I almost didn’t read this book. I’ve read all of Cat Winters’s novels and enjoyed them all for the most part. Her other books hover around a 3.8 rating average, but this one remained at a steady 3.5, which indicated to me that this likely wouldn’t be her strongest work.
Oddly enough, this is my favorite of her novels by far.
Alice Lind is a trained psychologist attempting break into her male dominated field in the 1920s. She has been traveling to different Oregon towns, administering IQ tests, when she becomes tangled up in a very strange case.
A seven year old girl, Janie, claims to be the reincarnation of Violet Sunday, a 19 year old girl who died of drowning in Kansas, a place Janie has never been. The young girl knows complex math and has horrible nightmares of drowning.
Alice doesn’t believe in reincarnation, but she is determined to solve this mystery and help Janie in any way she can, and even begins to uncover her own mysterious past along the way.
First of all, I loved the incorporation of psychology. Maybe it’s because I mostly read YA, where characters often don’t know what they’re going to do professionally, but I always find it refreshing when a main character has a passion, or is involved in some kind of professional field. As someone who has some personal interest in psychology, specifically from a writing standpoint, I loved reading from the perspective of a psychologist.
I also thought this story was so atmospheric. We have this rural Oregon town, this young girl claiming to be reincarnated, the mystery of who Violet Sunday was, as well as the mystery of Alice herself. The story felt so vivid.
It’s even a bit creepy. The way Alice’s inner darkness is dealt with, along with the complex family dynamic of the O’Daires, Janie’s family, were so intriguing. I love seeing Alice become more and more invested in the family.
The supernatural bits, the reincarnation, were very interesting. I’m not a hardcore fantasy person, but I love stories that incorporate supernatural elements on a smaller scale. I always find those to be much more believable.
It seems like a lot of the low ratings are due to the ending. It’s a very odd ending, one I did not see coming at all. While I am still sorting out how I feel about it, I don’t think I minded it.
It’s not a perfect book, but if you like Cat Winters I still think you would enjoy this one. The story was intriguing enough that even if the ending isn’t your thing it’s still an interesting read. Definitely recommended! 384 Perfect book for a rainy spring day. Engaging paranormal story about a young girl who has memories of drowning and can do strange things for a seven year old child.
Is it her imagination or could she have had another life in another time?
Haunting story. 384 After reading The Uninvited a while back, was I eager to read more from Cat Winters and getting a chance to read Yesternight her new novel made me very happy. So, happy that I moved it up quickly in my TBR mountain. The idea of the book sounded fantastic, with a young woman, Alice Lind, arriving on a little coastal hamlet to test children's IQ. And, there she finds a mystery, a child that may be a reincarnation of a woman that died some years before. But, could this really be the truth? And, why does this spark a feeling of familiarity in Alice Lind?
I think this book started off great, I loved the idea of a little girl that could be the reincarnation of a woman that died years ago. And, I was curious to see how it all would turn out. Would Alice find out the truth, and also would she herself find out what really sparked an event from when she was a child and hurt some other children?
As much as I enjoyed reading this book did it not engross me as much as The Uninvited had done. Somewhere along the way the story just turned in a direction I was not nearly interested in reading about as the mystery with the little girl, Janie O'Daire, and the question of reincarnation. One can say that when the story took the turn and I found out what Yesternight meant was the turning point to where I found the book didn't interest me as much as it had before. However, it was still good, it just felt like the whole Janie O'Daire story was dropped and suddenly it was all about Alice Lind and her memories. And, I just didn't find that as intriguing to read about. The ending was interesting, but I can't help feeling that it was a bit obvious in a way, and I also felt that I never really got a good closer to the Janie O'Daire mystery. I mean, what happened next with her? I was more curious to find out about her and what would happen next for her than Alice Lind's problem. But, I guess that's just me.
So, this was not as good as the Uninvited. But, still a pretty interesting book!
