3.75-4

Going into Yesterday is History, I didn't have any expectations, but I really enjoyed it. There are lots of wrong ways to write a love triangle, but Kosoko Jackson did it wonderfully. It didn't even feel like a love triangle. Every time that Andre traveled back in time, I felt like I was back in 1969/1970 as well. I'm no history buff, but it would be so much fun to be able to travel to certain times in the past.

The story was a little hard to get int at first, but about 30% in I was a lot more invested and wanted to know how Andre's relationships with Michael and Blake would grow. I also would have like to see more of a relationship between Andre and his best friend Elizabeth. I feel like we missed out on a whole other side of Andre.

Overall, I really enjoyed it and will be recommending it as a light, fun and quick read.

<b> 4.5/5 stars </b>

So if I ever say that I don’t like love triangles, just know I’m not talking about this one.

Andre is a Black gay teen recovering from a life saving liver transplant when something weird happens- he time travels to 1969.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the writing style. I thought that it worked really well. I also really loved Andre as character and I thought that the premise of this book was really interesting. I long wish that it was longer so that Micheal and Blake could have been more developed and well rounded.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy of the audiobook in exchange for a review.

This book was absolutely amazing! I couldn’t put this book down and strongly recommend it! The romance is compelling and the science fiction angle is really well done.
I really enjoyed this book!

Okay! This was an absolute delight!

In a nutshell, Yesterday is History follows Andre Cobb, a teen who unexpectedly gains the ability to time travel following a life-saving liver transplant. When he jumps back to the 1960s, he meets and begins to fall for a boy named Michael. At the same time, he begins to connect to Blake, the brother of the dead boy who gave him his liver.

This book had the perfect combination of important messages, sweet romance, and teenage shenanigans. The vibe and tone this story had were absolutely phenomenal and reminded me of several books I'd previously read and loved (examples include Last Night at the Telegraph Club and Darius the Great Is Not Okay). Andre was a great protagonist to read from the perspective of, but what I really loved about this book were all the relationships he had with the other characters. The main friendship felt so wholesome yet realistic, as did his relationship with his family and his organ donor's family who he gets to know over the course of the book. The romances were also just so, so sweet. The love triangle was enjoyable and I found myself rooting for both of the relationships, yet was completely satisfied with the way things turned out in the end.

As for the deeper topics discussed in this book, I think they were handled extremely well in a way that added meaning to the story without feeling heavy-handed at all. Being a cancer survivor is something that impacts various aspects of Andre's life, and I really enjoyed the way this book explored that. I also loved how this book dealt with Andre trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life as he comes to realize that his former dreams of becoming an oncologist may not be the right path for him.

I know that complaints about this book often have to do with people wanting more from it, and I understand where they are coming from. This book presented some really great discussions that I wish we got to see more of, and I also wish we could have seen more of the relationship as I feel like the last 20% of the book wrapped up a little too quickly. If you go into this book expecting a grand, sweeping, sci-fi story, I completely understand why you would be let down. This really is just a contemporary YA romance book with the time travel element thrown in there for a delightful touch of whimsy. Overall though, this was just such a sweet story and I think if you just go into this book for the vibes, I think there's a great chance you'll really enjoy this.

The audiobook narration was also wonderfully done!

After receiving the gift of a liver, Andre finds that he can time travel between the present and 1969. Back in 1969, he meets Michael and they're adorable together. But, Michael is in 1969.....how can they be together? And back in the present, Andre also meets Blake, the brother of his liver donor, whose family teacher Andre about traveling through time and the rules involved.

A story about love, heartbreak, and living life to the fullest. Ron Butler does a good job as the narrator for this audiobook. Pretty sure my students will love this one.

