The Yearbook by Carol Masciola

The Yearbook

by Carol Masciola

* A USA Today Bestseller *

Misfit teen Lola Lundy has every right to her anger and her misery. She's failing in school, living in a group home, and social workers keep watching her like hawks, waiting for her to show signs of the horrible mental illness that cost Lola's mother her life. Then, one night, she falls asleep in a storage room in her high school library, where she's seen an old yearbook--from the days when the place was an upscale academy for young scholars instead of a dump. When Lola wakes, it's to a scene that is nothing short of impossible. Lola quickly determines that she's gone back to the past--eighty years in the past, to be exact. The Fall Frolic dance is going full blast in the gym, where Lola meets the brainy and provocative Peter Hemmings, class of '24. His face is familiar, because she's seen his senior portrait in the yearbook. By night's end, Lola thinks she sees hope for her disastrous present: She'll make a new future for herself in the past. But is it real? Or has the major mental illness in Lola's family background finally claimed her? Has she slipped through a crack in time, or into a romantic hallucination she created in her own mind, wishing on the ragged pages of a yearbook from a more graceful time long ago?

Reviewed by shannonmiz on

3 of 5 stars

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This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight
Well, this is a hard review to write. There are things wrong with this book, things that I feel may irritate the average reader, things that irritated me. But then... I also really liked it. Hence the confusion.

So, what appealed to me? Good question! 


  • The story was just really captivating. The idea of being stuck in time was so cool. And Lola never felt like she belonged, so when she found a place (time?) that suited her, it was really fun to watch her blossom. And I loved the idea that she never knew when she could be snatched back to the present.

  • The characters were really great. Especially the ones in the past, because holy crap, I adore Lola's past friends and love interest. Even the people in the present seemed to have appropriate reactions to things (vagueness for reasons) and it fit well into the storyline.

  • The second half of the book was basically unputdownable, but the last 15% was just fabulous. I loved how exciting the ending was, but how I also felt a sense that the story had been tied up and I wasn't left hanging.

  • Honestly, it was just plain enjoyable. It was a fun story, and I was entertained. And sometimes, that is just good enough!


The problems:

  • The beginning was kind of... confusing. It was a little rushed and disconnected, and I felt like the information I was getting was a bit of an info-dump via some behind the scenes conversations. It was like the book needed to get its groove, and luckily it did, though it took some time.

  • This kind of goes hand in hand with the above point, but I would have liked more world building. I suppose that since Lola had no idea what was happening, it made sense that we didn't either, but there were some details that I would have liked explained a bit more, especially when it came to the semantics of the travel itself. At times I just found myself asking "but... how?" and getting no explanation. I like explanations.

  • There is a pretty strong case of insta-love. In hindsight, I suppose there are reasons. But in the moment, I was rolling my eyes. I did like Peter though, so that was good. And it's easy to see why someone like Lola who has never felt loved would cling to someone so quickly. I guess I understood it from her end more than his.


Bottom Line: This story just made me happy. It was exciting, and heartwarming, and sweet. Yes, it was flawed, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this fun, fast read.

*Copy provided by publisher for review

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 9 October, 2015: Finished reading
  • 9 October, 2015: Reviewed