I want to thank William Morrow for providing me with a free copy for an honest review! 384 If anyone doubts me when I say that a dodgy ending can ruin an otherwise good book, I’ll give them this book and let it proves its point. I have no idea how to convey the extent to which I am crushed by this book’s ending. It started so well! From the very first page, I was drawn in by the writing style. The deliciously gloomy atmosphere was so palpable you could feel the stormy weather seeping off the pages. It gave me the chills! Normally, I would mock a movie that relied on conveniently timed rainstorms to create tension but Winters? She knew how to weave the weather into the story without it being too purposeful.
I became quickly attached to our main character, Alice Lind, and her struggle to gain acceptance in the male-dominated field of psychology. It was really interesting to see how the story focused on the general public’s apprehension toward psychologists and the idea of therapy. I was rooting for Alice as she faced down all the obstacles that came in the way of her dream job. How was I meant to resist such a feminist story?
... but that’s when things started going downhill.
Janie, a seven-year-old mathematical genius, is introduced in the opening chapters. Alice is sent to help Janie's teacher extend her schooling but it turns out there's a lot more to the story. Since the age of two, Janie has been speaking about her ‘before life’. She claims to have chosen to be born again, that she is a reincarnation of a drowning victim named Violet Sunday. Creepy, right? You would think this story would go one of two ways from here: either the gloomy atmospheric writing style was setting us up for one hell of a horror story or it was going to keep its psychological theme and explore the treatment of mental illness in the 1920s. Unfortunately, it went neither of those two ways... and that’s where all of my problems stem from.
Yesternight’s storyline became a detective story instead. Alice investigated the possibility of Violet Sunday being a real person, not a figment of Janie’s imagination. I wish I could sum up how unnatural this turn of events felt within the story. You know how nails on a blackboard make you feel edgy and uncomfortable? It was kind of like that. There was no consistency and it was so… boring?
The last quarter of the book was the icing on the cake. It was so weird and unnecessary! Alice made decisions that seemed to go against her core personality and the whole thing had a distinct lack of realism and logic. The epilogue did nothing but infuriate me. You know when you get so angry that you actually get physically sick to the stomach? That? Yeah, that’s what happened to me. I was so darn furious. I hate when stories do things like that and it… it honestly made me Hulk rage.
After finishing the book and letting myself stew in my misery, I also realised that while the writing was certainly atmospheric, it never really captured the 1920s period quite right. Everyone knows that this is such a rich period of history but somehow Winters missed the mark. The characters and dialogue felt too modern. There were few attempts at slang and hints at Prohibition and WWI but they were never organically incorporated into the story. It’s like the author had to remind us when this book was set because it wasn’t obvious otherwise.
I did love that time was spent exploring women’s sexual and reproductive rights during this time period but it wasn’t enough to bring the 1920s to life in my opinion.
I was also annoyed by Janie’s lack of character development. For someone so central to the storyline, she had literally no personality.
Overall?
If you couldn’t tell, I was completely disappointed with Yesternight. For such a strong beginning, this story’s plotline and the ending were just dull. While the writing was definitely atmospheric, I didn’t think that it captured the time period well. I have heard fantastic things about Winters' other books so I may give her a second chance in the future.
➸ Trigger warnings for .
Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram 384 I have enjoyed some books by this author in the past but I don't think I will read any more books by her. I've enjoyed her historical books that a slightly eerie and atmospheric vibe on the border of fantasy, and this book seemed like it would be off to a good start. It was so atmospheric and interesting, and seemed like it would delve into some commentary about mental health in the 1920s with a feminist vibe. I will say that compared to her other books, the historical setting was sloppier. The book felt more modern, with the historical mentions feeling more like they were there to remind us that it was a historical read rather than to make it seem more genuine.
I started to not like it around the time that it turned into a detective story. It's hard to describe what happened exactly since I usually like historical mysteries, but it was like this book was trying to do too much at once and it completely contradicted what it had tried to set up. Then it just got absurd, and just kept getting more and more absurd. I started skimming it and laughed so hard at the end that I told my friend the plot twist and she said she couldn't take the book seriously based on that. About sums it up. Imagine an M. Night Shyamalan level twist.
I wouldn't recommend this to anyone unless you want to laugh at a plot twist, but at least it made me laugh too much to be truly pissed off. 384
From the author of The Uninvited comes a haunting historical novel with a compelling mystery at its core.
