evoke all these wonderful questions and ideas about love and time. And though I went back and forth about who Andre would ultimately choose, I liked that the love triangle was actually less about ‘who he would choose’, but was instead an organic journey about Andre’s joy, his loves and, in tandem, his growth. I don’t think Yesterday is History is a ‘lesson story’, but it definitely offers a heartaching and awful exploration of how acceptance – of life, of what happens, of ourselves - is so incredibly difficult but necessary.

MY CONCLUSION: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

If Yesterday is History is an example of Jackson’s sheer talent and hard work, then I am incredibly excited to see how he will grow as a writer and the stories that he will tell. Heartaching, beautiful, and so tender, Yesterday is History is a phenomenal story about a miracle that sends a boy on an unforgettable journey of love, joy, and acceptance.

This was such an interesting concept! I've never read a time travel book that explained time travel as a genetic trait before. I loved the overall plot of the story; however, I feel like there were some character developments that were sacrificed in order to serve the plot. I feel like Michael and Andre's relationship could have been stronger, it felt very superficial. I also felt like Andre's best friend Isobel was a throw away character; she is hardly in the book, is only really mentioned in passing and has no discernible personality. Multiple times it was mentioned that Andre was ignoring her, yet no consequences ever came of it. I feel like this book could have been an extra 80 pages and would have been able to expand on the characters without making the book drag on. Overall, I liked it as a debut, and will be keeping an eye out to see if Kosoko Jackson releases any more books.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the concept of this book. A boy who gets an organ transplant and is suddenly able to time travel. However, I wish that there were more interactions with Andre’s best friend Isobel, it felt like she was just pushed to the side. The romance part of the story also felt rushed. It didn’t feel to me that he spent enough time with Michael to truly fall in love with him and as for Blake, you never really get the feeling that Blake is interested in Andre romantically until he’s asking him out on a date.

Overall I enjoyed it but I feel like it could have had more. 3.5 stars

Yesterday Is History follows the main character Andre after he receives a liver transplant. He soon finds out that his new liver gives him the ability to time travel. On his first trip to the past he meets Michael who becomes the person he always returns to in the past. After Andre returns to the present, he eventually meets Blake, the brother of the liver donor, and his mom urges him to teach Andre how to time travel. This is the beginning of the love triangle between Andre, Michael, and Blake. After surviving cancer and restarting his life, Andre finds himself struggling to figure out who he is, what he wants, who he will love, and where he belongs.

I really like the idea of a story about a cancer survivor being gifted the ability to time travel. The icing on top is that it includes love and gay black boy representation. I also appreciate the portrayal of a gay black boy who has parents that support his sexual identity. Overall, I like the message in the book about living in the present and being true to yourself no matter who you may disappoint.

I’m not a huge fan of the characters. I just wasn’t drawn to how they were written. I think there could’ve been more depth. I also found the pace of the story too fast which made it come off as hard to believe. Michael and Andre’s relationship develops quickly. Blake and Andre’s relationship also takes a very quick turn. One minute, Blake couldn’t stand Andre, and the next he’s asking Andre on a date. It was just so sudden. I really didn’t believe or like the development of the romantic relationships, and I could’ve done without the love triangle.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in return for an honest review.

A sensational read in all areas that will be engaging for so many people of so many age groups. A must read!!

Long distance relationships are hard... but what if the person you fell in love with - lived in 1969? In Yesterday Is History, young gay Black teen Andre receives a liver transplant that grants him something other than life - the ability to time travel. Every time he goes to the past, he sees Michael. In the current day, his liver donor's brother Blake is tasked with teaching him about time travel. That's where things get complicated...

This was a fun and easy to read story with a pretty unique premise. It had a lot of potential. Unfortunately there are a few ways it fell flat to me.

Most importantly, as this is essentially a love triangle story, there's one glaring issue with it - Andre has absolutely no chemistry with Blake, the one he ends up choosing. He's clearly deeply in love with Michael and ONLY doesn't choose him because the author couldn't figure out the logistics of him being with the guy in the past. Blake even says himself that he doesn't want to be Andre's second choice, then Andre goes back one more time and tells Michael that if there was any logical way to be with him, he would... then comes back to Blake and acts like it's totally him he wants. Problem is, it feels completely forced. Andre is clearly in love with Michael right up to the schmaltzy epilogue. And poor Blake just plays second fiddle, after playing second fiddle to his brother his whole life. Seems a bit crappy tbh.

Not only that, Blake as a character is not well defined. Michael has a very clear presence on the page, whereas Blake is an angry, acerbic guy one minute, and Mr Sweetie the next. What is his actual personality?? It's not really clear, despite him getting far more page time than Michael.

Andre is scathing about how rich Blake's family is - and yet Andre himself goes to a private high school, his parents have good jobs and he plans on going to Harvard. He's not exactly poor. He scoffs at a picture of Blake's "nuclear family"... but his parents are still together also, so that's exactly what he has??

