Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Yesteryear My Rating: 1.8 

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle – and her followers are sick with envy. Her charming farmhouse on her working ranch is artfully cluttered, her husband is a handsome cowboy, her homemade sourdough boules are each more beautiful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers and industrial-grade ovens behind the scenes? What her followers don’t know won’t hurt them.

Then, one morning, Natalie wakes up in a strange, horrible version of reality. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Is this a hoax? A reality show? A test from God? Natalie knows just two things for sure: this isn't her perfect life, and she must escape, by any means possible.

Every character in this book was thoroughly unlikable. I suspect some of their behavior was intended to be humorous, since the novel is described as “darkly funny,” but I didn't laugh once.

The author must have had some horrific experiences with Christians, which unfortunately does happen, but I found her portrayal of Christianity shocking and appalling. I sincerely pray there are no Christians out there who behave like the ones depicted in this book.

I also feel that when an author relies so heavily on the F-bomb and a myriad of other, even more offensive curse words, it suggests a lack of creativity. Occasional profanity is one thing, but here it was relentless and, in my opinion, completely unnecessary.

All that being said, the plot itself kept me reading (along with the fact that this was a book club selection). The premise was creative and intriguing, and I genuinely wanted to find out how everything would unfold.

Unfortunately, the ending was just as disappointing as the rest of the book. I cannot recommend it.