NetGalley Buddy Readers discussion

We will be buddy reading Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. This is her debut and it publishes April 7th. Everyone is welcome to join. We have not decided on a date yet, Probably some time in March.



A traditional American woman, a beautiful wife and mother who sells her pioneer lifestyle of raw milk and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of social media followers, suddenly awakens cold, filthy, and terrified in the brutal reality of 1805—where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is an elaborate hoax, a twisted reality show, or something far more sinister in this sensational debut novel.

My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the Republican equivalent of a Kennedy? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.

Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a brutal reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.

A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.

This book is currently read now if anyone wants to grab it.

Oh great!

Are we ready to pick a start date for this one? I'm thinking mid-March if that works for you? I have a lot of travel planned in March, so the best time for me will likely be around the 17th. How about you?

Ooh—I got/read this one last year. I'm looking forward to discussing!

I’m traveling March 19-24 so I may lag, but I don’t mind that if around the 17th works best for everyone else.

March 17 works for me.

Ok, I'll put it in for March 17th. :)

Shruti, feel free to start a little early if you want to. I have the ebook, so this one will probably take a little longer for me to get through than an audio.

I get home from travel late on the 16th and leave again the morning of the 25th. It's actually the longest stretch I'll be home in March. I'm hoping to finish before I leave again, but if not I'll just take it with me. :)

Is everyone still planning to start this one today?

Probably not till next Monday.

I was out of commission with a nasty migraine for days so I’m behind on my reading. I’m out of town this weekend on a girls trip but I’ll try to start whenever we have some quiet reading time while I’m there. Probably Friday start at best unfortunately.

I just got back from a girls trip late last night. I had no reading time, just enjoying time with my friends. I'd be pretty happy with starting later too. :) How about if we all plan to start Monday? Would that be better for you, Shruti? I'll be traveling again Monday, so might not start until Tuesday if we do that, but I'm ok with that.

I hope you are feeling better Shruti!!

and yay to both of you for girls trips and fun times!! I hope you guys had so much fun!

I'm off with Theresa (my mom) for a trip upcoming this next week (I will actually head down to her on Friday), otherwise I'd jump in on this read! but we're going to be in the middle of nowhere - up to shenanigans - and will be so tired at night, I don't think we'll be able to read this yet!

hopefully the week we get back, though, we'll be able to jump in here!

Have a great time, Trisha! Jump in whenever you get around to it.

Next week works for me! I think I’ll get a bit of reading time in this weekend though, so if people want to start I’m happy to catch up when I can. my bestie and I are both introverts and need our reset time even after 30 years of friendship 😊

Kristie, happy to hear you had fun!
Trisha, have fun - sounds like there’s a shenanigans story in there somewhere!

I am through Part One (8%)

Right now it feels very familiar. It seems like a criticism of Ballerina Farms ( which is a trad wife account on social media.) I know it will twist off in other directions but for now it feels like an extended TikTok. The writing is very descriptive and the snark leaps off the page.

I really messed up with this one. I moved it in my calendar to start next Monday instead of today. I can start it tonight, but probably won't read much until next week. I'm heading out on vacation in two days and likely won't have a lot of reading time until I get home.

I'm 65% through Mad Mabel so I'll be finishing that in the next day or two and then starting this!

Part 2 through chapter 7 (20%)

This book flows easily so I expect this to be a very quick read.

(view spoiler)[ There appears to be a few timelines. Part one was current time and part two so far is a mix between Natalie’s college years and 1805. (hide spoiler)]

Kristie wrote: "I really messed up with this one. I moved it in my calendar to start next Monday instead of today. I can start it tonight, but probably won't read much until next week. I'm heading out on vacation ..."

Have fun on vacation. You’ve had a busy time lately but it sounds like a lot of fun things. Books will always wait until life calms down.

Thanks, Marnie. I've been doing really well with getting books done by their pub dates lately, but I think I'm going to be a little late with a couple now. I'm not overly concerned about it though. I'm definitely having a fun time this month. Next month is going to slow down a bit, so maybe more reading time then. I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Kristie, I’m behind and happy to start next Monday with you!

I started tonight. Just 5% in, but wow (view spoiler)[ I feel like our MC, Natalie, is going to have a rude awakening. She seems to think she's so great and judges everyone else harshly.

I wonder if the dream her camerawoman (is her name Shannon?) had is more like a premonition for Natalie. She's definitely going to have a rough time of it. (hide spoiler)]

I'm enjoying the start, even if it is currently less than pleasant to be aware of our MC's thoughts. I agree this seems like it might be a quick read.