Andre's best friend Isobel barely features except when he's fobbing her off and being a crappy friend.  She seems to mostly be there as a nod to the fact that women other than mums exist.

The time travel aspect was fairly ill defined. There were lots of things that didn't make sense, but you get that with time travel stories, so I was willing to overlook it and just enjoy the ride.

This book HEAVILY employs what I'm calling an Unnecessary Rhetorical Question writing style. Or perhaps Rising Intonation phrasing. Here are a couple of examples:

"But now, hearing Blake talk about it? It brings back every sense."

"So stories about dealing with homophobia from parents? That's foreign to me."

"The truth is, our argument? It wasn't completely his fault."

The question marks in these phrases are completely unnecessary. I found examples of this almost every page or two. These can all be written as normal sentences and flow much better:

"But now, hearing Blake talk about it, brings back every sense."

"So stories of dealing with homophobia from parents is foreign to me."

"The truth is, our argument wasn't completly his fault."

I noticed similar in another recent YA book, so maybe this is a modern US teenager way of speaking?? All I know is, I find it incredibly grating and just unnecessary. Also, both books made the error of putting this way of speaking into the mouths of adults - or in the case of this book, someone living in 1969. My crusty old self feels quite sure that adults and people in 1969 wouldn't phrase like that.

Michael also uses the term "found family" - was that a commonly used phrase in 1969? It felt like modern parlance to me, but my research on that didn't yield much.

The author's own note in the acknowledgments caused me to research the controversy he was embroiled in, which I didn't know about until then. It certainly left a very bad taste in my mouth.

To be honest, I think I could have forgiven all my niggles, perhaps even including the dubious nature of the author's conduct, if I hadn't hated the ending so much. Andre so clearly belonged with Michael, and the ending wasn't fair on Blake. It felt like the author had set up a time paradox dilemma he didn't know how to solve, so he was just like - oh well, he can just have the other guy. It felt like real let down for everybody. I think the story has a lot of potential but it feels underdeveloped to me, and the resolution rushed.

Yesterday is History is a very quick story that follows Andre as he learns about himself and his new time traveling ability, which he gains from a liver transplant. You’ll watch him fall in love through time. The story draws you in from the start. I started it and before I knew it I was over half way done. I enjoyed the story a lot and actually wished it was longer. I’m not normally one for longer books but I could have spent so much time with Andre and his story. The story was interesting, but the one draw back I had with it was the fact that everything felt a little off. Everything was too easy. Everything seemed to happen way too fast. Before I could get invested in a moment it was gone. Even though the story seemed off, I was still intrigued by the storyline till the end and that has to mean something. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a cute and fun quick read with a little romance and a little bit of science fiction that doesn’t overwhelm the senses.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Yesterday is History has an intriguing premise and I like how it pulled from a real-world concept like organ donation to explain something supernatural like time travel. It’s fairly lighthearted while still packing an emotional punch…one that left me feeling very conflicted.

I love the intent of the story and the way it was delivered. Andre is a Black gay teen, but I like that this is a story that proudly states that it doesn’t center Black pain, instead choosing to send Andre on adventures similar to other teens his age, like falling in love (with two very different people) and coming of age, while dealing with his unique ability. And apart from some light implications in regards to homophobia when he travels back to 1969, this is what this is: a celebration of Black queer identity that isn’t tied to trauma.

However, I did feel the romances he becomes entangled suffers from the same imbalance that plagues many a love triangle in YA romances: a clear preference for one love interest over the other, to the point where I was rooting for the “wrong” guy. It resulted in me feeling disappointed when I reached the end to find out how it all worked out, even though I had a feeling that that was where it would be headed due to the stakes. The ending is optimistic, but I didn’t really believe in the relationship that Andre ended up in by the end, when their other prospective partner was so much more compelling.

I do think it does ultimately have a good message in spite of my own personal hang-ups in regards to the romance. I think this is a sweet YA book that also gives us a lot to think about in the guise of an engaging story.

I really enjoyed Yesterday is History. The characters were really well written and the plot kept me interested. I thought the writing was also really well done. I really loved the time traveling aspect and I thought that part was well done and original! I would love to read more from this author!

A time-traveling GLBT+ story? Yes please!

This book has a fantastic premise and is a super quick read. While the butterfly effect side of things seemed a bit inconsistent, it didn't take away from the enjoyment of the time traveling adventures of Andre. I am a bit enamored of this book.

ARC provided by Netgalley.

4,5 🌟
Most of my readings are contemporary with lgbt representations but this one has a little twist since time travel is at the centre of the story.
I used to be a huge fan of the tvshow the flash, so the time travel plot made me think of this and made me happy.

