REVIEW: Yesternight by Cat Winters

Yesternight
by Cat Winters

Publisher: William Morrow
Page Count: 374
Release Date: October 4, 2016
Format: Trade Paperback

How got: personal buy from B&N

First attention getter: already liked the author

Synopsis:

From GoodReads:

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.

My Thoughts:

Star Rating - 3.5

Cat Winter has impressed me before by her incredible writing. She incorporates dark material, eerie Gothic tones, and unique story to great effect. This new title does follow suit in those areas. Once I got reading, I finished pretty quickly, given my slowed down reading habits lately. However, this book had some issues in the characterization department that kept it from true stardom.

Spooky cliff dwelling towns, remote hotels on bleak prairies, and dark dreams all stand out as a fantastic, ghostly back drop for Winter’s story. She’s got a gift for setting an atmosphere straight out of a Gothic tale or Edgar Allan Poe poem.

I’ve always been intrigued by reincarnation. The whole concept fascinates me so I love that winter incorporated it in multiple stages of the story. The story revolves around this concept, how it impacts families in a society where it’s seen as anathema to the logical world, and the individuals who experience reincarnation and their surroundings. She interweave this concept into a suspenseful story of unknowns.

Her characters, though, are where this title falls a bit. Our leads, Michael and Alice, are relatable enough to draw you in. In fact, I had no problem with Michael at all until the start of his story’s climax; after that point, he turns into Mr. Douchebag. That was a sudden turn!

Alice, I felt, couldn’t decide who she wanted to be and how she wanted to approach the world. I love her background of guts and determination; she wanted to get an education and not just be content with home and children. Yet, she constantly waffled between being logical and believing full bore in the whole reincarnation concept. She was either totally for one or the other, never interweaving both into one world outlook. I’ve got to say her taste in men is also atrocious! She trusts too easily and quickly.

I do have to say I love Winter’s ending, though. What a twist! She left me with a shiver down my spine, as if someone had walked on my grave. My guess would be this was her intention. The way everything worked out falls so perfectly into the overall atmosphere the author build up that I felt great pay off after finishing the title, in this department.

Despite some serious flaws in our main heroine’s personality and the hero’s mind-boggling turnabout, I feel I can recommend this title to anyone looking for a spooky, unique tale of reincarnation and dark turns. The author excels at telling an exceptional yarn that keeps the reader engaged, sucked into her spooky atmosphere and mind bending plot twists. Check the title out if you get the chance!