For months Em has been locked in a cell with only a mysterious drain and the voice of the boy she loves to focus on. Sometimes that voice is screaming in pain, but mostly it’s saying things that still make her laugh in this bleak, concrete prison. Time, however, is running out for them, unless they can find a way to steal some back.

Marina is used to getting the things that she wants, but not the people. Her parents have long since given up on using her as anything but a communication device in their increasingly acrimonious marriage. It seems as though James, the boy she loves, will always think of her as a little sister while his new friend, Finn, is increasingly encroaching on their time together. All of that was yesterday though. Today Em is on her way and, if her plan works, any hope Marina has with James will be shattered beyond repair.

The premise of All Our Yesterdays is not new; if you could go back and kill someone evil before they did anything evil, would you be able to? It is the kind of question with so many grey areas that it can be explored over and over again and, with an amazing ensemble of characters, Cristin Terrill has brought an exciting, fresh twist to the concept. Rather than the evil being a generic, unspecified individual, he is someone that the two main characters know well in both his pre and post evil stages.

The strongest aspect of this novel is its moral ambiguity. Rather than evil being absolute, it is treated as a spectrum. Good isn’t a cut and dried concept either. Both good and evil are paths that the characters choose, often unwittingly. There’s depth and complexity in this notion that translates surprisingly well to the novel without slowing it down.

The continuity of timelines is clear and well-thought out, making what could easily be a baffling novel into something that flows with ease. Em’s character is not quite so consistent. From the outset her goal is to kill James, making the future world a better place. Though she must know that it may come down to her, she’s woefully unprepared for it, not even keeping up her fitness levels when she has ample opportunity. The fact that she’s torn about killing her former best friend is the core of this novel. Without it, the story would lose not only its suspense but its humanity. That she throws away every chance she has of completing her quest without analysing or changing her behaviour, however, weakens an otherwise compelling character.

All Our Yesterdays is told from both Marina and Em’s perspectives in the present and future. This would usually bother me, but Terrill’s writing is strong enough to draw you in, and her characters are so wonderfully imagined that their voices are very different. Marina is wealthy and self-centred but unsure of everyone around her. Em is sure of Finn but not of her future or his. In their own ways, they’re both desperate, vulnerable, and addictively readable.

All Our Yesterdays is wonderfully written, cleverly plotted, and emotionally wrenching. From the first few chapters I really didn’t think that I would enjoy it, but it really draws you in, snaring you so that putting it down is unbearable. According to Terrill, this is the first book of a duology, so there’ll be one more in the series. Even though I devoured the first book, I don’t know how I feel about a second. The ending to All Our Yesterdays was absolutely perfect: unexpected but exactly what the novel had been building towards all along. It stands so well on its own that, bittersweet and forlorn as the ending may be,  a sequel seems superfluous, but I’ll be reading it anyway.

 All Our Yesterdays – Cristin Terrill

 Bloomsbury (September 3, 2013)

 ISBN: 9781408835197

What goes with winter? Open fires, cosy rooms, woollen coats, and chocolate. Always with the chocolate. Hot chocolate to be specific. I’m not a coffee drinker (anymore …wahhh!) and although I don’t mind the occasional herbal tea, my blood-warming drink of choice is hot chocolate. Day to day, I devour a sugar-free brand but for something special – there’s these. The real deal. Chocolate spoons. Simply add to warm milk…

What You Need:

• Spoons. While you can use and re-use your finest silver, I bought a pack of cute mini-faux-silver spoons from one of those Super-Cheap shops – 50 spoons for $2. Bargain.
• Chocolate. As always, the better the quality, the better the result will taste. For dark chocolate in particular, try using one that is at least 75% cocoa. You’ll thank me for it later.
• Flavours: try adding mini marshmallows, chopped Jersey Caramels, cinnamon or chilli. Be adventurous! Try sea salt flakes (on dark choc) or raspberry dust* (recipe below) My one word of advice is this – think about who you’re making these for. Kids or adults? For my children, I’m more likely to make them with marshmallows, for myself – chilli or raspberry.
• A chocolate mould. Make sure it’s deep enough to fit a spoon. I used a mini-muffin silicone mould.

How it’s Done:

Make sure your mould is clean and dry. Melt chocolate in a cup in the microwave, or in a double boiler over the stove. Spoon melted chocolate into moulds, tapping gently to get rid of any air bubbles. Add the spoon and flavours before chocolate sets completely. Leave for at least twenty to thirty minutes, pop out of mould gently.

To Serve:

Heat milk in either a saucepan over low heat – don’t let it quite come to the boil – or in the microwave. Serve in a large cup or mug, add chocolate spoon and stir until chocolate has dissolved. Yummo! Chocolate spoons are also great bunched together and tied with ribbon for a simple gift idea. Try finding delicate vintage spoons at your local second hand shop or market, playing around with mould shapes and sizes…the ideas are endless.

*Raspberry Dust Recipe

A handful of fresh raspberries, washed, dried and thrown into the dehydrator for about 5 hours on high. They won’t develop a crunchy texture, more like a fruit leather.

Once dried, place the fruit into a snap lock bag, and into the freezer. Once frozen – but still in the bag – smash gently with the back of a knife of small hammer.

Voila! Raspberry Dust!

Store in an airtight container in the pantry. Use sprinkled on ice cream, meringues, biscuits or even warm Camembert cheese.

Chris Kneipp reviews SF TV series–Continuum.

Continuum is a TV series which has continued to improve, and its third season is turning out to be the best yet.