With this wonderful novel, Kosoko Jackson tackles so many important topics (cancer, organ transplant, future, family) and it has gay representation.

I loved Andre so much and I wanted the best for him.
He wanted to have a normal life after his transplant but he ends up with a time travel power he has to learn about.
Mickael and Blake were also amazing characters and really interesting.

I wasn't 100% into the romance but it was cute and really enjoyable, and I wish we could have see more of Isobel.
Other than that, it was an intriguing and a delightful reading, I smiled the entire time I was reading this book.
The last 30% were really emotional and I really enjoyed the ending.
It shows us how hard it is to let go of the past and how important it is to live in the moment.

"Yesterday is history" is an important own voice with representation and it comes out Feb 2nd!!

A sweet story of a gay teenager whose life has just been saved through a liver transplant. Andre, an only child, has aspired to be a doctor since he was a young child. His parents have his whole life planned out for him. But, cancer is getting in the way. A donor liver saves his life.

That liver comes with a surprise - the ability to time travel. Andre meets the McIntyres, the family whose son, David, died so that Andre can live. David's younger brother, Blake, is tasked with teaching Andre the "rules" of time travel. On his first foray into the past, Andre meets Michael and finds a connection with him. However, can someone in the past truly be his future?

I thought this book was well written and engaging. The time travel element left me conflicted. The whole butterfly effect messes with my head. As a mom, Claire's revelation of her daily travels broke my heart.

I was happy with the ending, but there was still a sense of loss attached to it.

I love seeing YA that is so positive for LGBTQ+ teens.

I would give this 3.5 stars - above average but the time travel element was not my favorite.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in return for an honest review.

I don't think there was a minute of my time reading this book when I didn't have a smile on my face. It was too cute!
This was the time-travel romance book I never knew I needed in my life but am so grateful I received a copy of. I loved Andre, he was such an interesting and dynamic character with great communication skills which is vary rare in fiction. I loved how the romance elements played out. Like I said I couldn't wipe the smile from my face and the romance was part of that.
Lots of struggles the LGBTQ+ community have faced throughout time are mentioned here since Andre does travel back to the 60/70's and I liked how the author juggled the feel good contemporary like vibes but never at any point dismissed these struggles.
While this isn't the most action packed book it doesn't need to be. The characters, their stories, motivations, past experiences and current struggles mixed with the time travel elements are interesting enough without it being non-stop!
Ultimately this was such an easy read that I will definitely be recommending!

Yesterday is History sneaks into the sci-fi genre because it involves time travel. Andre is a teenager whose life was put on hold by cancer, but when he receives a liver from a donor he gets a second chance, and a bit more than he bargained for. His liver came from a donor who could time travel, and the ability has been passed on to Dre.

This is central to the storyline, because Dre meets two different guys as a result of his abilities, and finds himself falling for both of them. He has an automatic attraction to Michael, who is charismatic and talented and, in some ways, very different from Dre. He has to be, because he’s a young gay man living in the late 60s and he doesn’t have the same civil liberties or family support Dre enjoys. By contrast, Blake isn’t even easy to like, never mind love. Although Blake’s family is wealthy and he lives at the same time as Dre, he has issues with his family. Blake’s brother was the liver donor who passed on the time-traveling ability to Dre, but Blake didn’t inherit the ability from his time-traveler parents and he feels like they treated him differently. This love triangle builds to a boil, and one thing I really liked was that Jackson side-stepped the notion of destiny by building realistic relationships between Dre and both of his love interests.

Dre is a great character for a number of other reasons. It’s really refreshing to read a YA story with a teen who gets along with his parents and respects them. It’s also heartwarming to read a YA novel with a teen who has a healthy relationship with their best friend. Healthy doesn’t mean perfect, but the primary relationships Dre has say a lot about who he is as a person, and they also underscore why it’s hard for him to navigate the choices he has when he learns about his ability and finds himself caught between a family with secrets and his own parents.

Jackson also uses Dre to address racial issues, and this story felt timely and relevant.

Dre isn’t without his flaws, which is part of the reason he feels fleshed out and real. He’s compliant, and he’s gone along with his parents’ vision for his life for so long he isn’t even sure what he wants. Ultimately, his second chance and his relationships with Michael and Blake will force him to decide what he wants for his future, and who he wants to share it with.

The writing is smooth and the story flows along effortlessly. I was engaged from start to finish, and intrigued to see how things would play out. There were enough unexpected developments to keep me on my toes, and the story really tugged my heart in different directions as the plot progressed.

I want to avoid spoilers, so I’ll simply say I found the resolution emotionally compelling. This is a powerful, time-traveling love story I really enjoyed, and I look forward to future works from Jackson.

Thank you to SourceBooksFire and Netgalley for the e-arc of this book.

Yesterday is History follows Andre as he deals with the aftermath or not only surviving cancer and a liver transplant, but also developing the ability to travel in time and a connection to two different boys--one in the past, and one in the present.