Andre’s story is fraught yet hopeful and heartwarming. There’s a dreamy quality to the way this story unfolds across different time periods, and I thought the transitions were deftly handled. The three parts made it feel like an old-timey radio play. The narrator was stellar as well, bringing a lot of whimsy to Andre’s voice. The love triangle romance worked for me (though I was pretty firmly team Michael LOL). I’m looking forward to reading more of Kosoko Jackson’s work.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscapes for the Audio ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Yesterday Is History was such a fun book to dive into. Sometimes time travel and I don't really get along but this book was just really enjoyable. I liked getting to know Andre, Michael and Blake. Even though this was a love triangle, and I'm not a huge fan of those, these three somehow made it cute. I think the whole time different probably made it more enjoyable to me but it also made it super hard to figure out who to ship Andre with.

I honestly wasn't expecting to feel so many emotions while listening to this one. Trust me, they came and I was so sad. Of course Andre has to make some tough decisions when certain things come his way and I just kind of sat back and watched it all happen. I had comments and opinions, sure, but I just didn't know how to handle it.

In the end, I loved Andre and seeing his personal journey through love.

5/5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for providing this audiobook-arc!

God was this amazing. It was one of those novels that I had little to no expectations about since I wasn't aware of its existence, therefore not giving me any details that could entice me. I just loved this. The protagonist "stuck" in a love triangle with hot chiseled white guys AND it's queer? SIGN ME THE FVCK UP. That queer gaze was something I didn't know I liked so now I look forward to seeing it in other fictional works. I hate to be that person but this gave me Call Me By Your Name vibes. But like less melancholic and the magical realism giving it an interesting ouch. For a bit I considered rating it lower. Then the rollercoaster of events made me realize that that bit of prose was necessary to develop Andre's character. He's not always rational, despite it something he should have inherited from his genius parents. Another detail I adored. It was fun to see parents that somewhat participated or at least had a bond with the protagonist. The love interests were great as well. A bit shallow at times though, just like how I like my men. The nuances of race and sexuality were handled fine in my eyes. I've also established that i'll only rate books 5 stars if i have the desire to re-read them someday. This definitely is something I might buy myself when I crave this story in another time. Tons of applause for the author.

This one was average. I didn't love it and didn't hate it, but it lagged. The premise was interesting but something just missed the mark. One problem was the pacing--it felt very slow for the first half and then suddenly jumped forward in time and seemed to skip many important plot points. Also, there were unnecessary characters (like the best friend) who served no real purpose. I will purchase for my library, however. Perhaps students will like it more.

Wow, this was great! It had so much emotion, was sweet and sad and well written. The pacing is good and I couldn't get enough of Andre, Michael, and Blake. Be prepared to shed a few tears when you check this one out!

Andre is recovering from a life saving liver transplant when he discovers that he's inherited the ability to time travel. He journeys back to 1969 and meets Michael and they immediately click. I loved their relationship and it made it so difficult because how could they possibly be together when they're separated by forty years? In the present, Andre is connecting with Blake who's brother gave Andre the liver. Blake is cute and still grieving and having Andre seems to help him heal. Now I'm torn between the two love interests.

There was really only one way for this to play out, though it hurt my heart. Even though one relationship couldn't work out, Andre learned a lot about love and being true to yourself. The story was so good and the narrator for the audiobook did a fantastic job!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for the copy

Yesterday Is History was such a great read!! I really loved following these characters and their love triangle.

Not only is Andre black and gay, but he also has a special ability..... time traveling!!!

After getting a liver, Andre feels like he will get his life back, that is until he goes back in time all of a sudden.

Not only does he fall in love with someone from the past, Michael, but also with someone from the present, Blake.

I was rooting for Andre the whole time! I really wanted him to end up with one of them... not saying who... you’ll need to read it 😉

Audiobook provided by NetGalley and Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Kosoko's writing style and Ron Butler does a really good job with the audiobook.

This is an interesting concept... what if you are on the receiving end of an organ transplant and the organ gives you the ability to travel back in time. What would you do? And what happens if this ability puts you into a love triangle of sorts after falling for people in your present and in the past?