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. Yesternight
Very similar to Sharon Guskin's The Forgetting Time...or maybe The Forgetting Time is very similar to this one. I don't know which one was written first. I may take a few minutes later on to research it a bit more. Regardless, Yesternight was an engaging, mysterious, and thrilling story about the idea of reincarnation. Unfortunately, because of my exposure to The Forgetting Time, Yesternight was nothing I haven't read before but I very much enjoyed the mystery element and especially the twists and turns near the end. It added a haunting feel to an already haunting thought. Check it out!
My favorite quote:
Sometimes traumatic memories like to keep the doors to their chambers wide open so that their victims never stop hearing, seeing and sensing the horrors of their past. The memories roared and clawed and sank sharp teeth into a person's brain. As hard as the sufferer tried, she could never slam the door shut without someone, someone like a trained psychologist to help. In fact shutting the door wasn't even the solution. The memories themselves needed to be weakened, tamed, shrunken down to minuscule granules of dust that could no longer clamp down and destroy a person's life. Other memories however preferred to hide behind closed doors with thick metal locks. From behind the wood they snarled, they growled, they pounded their fists against the barrier and threatened to kick the door wide open to reveal their monstrous faces when their sufferers least wanted to see them. And yet the remained a frustrating mystery. Unconquerable until viewed and faced.
Update 12/30/16:: So I researched the publication dates and although The Forgetting Time was officially published first, both publication dates are close enough to theorize that the authors were writing their books around the same time. Unfortunately, I could not locate any online interviews with Cat Winters to gain insight into her inspiration. Although the main topics are eerily similar, there are societal themes and historical factors that indeed set these two stories apart. Both are lovely reads that I would recommend.
The Forgetting Time: Published February 2016
Yesternight: Published October 2016 384 Absolutely loved this book. Cat Winters is becoming a solidly dependable author for me. She's 2/2 in my book enjoyment so far. I love how she sets her books during the post war timeframe and tackles issues such as PTSD, soldiers attempting to integrate back to civilian life, feminism, spiritualism, prewar vs postwar views on the roles of women, and elements of the paranormal. Though in this book, she discusses reincarnation. Absolutely fascinating. I also love how she will keep you guessing on the plot throughout most of the book. No plot is sacred and will change on a dime. Stellar read. 384 Just as haunting and eerie as the others... yet, despite enjoying myself, not my favorite of her novels.
As usual, Miss Winter's writing paints a vivid picture of the setting of the story... so rich and electric, you can practically taste and see everything surrounding the people, and yourself in a way. It draws you in, sitting patiently with you as you devour and savor each page.
The reincarnation aspect hooked me instantly, it's a concept that has always fascinated me and had me wondering what my past life/lives could have been (a few answers my friends have contributed: a librarian, a queen (apparently I have that 'bearing') ). Imagine if you were remembering things from a completely different life... and finding those connections did exist.
Mind boggling isn't it?
We see everything through Alice's eyes. She seems to keep us all at a distance, as if we are sitting in the same room as her but she;s presenting everything like a lecture for a classroom or something.
Bad explanation but close enough.
Given a certain event that happened in her past, you can't really blame her for it. Desperately trying to remake herself into who she wants to be.
Janie was an adorable child, her father I didn't care one way or the other at first and he didn't really grow on me or feel as alive as the men from her other novels. Her poor mother and Tillie I just wanted to hug...
Maybe I expected too much and built it all up in my head... while the end results of what happened with Janie and finding the details of Violet were fascinating, it wasn't as spectacular as I expected. Tragic and beautiful in a sad way though.
With Alice going to find her own answers, that was more fascinating. She still kept us at arm's length but some of the pieces fell into place.
Was she who she thought was in another life? Did what she discovered near the end mean she wasn't, or she is after all and she was meant to find that book then Janie and in turn find out the answers to what she went through?
What happened in Holy crap! At first
The twist at the end... THAT had goosebumps traveling up my arms. Creepy creepy creepy!
Fitting in a way, considering... makes you think.
3.5 stars, despite my quibbles with it I would recommend... a very good book, just not the best of the bunch.