There is a lot to love about this book, and I think that the good elements make up for the somewhat clunky writing. I don't typically like love triangles unless they end in polyamory, but the queer take on this time-traveling love triangle didn't bother me like they usually do. Instead, it gave a queer boy the ability to have what thousands of straight protagonists have had over the years of fiction--two boys he has to choose between.

The time-traveling element itself was definitely not hard science and you have to really roll with the punches on this one, but I found that it was quite the entertaining premise for a book that was really more contemporary than scifi. It would have been nice if the time Andre spent in the past affected him in other ways than just his love interests; as it stands, it feels like Michael could have been in the present day and still had the exact same effects on Andre.

I thought some of the characters needed to be fleshed out a little better, but Andre himself was a great protagonist to cheer for and follow throughout the novel. All in all, I would definitely recommend picking this book up when it releases!

CW: cancer, death, sibling death, racism, homophobia, parents disowning queer child, alcoholism

I really enjoyed the premise of this novel and the beginning portion of the novel really intrigued me. I'll admit, I even started to really feel for Andre, a boy stuck between two boys (in time). The discussions surrounding time travel, while predictable, were interesting and I adored the motherly relationship that was created between Andre and Claire because of their unique capability. The writing was the real downside of the novel. Don't get me wrong, this novel was really fast-paced, I read this in two sittings because it was really addicting, but it was also a little weak in development. The love triangle our main character finds himself in felt really rushed - the first day the main character meets his love in 1969, they are already arguing about his dreams and ambitions! It just felt a little off. His relationship with the secondary love interest made a tad more sense, but that's just because we saw more of them together. But, it still didn't really feel like there was any chemistry with either of them. Were this novel to have maybe 100 pages more, I think my issues with pacing and chemistry could have been easily resolved and I would have enjoyed this so much more. Like I said, I loved the premise and I think this was a brilliant idea, I just wish the execution was done a bit better.

This was a cute time travel book with a love triangle. I really liked the idea that an organ donation could carry a secret time traveling gene that would pass onto the recipient. What a great idea! I also liked seeing a sweet Black boy who is gay as the protagonist because not enough of those stories exist.

So why only 3 stars? I think it's because it felt a little jumpy to me (no pun intended). Things seemed to happen way too fast in regards to time travel and Dre's relationships with Michael and Blake. Because they happened so quickly, it didn't feel authentic enough for me and ended up feeling forced. I felt like I bought Dre and Michael's relationship more than Dre and Blake's because it seemed to make sense that a gay man in the 1970's would immediately fall hard for someone who seemed comfortable and confident in his sexuality. Also, when he started a relationship with Blake, the dialogue shot up to a 10 on the cheesy scale. Blake was this angry and hardened guy and then all the sudden he was all mushy. Again, just didn't feel real enough to me.

There were some good things in here though - I like the message of not focusing on the past and trying to live in the past because you should be living in the present. I also like the thought that people we love can change our lives in a myriad of ways even if they're not the ones we're standing with in the end.

This was a cute, fast read. I'd be curious to read more from this author in the future.

Praise:

- I love the rather wacky premise of time-travel-via-donated-organ. I found the time travel element to be fun and exciting without being very sci-fi, if that makes sense? The story is rather grounded in contemporary reality, and focused on the character's relationships.

- This book was UN-PUT-DOWN-ABLE for me. I could NOT stop reading it! I tried to put it down, but I literally could not get myself to wait to find out what would happen next.

- Blackness, and the difficulties that can come with being a Black American, are naturally incorporated in dialogue. Race isn't a focus of the story, but it does play a role in social interactions, and I thought this was accomplished well. (That said, I am white, so take what I say with that in mind)

- There were some really cute romcom moments, particularly flirting towards the beginning of the story, but that brings me to...

Criticisms:

- THE LOVE TRIANGLE. I'll be honest, I started reading this without realizing/remembering that there would be a love triangle... and I am not a fan of love triangles, but the time travel stuff got me hooked in the story, okay? And I could've dealt with a love triangle okay enough, if it weren't for the fact that the love interest that is 'endgame' is the love interest I did not care for at all! It broke my heart and made me angry that the love interest that *I* fell in love with was ultimately treated so poorly, whereas the other love interest felt forced, lacked chemistry and likeability, etc. Maybe that's just me! But it honestly kind of ruined my enjoyment of the book. It felt like the guy Andre ends up with wasn't 'endgame' so much as settling for second-best. I can understand the practical reasons for that type of ending, but the chemistry of the characters didn't seem to be leading in that direction?

- Towards the end, when the plot reaches the climax and some time travel weirdness is going on, it was kind of hard to keep track of what was actually going on?

Overall, not a bad debut, but I'm still bitter over how the love interests were handled.