I’m on the best book marathon of my life. It’s been a while since I’ve had this many back-to-back 5-star reads… the kind that keep you up at night, that make you set an alarm just to wake up early and keep reading. Just me? (lol.) I know. I’m nuts.

Today it’s Yesteryear and I’ve sat on this review for weeks, because this book is very polarizing. Everyone I’ve talked to either LOVED it or despised it. There is no middle. I’m firmly on the “loved it” team, and as someone who spent five years managing 30+ influencers, the themes struck a nerve.

One quote I can’t stop thinking about: “The goal of an influencer is not to be lovable, and it is not to be unbearable. The goal is to be both at once. In other words: addicting.”

That line is the whole book. Because here’s the strange part… I despised the main character. Despised her. And normally that’s a death sentence. You’re supposed to root for your protagonist. But Natalie isn’t built to be rooted for. She’s built to be watched. I hated her and I could not look away. How did she wind up living the “trad” life in the 1800s she’d been selling online? What is this doing to her kids? How does she not see the damage she’s doing? And the husband?!

And here’s what got me: the book kind of catches you in the act. I spent the whole thing judging Natalie and then it flips around and points right back at me. Like… oh. I do this too. I’m part of the problem. Because if I’m being honest? I’ve absolutely posted the highlight reel… only the photos that made my life look “perfect.” I’ve tried to share more real, vulnerable stuff over the years, but I still catch myself posting the polished version of me I want the world to see.

And the ENDING. No spoilers, but my jaw was on the floor. The foreshadowing was all there and I still didn’t see it coming. Total mind-f*ck, the good kind. I shut the book and couldn’t think about anything else for days.

That, to me, is what makes a great story… not whether you liked the character, not whether it made you comfortable. The fact that weeks later I’m still turning it over, and now scrolling through certain accounts with completely different eyes… that’s what reading is all about.