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Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

"Natalie Heller Mills is #blessed. Her Instagram account, Yesteryear Ranch, paints an idyllic picture of life on the farm with her family, full of photos and videos of home cooked meals, a loving husband and kind, calm, obedient children. Through the filtered lens of Instagram, she seems perfect, so of course, whenNatalie awakes one morning to find herself in the same house but everything is off.  The children are not her children, the house is older, dirtier and there's no modern amenities, such as electricity or running water. And her husband Caleb is now a gruff, stern, serious man.  It would appear that she's been swept back in time to the original Yesteryear ranch, to try her hand at living the traditional life she's always posting about. This book had all the hype but honestly, to me, it did not deliver." 

⭐️⭐️

Pros: The story did catch me and kept me intrigued enough to finish the book because I needed to find out what on Earth was going on. 

Cons: Natalie was one of the most unlikable protagonists I’ve come across in a long time. She was judgmental, cruel and selfish/I felt like the “explanation” for the time disparity was extremely glossed over and barely even explained. 

Full Review: 

Natalie Heller Mills is a traditional house wife and an influencer. Through her posts on Instagram, she shows her life on their idyllic farm, Yesteryear Ranch in Idaho. She paints a picture of perfection., home cooked meals, time spent with her obedient, loving children and romantic moments with her husband Caleb. 

She’s an extremely devout Christian, always thanking God for her children and this life she has. Though in all honesty, the farm hands do most of the work, her children are educated and raised by their two Nannies and she and Caleb are distant. She's obsessed with maketing and expanding her brand, making herself a household name. Though her posts are pictures of happiness and gratitude to the Lord, her actual life isn't all that perfect. 

On the night that her Producer, Shannon, resigns, her husband Caleb, decides it's time for him to run for Office, to follow in his father's footsteps and become a Politician. Natalie's thinks it's a wonderful idea, since she's been working with her father-in-law to put the idea into Caleb's head and as he announces his plan, they decide to pray on it. 

When she wakes up though, everything is different. Her children are not her children. The house is not as modern and updated as it’s supposed to be and her husband is now stern, terse and quite ready and willing to hit Natalie when she tries to run away, since she's convinced she's been kidnapped.  

As Natalie tries to orient herself in this new “present” we learn more about her past. How she and Caleb met and got married. How Caleb’s father supported their purchase of the farm, thanks to his oodles of money and how Natalie’s life has never been as perfect as her followers think. 

Though the plot had promise and the hope for a reasonable explanation or perhaps the transition of Natalie into an actual, likable, relatable character kept me reading, it never delivered. Through everything she continued to be a hypocritical, judgmental, selfish, cruel, uncaring woman who would do anything and everything to get ahead. Once the time disparity was explained and the whole story was wrapped up, I felt deflated and disappointed. I wanted Natalie to change, to learn but it felt like she never really did.  

Though this book was definitely a quick, entertaining and thought provoking read, my intense dislike of Natalie and her complete lack of redeemable qualities made it a relief when I finished it, so I wouldn’t have to read more of her snide, condescension and hypocrisy. This book had all the hype but in my opinion, it epically failed to deliver. 

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