Yesterday is History has such an interesting concept! Time travel because of a kidney? Wow, I'm in.

I really enjoyed the set-up of the world and how we are introduced to the characters. I was instantly enamoured by Andre and his personality. Andre has finally got a kidney that sticks, a solution to all his problems and now he can finally get on with his life. He is determined to be at the very top of his class, score well, and get into good colleges to become a doctor. Because that's what he's wanted since he was 6, right?

Andre reminds me so much of myself except I wasn't as feisty as he was, haha.
Some older readers might feel he's being so obstinate and fixated on being the best at his studies and not seeing how that affects his health but this is what I like about good YA - they're showing you a young adult's perspective. While I'm begging Andre to see sense while reading this book I very well know that if somebody had told my perfectionist ass that I need to ease up and enjoy life when I was at school I would have ignored them. It's the age where the anxiety to study and do well academically seems to triumph over everything and I like how the author was able to portray that.

I really liked reading about his parents too. They were anxious and concerned about his health, they were pushing him hard to do his best and become a good doctor - but in the end, their love for him was always more important. Sometimes I tire of parents being portrayed as villains, especially in Asian households (Andre is not Asian, he is black and I cannot speak for black culture so this is just a general statement) where pushing your kid to do something is seen as being a bad parent. Andre went on his own journey to figure out what to do in life, to come to terms with the fact that it's okay to change your mind about who you want to be. I love that message.

The plot in itself is also quite interesting and well-paced as we get to understand how time travel works in this universe and its caveats. Andre's relationships with both Michael and Blake were beautifully built up and heartbreaking in different ways. Both of them pushed Andre in different ways and challenged him to believe in himself and to think for his own happiness.

The end kind of had me sobbing okay, that one letter absolutely destroyed me.

All in all, this was a great book, my only concern was that things felt quite rushed in the second half. I would have loved to give Blake and Andre's relationship more time to flourish, it felt slightly forced. And in general, things just happened so quickly towards the end that I barely had time to process them.

But really, other than that this is a gem of a book and I'd highly recommend it!