Quotes:
Once I gathered my wits enough to realize that gale force winds, and not a bull, were to blame, I rolled onto my hands and knees and pushed myself to my feet. Another blast of cold air smacked me in the face, and the burgundy wool cloche I bought when I first signed on with the Department of Education shot off my head. The poor hat sailed into the distance without ever touching the ground-- a stain of red swallowed up by a palette of gray. My short hair slapped at my cheeks and stung my eyes.
You don't believe in ghosts or demons yourself, then?
No. I smiled. I don't. In my experience, supernatural entities say more about the people believing in them than they do about the mysteries of the afterlife. Haunted people are far more predominant--more interesting--than genuine haunted houses, despite what the recent fashion for seances might suggest.
Not more than a quarter mile farther, in an empty field of mud-matted grass, stood our destination: a white-washed schoolhouse that looked like dozens of other schoolhouses I had already visited in my brief career as a traveling test administrator. A bell tower with a pointed peak stretched high above a set of doors, reached by wooden steps in desperate need of sanding and painting.
Rain pinged against the windowpane; the hearth-fire glowed and shimmied with satisfying little pops of the logs. Down below my window, in the blackness of night, waves splashed against the shore, and over the rumpus of the sea, I heard automobiles rumbling to a stop in gravel.
A few feet ahead of us, the red awning of a bicycle rental shop rippled with a wind that whistled across the rooftops. I pulled my coat tighter around myself and, again, strands of my hair flappd against my cheeks. To our right, the sky squirmed with menacing black clouds that looked like they didn't give a damn about anyone stepping out for exercise.
Neither of my former lovers shivered on a schoolhouse floor, worrying about what to do about a seven-year-old dead girl who claimed to be a dead woman,or the father desperate to save her.
----
384 Miss Simpkin drew another long puff and blew smoke out of the right side of her mouth. “Do you believe in past lives, Miss Lind?”
4 1/2 stars. Goodness, I just love Cat Winters. Historical fiction set in Oregon (my hometown), mysteries, and elements of the paranormal? It's like she custom wrote a book just for me.
Each of her books so far have been right up my alley and Yesternight was no exception. If anything, with each new book she releases, her writing only gets better and better. And it's about time more people started taking notice of her.
Cat Winters has published not just one, but two amazing books in 2016. I was floored by The Steep & Thorny Way that came out earlier this year following a girl trying to solve her father's murder. Yesternight is another mystery of sorts, but it takes Winters' usual ghostly paranormal plots to another level and focuses on reincarnation.
Alice Lind is a young psychologist, struggling to make it in a field that, during the 1920s, was largely dominated by men. A lot of people won't even take her seriously once they realize she is female. When Alice comes to Gordon Bay to administer IQ tests to school children, one child captures her interest. Seven year old Janie O'Daire claims she was Violet Sunday in a past life and lived in Kansas before her violent death.
The atmosphere in this book was the perfect amount of creepy, full of rainy Oregon nights and Alice's befuddlement as she, a believer of science, wondered, Could reincarnation be real? Her questions spiraled her into a dark place as she remembered events of her past. Soon she was too caught up in the O'Daire mystery to escape.
I love how Winters' books can be read by both adults and teens. Her young adult novels don't hold any of the usual overdone themes found in the genre, and her adult books, like this one and The Uninvited, are light on adult content with only a bit more language and sexual content, so they can also be read by younger readers.
A hint of romance, an abundance of suspense, and delicious historical details, Yesternight couldn't have been more perfect. I know I went to bed the night I finished it with shivers up my spine and a lingering sense of dread. 384 That ending! *shudders* Review to come closer to release date.
Edited to add review:
Cat Winter's has quickly become one of my favorite authors when I want a good well written historical read with the touch of something other.
Yesternight does not disappoint.
Alice is the type of girl Winters has become known for, tough, brave, and not at all conventional for the time period she lives in, but Alice also has a dark side, one she tries to keep hidden from all those around her, even her family.
I don't want to go into too much detail but I will say this, Winter's take on reincarnation was fabulously done. This was eery at times and filled with unexpected twists and turns I just didn't see coming. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and the ending left me both chilled and delighted.
Another fabulous, suspense filled read from Winters.
*ARC copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.* 384