The story follows Kiera Cameron, played by Rachel Nichols, a cop from 2077 Vancouver, Canada. Caught up in a plot by a terrorist group called Liberate, she is dragged back to our time, along with the anti corporate terrorists, leaving her family behind. In the future, corporations are the government, and the world is a scary place for anyone who doesn’t conform to their control. In a high tech, high surveillance future, it’s dangerous to be different.

In the present, Liber8 attempt to change their history by influencing the present. Kiera joins forces with the Vancouver police to stop Liber8 from destroying her future, which would take away her husband and son. Partnering with detective Carlos Fonnegra, Victor Webster, she fights to thwart Liber8’s plans, while hiding her time-travelling secret from the world. She also enlists the help of a computer genius teen named Alex Sadler (Eric Knudsen). In Kiera’s future, Alex is the creator of most of her neat gadgets, including the bio chip implant and her police uniform that doubles as a computer. (Not to mention it can render her invisible.)

Kiera’s loyalties are torn as she learns about the totalitarian rule of the Corporate Congress from its origins in the present. As the first two seasons progress we learn a lot about Kiera and the terrorists’ backstory, revealed through flash-forwards. The scenes set in 2077 are really well done and force the viewer to question their assumptions. Are Liber8 really the bad guys?

Now, I should point out that I wasn’t overly impressed with the first season, but as the series progressed, everyone seemed to find their groove. The third season is off to a cracking start and for the sake of those who haven’t seen it, I won’t give any spoilers.

There’s a lot to like about Continuum. The plot is well thought out, and the time travel paradoxes are handled well without bogging the show down in the geek speak. The tech effects are cool, especially her gun, which assembles itself when needed and stuns its target.

One thing I will bring up is the opening credits. The first two seasons had Kiera doing a voiceover, and I have to say that this is one of my bugbears. Buffy the Vampire Slayer did it for its first couple of seasons and, speaking to TV show creators here, DON’T DO IT. With few exceptions (it works with Person of Interest), it’s a bad idea. The third season of Continuum has a slick new opening, and it is a huge improvement. The original opening monologue attempted to sound serious but came out kind of cheesy. When I watched the first episode, I nearly didn’t make it past the credits, which would have been a shame.

This show has a lot going for it. It has a great premise and characters who become more three dimensional with every scene. It has a real world female lead who does well portraying a woman with shifting beliefs and a future to fight for. And of course, it has some neat gadgets and FX.

No-one is quite who you expect them to be, and by this new season you are asking yourself who the bad guys really are? The new season is off to a great start, and if you haven’t caught up with this show, go and get a copy of the first two seasons. If you make it past the credits, you’ll be glad you did. 

Annie has finally escaped her prison in Keane’s school, where she’s been locked up and guarded on a single floor for the last few years. She hasn’t seen or spoken to her sister since her dramatic escape and has finally met up with Adam, Cole, and Sarah, who have taken her in.

But after only a few days, Annie is worried about her baby sister. She’s tired of sitting in various motels rooms, feeling useless. She wants to help out somehow, someway, even if it means harming herself to have visions of Fia.

To do something productive, Cole takes Annie to meet another girl named Mae, who has been offered the same opportunity to attend Keane’s school. Annie tries to convince Mae to turn down the offer, but Mae explains that the girls at the school are actually the ones with all the power. She says that she wouldn’t mind being paid to do something she can do in her sleep.

Annie feels helpless. She doesn’t know what to do. She just wants to prevent any more girls from attending the school and wants her sister back.

On the other side of things, Fia has decided to destroy the school from the inside out with the help of James, Keane’s son. James is broken. He is still dealing with the grief from the loss of his mother, and the anger towards his father for destroying the beautiful school his mother established. Fia has decided to put all her trust in James and do anything he asks.

But Fia has never felt so unsure about someone like she does about James. Normally she can immediately sense anyone’s intentions, but when it comes to James her heart takes over. No matter how hard she tries, Fia can’t shake off the feeling that he might be hiding and keeping something from her.

After starving herself and going nights without sleep, Annie finally sees a vision of Fia that will change everything. She knows that if she doesn’t get there in time, she and Fia will never be free, but dead…

With so much love for Mind Games, there wasn’t any option but to pick up Perfect Lies right away! And I did…even though it was three thirty in the morning.

As with all of Kiersten White’s books, the element that I look forward to the most are the characters (if you hadn’t already guessed).

In Mind Games, Annie may be the older sister, but she’s very sheltered. She doesn’t know what Fia is doing or sacrificing for Annie’s protection. In Perfect Lies, her eyes are opened and she finally believes everything that’s going on around her.

As Annie took a few steps forward, Fia took a few back. In the first installment, she had to follow these crazy missions and do anything that was asked of her. But she has this amazing IDGAF attitude that really pulled me towards her. I liked her for it! But in Perfect Lies, that goes away a bit. Fia falls in love with James and her heart quickly takes over. Fia knows she has a weird feeling about him and that he isn’t telling her the whole truth, but she doesn’t want to believe it.

If you’re really into mind-numbing, jaw-dropping endings, then Mind Games and Perfect Lies are the perfect books for you! In the first book, the ending was so far out of this world, I never saw it coming. In the second book, I knew something drastic would happen, especially with Annie and her discovery of everything going on. But again, I would have never expected what happened.

I’m sad that there are only two books in this series (if you can call it that), but Kiersten White did an amazing job tying up loose ends and surprising me. If you haven’t started reading this series yet, you should ASAP!

Marianne is interviewed by Marisa Wikramanayake  for the Australian Women Writers Challenge.