Yesteryear Book Review | Our June 2026 Read With Us Pick!

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Yesteryear has quickly become one of the most talked-about books of Summer 2026, dominating book clubs, BookTok feeds, and reading lists everywhere. But while everyone seems to be reading it, the real question is: are readers actually loving it? Or is the hype bigger than the book itself?

What makes this story especially interesting is how differently two readers can interpret the same book — and that ending is still sticking with both of us!

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Part One: About the Book

If you’ve ever looked at someone’s perfectly curated life online and wondered, “Okay…but what’s really happening behind the scenes?” then Yesteryear might absolutely wreck you in the best possible way.

Released in 2026, Yesteryear follows Natalie, a woman whose life appears polished and enviable from the outside — successful family, beautiful image, carefully maintained life — but underneath it all is something much messier, lonelier, and more fragile. Burke leans hard into themes of identity, memory, perception, motherhood, marriage, aging, and the pressure to perform happiness for the world around us. You all know the feeling….the feeling like we’re performing for social media! 

What makes this book especially interesting is that it doesn’t necessarily hand you a “likable” main character. Natalie is complicated. Sometimes frustrating. Sometimes selfish. Sometimes deeply sad. And honestly? That’s part of what made this such a compelling read for us.

This month for Read With Us, Katie and I wanted to dive deeper into the emotional layers of the story… especially the questions it raises about social media, authenticity, family protection vs. control, and whether living a “fake” life eventually catches up to you.

And wow…we had thoughts.

To keep things interesting, we wanted to go about this review conversation style. So we took our phone transcript, cleaned it up, and here we are, presenting it to you!

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Part Two: Katie and Emily DiscussYesteryear

Emily: Okay, I need to start with the most controversial opinion first: I did not like Natalie.

Katie: SAME. And I kept waiting for the moment where I’d suddenly connect with her emotionally, and…it never really happened for me.

Emily: But weirdly.. I still loved the book.

Katie: Yes! I think that’s something I’m learning too… a main character doesn’t have to be likable for a story to work. Sometimes the messiest characters make for the most interesting books.

Emily: Exactly. Natalie frustrated me constantly because she felt so performative. Every interaction felt filtered through the lens of how she wanted to be perceived.

Katie: Which honestly feels very intentional on Burke’s part. I don’t think Natalie’s “fake” life was accidental characterization. I think it was the entire point. 

Emily: Totally. It felt like Burke was asking: What happens when someone spends so much time curating themselves that they lose track of who they actually are?

Katie: And it felt very modern.

Emily: VERY modern. Social media has completely changed how we present ourselves. We don’t just live our lives anymore. We package them.

Katie: That’s what made parts of this book uncomfortable for me. Because Natalie’s life felt exaggerated…but not unrealistic.

Emily: Exactly. We all know people who seem perfect online while privately falling apart.

Katie: Or honestly? We’ve probably all done it ourselves at some point.

Emily: Yep. And I think the scariest part is how normalized it’s become. Especially for kids growing up in it now.

Katie: That was one of the biggest lingering questions for me after finishing the book: what does this constant performance do to us long term?

Emily: Not just mentally, but relationally too. If everyone around you only knows the curated version of you, are you ever actually known?

Katie: Oof. That’s the question right there.

Emily: Okay, shifting gears a little. We NEED to talk about the second half of the book and Natalie’s family.

Katie: I still don’t fully know where I land on it.

Emily: Same. Part of me genuinely believed her husband and children thought they were protecting her.

Katie: Maybe…? but I was uncomfortable with how much they kept her in the dark. It made me wonder what happened to her memories of choosing that path, and whether she had mentally broken down or if everyone else had simply decided what was best for her.

Emily: Exactly. Their actions may have come from love, but that doesn’t automatically make them right.

Katie: I think that’s what made the situation feel so morally gray. Nobody felt completely innocent, but nobody felt completely evil either.

Emily: Which honestly mirrors real family dynamics better than a lot of thrillers do.

Katie: Agreed. Families are messy. Love gets tangled up with fear, control, protection, guilt. all of it.

Emily: Also can we talk about how emotionally claustrophobic parts of this book felt?

Katie: YES. Burke did such a good job creating that slow feeling of unease where you start questioning what’s real right alongside Natalie. Still am.

Emily: By the end, I wasn’t even trying to “solve” the story anymore. I was just emotionally spiraling. Still am.

Katie: Same. This book definitely feels less about plot twists and more about psychological unraveling. Emotional damage.

Emily: Which makes it SUCH a good book club pick because there’s genuinely so much to discuss.

Emily: Okay….so moment of truth, Katie…what do you ultimately rate this book out of 5 stars? 

Katie:   I thought it was really good. Not an all-time fav, but easily a 4 star read. 

Emily: Totally. This was a solid 4 star read for me. 

Keep scrolling for a link to our discussion questions!

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Ready to dive in? Here’s where you can grab your copy.

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If you’re still lost somewhere between here and there, and not quite ready to find your way back, here are a few places to wander:

Caro Claire Burke’s Website
Discover more about Caro Claire Burke and Yesteryear.

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Follow Currently Booked on Instagram
Join cozy book chats, find beautiful quotes, and soak up all the reading vibes.

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More Magical & Bookish Reads on Currently Booked

The Last Chance Library – A heartfelt story about saving a struggling library and rediscovering purpose along the way. If you loved the reminder of why stories — and the spaces that protect them — matter, this one pairs beautifully.

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books – A sharp yet hopeful look at censorship, community, and the quiet power of literature to spark change. If the themes of book access and literary freedom stood out to you, this is a natural next stop.

Where the Forest Meets the Stars – A gentle blend of magical realism and emotional healing, this story explores grief, wonder, and the possibility that the extraordinary appears when we need it most.

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Other Recommendations

If Yesteryear was a book for you, here are some other books that you may enjoy reading!

• The Push by Ashley Audrain
  If what grabbed you about Yesteryear was the complicated portrayal of motherhood and a woman questioning her own reality, this is a great next read. It’s dark, unsettling, and very much the kind of book that makes you want to talk about it afterward.
• None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
  This would probably be my #1 recommendation for Yesteryear readers. It has the social-media/true-crime obsession, unreliable characters, shifting perspectives, and that addictive feeling of “I need to know what is actually happening.”
• The Guest by Emma Cline
  This is a good pick if readers were fascinated by Natalie herself, particularly her ambition, selfishness, manipulation, and ability to make questionable choices while still keeping you invested. It has that same “I cannot stand this woman, but I absolutely have to know what happens to her” energy.

💬 Discussion Questions

Finished Yesteryear and still have thoughts? Same. 😂 Whether you loved Natalie, hated Natalie, or spent the entire book wondering what on earth she was going to do next, there’s a LOT to unpack.

We put together a list of discussion questions covering Natalie, social media, motherhood, family, and some of the bigger themes Caro Claire Burke explores throughout the story. So grab your book club, your reading bestie, or just your own very opinionated thoughts and head over to our Yesteryear discussion questions to keep the conversation going!