Loved the POC and LGBTQ+ representation in a YA romance that also didn't include violence... not every POC story needs to be a fraught one.

This was so good! I loved the rep in this, and although I hate love triangles (THEY NEVER CHOOSE THE ONE IM ROOTING FOR) I was not mad at this. Like yes. I very much like was rooting for the guy that did not get chosen. HOWEVER. It was so fun to see how everything played out and how andre reacted to everything that I am not even mad

This was a good book. There were definitely some great aspects of this books but overall the feeling was the author bit off a bit more than he could chew plot wise.
I liked the characters in this book. They were interesting and fun to follow on this journey even if their personalities seemed to ping pong back and forth. Blake and Michael especially seemed very back and forth. Both of them their personalities would change on a dime to fit whatever Jackson needed for that particular scene. Andre seemed to to be the only character with a stable personality.
Also the plot of this was just all over the place. The explanations all seemed so odd and out of left field in some cases and completely contradictory in others. I reached thr end of the book and still had no idea of how exactly the time travel worked or what any real consequences were. It just felt like Jackson had no idea what we was doing when it came to that aspect was.
This was a solid idea for a book and a decent execution but in some places it just fell short.

This book is so close to being perfect. Dialogue between the rich and the middle class, between queer poc and queer white ppl, little facts about queer history, an amazing main character, and a really cool sci-fi time traveling plot.

Andre is a really interesting main character. Recovering from cancer and dealing with a liver transplant and the newfound powers that come with it, all while balancing school to try and graduate on time is not an easy task and he handles it.

The romance just didn’t work for me. The main plot is that Andre is working out time travel, and he has a hot love interest in 1969 as well as a hot love interest in 2021. There are kind of no distinguishing characteristics to these romantic partners, they’re both very generic fill-in hot boyfriends. Andre, the main character, is pretty much the only fully fleshed out character in the book other than his 2021 boyfriend’s mother.

Not to mention the fact that his modern day love interest is the brother of the guy who gave Andre his liver. They do address it, but in weird ways that makes the slightly incestuous vibe even more prominent.

Overall, I would recommend this if you enjoy sci-fi novels and time traveling, I would not recommend this if you are only looking for romance.

Ugh. This book easily could've been phenomenal. It was set up with super cool ideas and conversations about race and queerness that with a little more development could've made this book exceptional. As it is now, it's an okay book, I still really enjoyed it and would recommend it.

The concept for this book is super creative - a time traveling donor transplantee trying to decide between two boys he likes.
I loved the writing style of this author! This book captivated me from page one and kept my interest until the end.

Yesterday Is History had a little but of everything! It was such a well written and well thought out novel and I enjoyed every minute of it. The narration was done so well I could easily see myself listening to it again. I LOVE books with time travel and the premise of this one was really unique from any that I've read before. I really fell in love with Andre and both of his love interests. I've never wanted to root for all parties in a love triangle before but I did with this one! The relationships, life lessons and self discovery were just beautiful. The elements of found family was fantastic and I just took so much away from this book. Highly recommend this one!

I really enjoyed the concept of this time travel, love triangle story! It was very creative and had some really sweet moments. It had some great themes relevant to its YA audience.

Overall, it felt a bit rushed. Andre and Michael's relationship felt like instalove, where they were only together maybe a few days but treated their relationship like an epic love story. The other side of the love triangle, Blake, was a bit volatile and hard to pin down. I didn't quite understand where the attraction came from on either end. The themes were floating around in there too, but there were maybe too many for any of them to really land.

While this book was too scattered for me, Kosoko Jackson shows a lot of potential! I look forward to reading his next work!

I loved this story! I read it a while ago when it first came out, and listening to the audiobook was a super fun experience! The narrator really brought to life some parts from the book that added so much depth to y original perception of those scenes. Would definitely recommend this audiobook to friends, and will be recommending the book on my Tik Tok!