Elyse wrote: "I'm 65% through Mad Mabel so I'll be finishing that in the next day or two and then starting this!"

I really enjoyed that one, Elyse. I hope you're loving it too. Pop over in that thread at some point and let me know what you think of it.

Shruti morethanmylupus wrote: "Kristie, I’m behind and happy to start next Monday with you!"

I probably won't get too far before then. I'll still be around to chat!

Through chapter 34 (63%)

This story continues to be very interesting. I can see why there is a lot of hype about this book.

(view spoiler)[ This is a tale of two storylines:
Natalie- we see how she is becoming the person we saw in part one. Despite the picture perfect image, her husband is a mess, her marriage is weird, plus she has complicated feelings about motherhood. She is unlikable and calculating.

1805- This Natalie is a bit more likable. Her world is small and hard. I’m waiting for her to connect the dots between what she has been glamorizing and the realities of that lifestyle. (hide spoiler)]

I finished. Now I need someone else to finish so I can talk about it. lol

(view spoiler)[ I think it went off the rails a bit. I’ve read others calling it mind bending but I think it just got messy. (hide spoiler)]

Marnie wrote: "I finished. Now I need someone else to finish so I can talk about it. lol"

I read it last year! I've been waiting for someone else to finish, haha.

(view spoiler)[The end is a lot. I think it was maybe a twist too far—but in general I found the book gripping enough that I couldn't bring myself to care. The way Natalie is written to be so calculating—it's fascinating. (hide spoiler)]

Liralen wrote: "Marnie wrote: "I finished. Now I need someone else to finish so I can talk about it. lol"

I read it last year! I've been waiting for someone else to finish, haha.

Thank you!!! (view spoiler)[ I agree she was calculating and awful. I didn’t like that she was accused of sexually assaulting Shannon. That was like whiplash for me and then losing her kids… and don’t get me started on Caleb. He went from an impotent marshmallow to an abusive rapist. It felt like we missed some steps where the author showed us this was possible. (hide spoiler)] Having said that I expect with Anne Hathaway playing Natalie this book will be very popular.

I really hate this uppity b***h MC!! Just finished Ch. 13 (28%) and (view spoiler)[Are we not getting time travel? Is it an elaborate setup?! Finding the piece of lapel mic... (hide spoiler)]

Elyse wrote: "I really hate this uppity b***h MC!! Just finished Ch. 13 (28%) and [spoilers removed]"

LOL I can't read your spoiler yet, but hoping to start this one tonight. I'm looking forward to reading this when I catch up :D

Elyse wrote: "I really hate this uppity b***h MC!!"

Isn't she dreadful? But it's actually one of the things I loved best about the book—that she was so awful, and even then part of me was rooting for her. (view spoiler)[Erm, some of the time. (hide spoiler)]

Elyse wrote: "I really hate this uppity b***h MC!! Just finished Ch. 13 (28%) and [spoilers removed]"

Bahahaha... I'm not even close to reading your spoiler, but that was one of the first thoughts I had. I immediately felt like - I can't wait for her to get what's coming!

Just as a forewarning, my spoiler has nothing to do with my previous comment lol. I just needed to get it out! 🤣

Just made it to 15% (view spoiler)[ How shocking for her to wake up in 1805! I feel bad for her children. The oldest acted like this isn't the first time she's acted this way. The little one just wants her mama. Natalie is so self-centered. She has no sense of other people's feelings at all. I'm sure if I woke up in her situation I'd be self-centered too, lol. I mean she sort of has to be in that moment, but it seems to be her default.

So, if I have her current day and 1805 families correct. She has an older daughter, then two boys, then two girls and is pregnant with #6 in the current day and she has an older daughter, then two boys and just the one younger daughter in 1805. I wonder if something happened to one of the younger daughters or of she was just never born. I can't imagine how weird that situation would be. (hide spoiler)]

That's definitely one of the weirder parts, Kristie, (view spoiler)[being pregnant in the present and not pregnant in the past. (hide spoiler)]

End of Part 1

Wow she is truly insufferable. I know this is the beginning of the character arc and we'll (hopefully) see some growth but the reality check can't come quickly enough.

Waiting to see what (view spoiler)[ plan she and her FIL have cooked up. Clementine pushing back makes me wonder if we're going to see some Ruby Franke type situation. I hope not fit the kids' sake but... because what happened that led to the nightmares?? (hide spoiler)]

Part 2 - End of Ch 10 (25%)

I wasn’t expecting (view spoiler)[ so much of this college timeline.

waking up in the house that feels almost familiar with only some of your kids had to be terrifying and disorienting. I don’t even like our MC but I felt for her.

