Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke Review | ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4/5) | The More I Think About It... The More I Like It? 🤯📖
I have a confession.
I have absolutely no idea how I feel about this book.
Seriously. 😂
While I was reading it? Five stars. I could not put it down. Every spare moment I had, I was reading. When I wasn't reading, I was thinking about it. I was building theories. I was trying to solve the mystery before the author revealed it.
The moment I finished?
"...Wait...what?"
I immediately dropped it to two stars because I had about a million questions.
Now that I've had time to sit with it?
I've somehow landed on four stars.
Am I being manipulated by this book? Maybe. 🤣
📚 Book Information
Title: Yesteryear
Author: Caro Claire Burke
Genre: Psychological Thriller • Literary Thriller • Social Satire • Mystery
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
⚠️ Trigger Warnings
This book contains:
Child abuse
Physical abuse
Emotional abuse
Pregnancy loss
Sexual assault references
Domestic violence
Religious extremism
Misogyny
Animal death/cruelty
Mental illness
Manipulation and gaslighting
Graphic violence
Child neglect
🚨 HUGE SPOILER WARNING 🚨
This review discusses the entire plot, major twists, and the ending.
Seriously.
There is absolutely no going back after this point.
What Is Yesteryear About?
Natalie Mills has built an empire as the internet's perfect Christian tradwife influencer. Millions of followers adore her idyllic farm life, homemade bread, obedient children, and picture-perfect marriage.
Then everything falls apart.
After a devastating public scandal, Natalie wakes up in what appears to be 1855.
The electricity is gone.
Her modern life has vanished.
She has children she doesn't recognize.
Her husband has become a terrifying pioneer.
And every attempt to escape only convinces her she's trapped in another century.
Or is she?
🌾 The Atmosphere Was Incredible
This book absolutely had me.
The writing is incredibly eerie without relying on ghosts or monsters.
Instead, it's that constant feeling that something isn't right.
Every chapter made me question reality.
Was she actually in the past?
Was this time travel?
Was she dead?
Was she in a coma?
Was she on some bizarre reality TV show?
Was God testing her?
Every time I settled on a theory...
"Nope."
Back to square one. 😂
It honestly reminded me a little of Coraline—not because the stories are similar, but because of that unsettling feeling that something familiar has become deeply wrong.
I love books that make me uncomfortable in exactly this way.
🧩 I Could NOT Stop Reading
This is one of those books where you tell yourself:
"One more chapter."
Four hours later...
"...Oops."
😂
I genuinely couldn't put it down.
Even when I wasn't reading it, I kept thinking about it.
I wanted answers.
I needed answers.
Every new revelation only created ten more questions.
And somehow...
I loved that.
🎭 Natalie Is... Kind of the Worst
One thing I really appreciated is that the author wasn't interested in giving us a perfectly likable protagonist.
Natalie is shallow.
Manipulative.
Image-obsessed.
She often treats her children like props instead of people.
She's judgmental.
She's selfish.
And yet...
She's fascinating.
Watching someone who built an entire career selling an idealized version of pioneer life suddenly have to actually live it was wonderfully ironic.
The satire throughout the novel is incredibly sharp without ever feeling preachy.
🔍 The Big Twist (Complete Ending Explained)
Eventually we learn there was no time travel at all.
Natalie isn't in 1855.
She's actually around 50 years old, and roughly 18 years have passed since the scandal destroyed her influencer career.
After Shannon, Natalie's producer, exposed the reality behind Yesteryear Ranch—including her own affair with Caleb, the exploitative conditions, and the abuse happening behind the camera—Natalie and Caleb completely withdrew from society.
Instead of rebuilding their lives...
...they decided to fully commit to the fantasy.
They raised their youngest children to genuinely believe they were living in the nineteenth century.
Mary—the baby Natalie was pregnant with at the beginning of the novel—grew up believing electricity, cars, grocery stores, and modern life simply didn't exist.
Even worse, three younger children were born entirely within this fabricated world.
Caleb secretly maintained the illusion by sneaking to a hidden cabin stocked with supplies. Their older sons, Samuel and Stetson, secretly delivered groceries and other necessities while Caleb watched television and kept one foot in reality.
Eventually, their oldest daughter Clementine, now an adult, returns with legal authority and rescues the younger children.
Natalie is arrested and ultimately sentenced to 30 years in prison for aggravated child abuse.
Five years later, Mary has adjusted to modern life and publishes a memoir about her childhood.
The book ends on a hopeful note as Mary finally begins building a real future.
🤔 But...I Have SO Many Questions
Okay.
This is where I'm struggling.
Maybe someone can explain this to me because I still don't entirely get it. 😂
If Caleb was secretly watching TV...
If he knew perfectly well they weren't living in 1855...
If he clearly wasn't fully committed to the fantasy...
Then why keep pretending?
He never seemed to actually enjoy farm life in the first place.
He wasn't exactly living his dream.
He looked miserable.
So...
Why?
And what exactly were Samuel and Stetson getting out of supplying him with groceries for years?
Were they simply protecting their younger siblings?
Helping their father?
Too traumatized to cut ties completely?
I don't think the novel gives us completely satisfying answers.
Normally I'd be frustrated.
Instead...
I've been thinking about this book for days.
Which is probably the highest compliment I can give it.
💭 My Rating Journey 😂
While reading:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Immediately after finishing:
⭐⭐☆☆☆
A few days later:
⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
I've almost never had a book swing my opinion around this much.
Usually my rating gets more certain after finishing.
This one somehow became less certain.
And honestly...
I kind of love that.
👥 This Would Make an AMAZING Book Club Pick
I've already recommended this to my book club. 😆
There is so much to unpack:
📱 Influencer culture
🌾 The "tradwife" movement
🙏 Religious performance versus genuine faith
👨👩👧 Parenting
🎭 Identity
🧠 Psychological manipulation
💭 Reality versus perception
And, of course...
Everyone will have their own explanation for Caleb's motivations.
I can already imagine the debates.
📖 Final Thoughts
I honestly don't know if this book completely sticks the landing.
I'm still wrestling with parts of the ending.
But here's what I do know:
✔️ I couldn't put it down.
✔️ I couldn't stop thinking about it.
✔️ I'm still thinking about it.
To me, that's usually a sign the author accomplished something.
Even if I don't have every answer.
Sometimes the books that linger in your mind the longest are the ones that refuse to explain everything.
And Yesteryear definitely refuses to let you go.
📚 If You Enjoyed Yesteryear, Try These
The Last Housewife — Ashley Winstead
The Echo Wife — Sarah Gailey
The Push — Ashley Audrain
The School for Good Mothers — Jessamine Chan
The Need — Helen Phillips
Behind Her Eyes — Sarah Pinborough
The Chain — Adrian McKinty
The Farm — Joanne Ramos
The Family Upstairs — Lisa Jewell
The Perfect Nanny — Leïla Slimani
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4/5)
"I finished this book with more questions than answers... and somehow, I think that's exactly why I can't stop thinking about it."
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