Book Review: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

 

 

My review posted to Goodreads:

 I honestly didn't like this book. I found the setting up to be interesting (the background part boring but possibly necessary) but the "fever dream time jump" part was bizarre. Did it all make sense in the end - yes, but by then, honestly, I didn't care. I never really cared for the main character, Natalie, and really didn't like her husband or the extended families. And I didn't understand why Natalie felt the world owed her everything for her existing (and her looks), but that's just me. I didn't see the satire, I did see the poking fun at, but at times the poking fun at felt more like mean girls bringing down someone because they can.

I think (I hope?) most people know that IG and social media only show what a poster wants them to show - the carefully curated, the perfected, the "image" opposed to the reality ... of course we don't have "super women" doing all the cooking, the filming, the farm chores, the household chores, the everything without help (just like back in the 2010s we all couldn't be girl bosses unless we had money to hire people to care for the kids & someone else to care for the house while we worked in an office for 40+ hours in order to become a "girl boss"). Now, that being said, I don't follow any trad wife accounts and, honestly, know very little about it (fine, I have a 5 year old sourdough starter that, somehow, is still alive), but I'm probably not the target audience for this book (and I don't think following Pioneer Woman **just for the recipes** really counts, does it? Even she has help around the farm and had a filming crew and had housecleaning staff), but I digress.

As I chose this book for my BOTM club April pick, they asked a question - "do you wish you'd read this book" - in the end, honestly, no. I had to look up "trad wife" just to make sure I wasn't missing anything ... then I needed to look up Ballerina Farms (which a commenter said this book was based on) and then read an article about Hannah whoever - and, yes, it all clicked, but honestly, I don't care (though I was surprised at how many people I follow follow Hannah). In about a decade, we'll have a new "goal" for women to aspire to - whether it be girl boss or trad woman or even super woman ... take bits from each, but be true to yourself 'cause in the end, that's really all that matters to me. [off soap box that I didn't know I was on]