I'm not fully convinced this is time travel? Almost feels like she was put there. Mary making a frustrated fuss about how she is the mother makes me think they do this with other women or with the MC more than once. They're not acting confused that she's confused so either this happens a lot or it's staged, I'm not sure yet.

I do appreciate that they're making a point to talk about the staff, the hidden conveniences, and the family wealth. So much of my frustrations with trade wife content is that they pretend like they're not using all of those things. Family bloggers give me the ick and I still think there's more to the story about the nightmares.

(hide spoiler)]

Through Ch. 37 (68%) (view spoiler)[Man oh man with all this God stuff, Natalie had better be delulu! This is getting a little too much for me. lol. I'm actually not sure what I'm looking for in the ending. Do I want to her magically be back in the present? Do I want her to stay in the past and finally be happy? IDK but I do want an explanation! 😅 (hide spoiler)]

I finished it. Holy moly. (view spoiler)[What a mindf**k. What the hell. Straight up crazy. Maybe too crazy for me, honestly. By the end there it just got too wacky. Natalie was clearly mentally ill. Good days and bad days yeah. Bad days or weeks or months when she thought she had been kidnapped. But yes let's keep this farce going. And to keep having children in your "pioneer" world was insane. Maeve was really 10 but developmentally challenged. So sad and so unnecessary. We only get Natalie vs Shannon's POV of their fight, from assault to sexual assault WTF. And I can't BELIEVE Caleb stayed with her in her fantasy world. And did he go to jail for aggravated child abuse too? Probably not, with Daddy Mills. Gross. (hide spoiler)]

Still just creeping along through this one. I am home now though, so hopefully I'll have more reading time. I'm really enjoying the start of it. I think I'm at 17% or so.

I'm trying to power through this one tonight/tomorrow so I can close it out in March. It's somehow a fast read and also not a fast read, I can't explain it.

I definitely won't get through it that quickly! lol I have a lot on my plate at home right now, so I need to do quite a few non-reading things.

I kind of understand the slow, not slow dilemma. I've read books like that before. Usually it's a situation where I think the book is really good and there's a lot happening, but when I look at my progress I'm surprised to find I haven't gotten through very much.

It's also pretty long, 400 pages, for what it is.

Elyse wrote: "It's also pretty long, 400 pages, for what it is."

I have come to terms with the fact that I never know how long a book is when I'm reading it on my kindle. 😂

For real! 😅 I only check when I'm like wow the % is barely moving what the heck??

Finished!

What in the... never in a million years would I have thought that (view spoiler)[ that is what was happening. I don't even know if I want to rate this a 3 or a 4, because what in the heck happened there at the end?!

Natalie was clearly mentally ill - her kids knew this and nobody did anything for like 10 years?! Even Daddy Mills didn't want to get his grandkids out of there? What? And Caleb just went along with it for all those years? No way he went to jail too. Nevermind that while she was mentally ill, he was apparently secretly watching football in the cabin in the woods. Part of the reason I didn't think it was really her Caleb dressed up like that was that he was kinda bad at farming - so I guess the kids supplying them with stuff makes sense for that discrepancy. But how do you become someone that is assaulting your wife and everything like that? Why wouldn't he leave with the kids after the Shannon interview blew up? Ugh.

I'm inclined to think that this one jumped the shark a bit -- I feel like all the actual lessons about the glorification of pioneer era life was lost in the actual reveal.

(hide spoiler)]

Shruti morethanmylupus wrote: "Part 2 - End of Ch 10 (25%)

[spoilers removed]"

Yes, (view spoiler)[ I get the feeling she's done this before. It feels like this is her real timeline... or I really don't know, a drug induced nightmare?

I read a book once where the whole other life was from a covid coma. This feels like that. But, I still have no idea what's going on with this one.

I also feel like the college timeline was longer than I expected and I thought it would go back to the original timeline with the affair and the nightmares, etc. I expect that will still be explained more later. (hide spoiler)]

through Part 1

so the audio, I think, is making her a little easier to stomach
but yeah, jeez. . .
(view spoiler)[
can you imagine trying to sell your life is perfect but your husband sleeps with the nannies? I can't even imagine?!?!

I feel bad for the kids, I couldn't imagine living under the watchful gaze of a camera day in and day out either (hide spoiler)]

Kristie have you gotten a chance to finish?