Yesternight by Cat Winters

Yesternight

by Cat Winters

From the author of The Uninvited comes a haunting historical novel with a compelling mystery at its core. A young child psychologist steps off a train, her destination a foggy seaside town. There, she begins a journey causing her to question everything she believes about life, death, memories, and reincarnation. In 1925, Alice Lind steps off a train in the rain-soaked coastal hamlet of Gordon Bay, Oregon. There, she expects to do nothing more difficult than administer IQ tests to a group of rural schoolchildren. A trained psychologist, Alice believes mysteries of the mind can be unlocked scientifically, but now her views are about to be challenged by one curious child. Seven-year-old Janie O'Daire is a mathematical genius, which is surprising. But what is disturbing are the stories she tells: that her name was once Violet, she grew up in Kansas decades earlier, and she drowned at age nineteen. Alice delves into these stories, at first believing they're no more than the product of the girl's vast imagination. But, slowly, Alice comes to the realization that Janie might indeed be telling a strange truth.
Alice knows the investigation may endanger her already shaky professional reputation, and as a woman in a field dominated by men she has no room for mistakes. But she is unprepared for the ways it will illuminate terrifying mysteries within her own past, and in the process, irrevocably change her life.

Reviewed by shannonmiz on

3 of 5 stars

Share
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
This is such a freaking impossible review to write, because I adore Cat Winters. I have loved her YA books (The Cure For Dreaming, The Steep and Thorny Way) and her adult book (The Uninvited).  There was basically zero doubt in my mind that I would love this one just the same. Only... I did not. I didn't hate it, but it just didn't captivate me the way the others had.

The writing is still absolutely stunning, and the atmosphere cannot be beat. It is clear, as always, that Cat Winters has done her homework, and it feels like a dreary, 1920s Pacific Northwest. I love that there are great bits of historical reference, and there are great details about women's rights and roles in society throughout the book. Alice, the main character, is a career psychologist, only she isn't able to advance because she's a woman. She's basically been relegated to work in schools even though her abilities surpass those of many of her male colleagues. I loved that Alice was driven, and wanted to make something of herself. She wasn't really interested in settling down and having kids, she wanted to focus on her career- something that women weren't exactly encouraged to do then. There's also frank discussion of how men view and dictate women's sexual and reproductive rights, which is all too timely even know- but was much, much worse then of course.

The problem was, I didn't connect that much with Alice. While I appreciated her as a character, I didn't really feel much for her. She wasn't entirely likable, which is okay, but I just never felt like I could totally understand who she was or what made her tick. I also didn't like the other characters, except for the little girl. I really liked Janie's character. Then... stuff got kind of weird- almost too weird. Actually, I appreciate the weird, I just didn't feel like the story explained the weirdness well enough, so it ended up not making a ton of sense to me. I know I am being vague here, because that is because I don't want to spoil anything.

Bottom Line: While the writing and atmosphere and historical parts were on point as always, the characters and certain parts of the plot left me wanting a bit more.

*Copy provided by publisher for review

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 31 August, 2016: Finished reading
  • 31 August, 2016: Reviewed