Ep. 87: Lit It or Quit It: Yesteryear By Caro Claire Burke

Kelsey and Amanda are talking all about Yesteryear —the buzzy book everyone’s reading and everyone’s arguing about. Think tradwife influencer ranch life, a twisty psychological spiral, and a narrator you absolutely cannot trust. The book besties are diving into why this story feels so uncomfortably of-the-moment. If you love a book that’s messy, provocative, and impossible to look away from, press play now—then tell us if you’re Team Lit It or Team Quit It, because we NEED your take!

00:00 Welcome to Lit Vibes Only

00:31 Follow Us on Socials

03:05 Our Current Reads

10:27 Summary of ‘Yesteryear’

22:59 Book Discussion

47:50 LITerally the Best or LITerally the Worst

56:10 Wrap Up and Social Media Plugs

Follow us on TikTok & Youtube @litvibesonlypodcast and on Instagram @litvibesonly_podcast. You can also email us at litvibesonlypodcast@gmail.com We'd love to hear from you!

See you on Mondays!

Transcript

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 0:02

Welcome to Lit Vibes Only, where we lit the shit out of books we love and hate. I'm Amanda, the insightful thrill-seeker and historical fiction nerd

Kelsey 0:10

And I'm Kelsey, the unhinged diehard romantic and fantasy reader. Welcome

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 0:16

welcome.

Kelsey 0:17

today's episode. We're covering Yesteryear by Claire

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 0:25

Caro. Caro Claire Burke. Burke.

Kelsey 0:31

So we're excited to get into this but first, Amanda, share... Or wait, is it me? I'm sharing socials.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 0:38

Yes. You're doing s- you're doing socials, yes.

Kelsey 0:42

On to Amanda. So you can find us on Instagram at litvibesonly_podcast, and TikTok and YouTube at litvibesonlypodcast. We share different things there. I've been trying to share more about my pregnancy and reading to baby and things like that. 'Cause my reading has definitely changed throughout pregnancy and it has yeah, it just, it has changed,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 1:09

Ebb and float.

Kelsey 1:09

say. And you can also find us on Fable where you're going to find both of our book clubs where we are highlighting the books that we are highlighting on the podcast.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 1:23

Mm-hmm.

Kelsey 2.0 1:23

so you get to vote for those books beforehand, and then Amanda and I will read them. So you can join mine or Amanda's or both, we're at litvibesonlypod-kelsey or -amanda. So that's how you find us. and then of course always on Spotify or Apple, can go rate and review our podcast. greatly appreciate that. And then finally, though, what really matters is downloading the episode. It just is that plus click button that you have in Apple or Spotify, and that helps us get more followers and get more like, um, uh... Thank you. In the world because Buzzsprout, where we upload our episodes, that's like the metric that is used to gain popularity and all of that.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 2:24

All that good stuff.

Kelsey 2:25

Go do those things

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 2:26

Yes, please. They really do, and they have such a huge impact.

Kelsey 2:31

mm-hmm.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 2:32

So definitely take the time to do that if you haven't. We promise it only takes two seconds. And if you don't wanna do them all today, you can sprinkle it out over your work week. Set yourself a little task, little reminder. But it really goes a long way, and there are a lot of podcasts out there, so we're just fighting for a little bit of visibility and trying to keep our head above water, and all of those little things add up and really help us so much. So thank you guys in advance. We appreciate it.

Kelsey 3:00

Mm-hmm.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 3:02

And now it's time to talk about books.

Kelsey 3:04

Yes. But before we get into the book of the hour, Amanda, what are you reading right now?

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 3:10

So I am about to start a book that was one of my highly anticipated reads of 2026. I had to Wait a minute for it to come through on my Libby, and it is Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston. It is, of course, a thriller. I read First Lie Wins by this author last year and really enjoyed it, so I'm very excited to see what she's cooked up in this latest thriller. It focuses on two women, and I don't know a lot of the details 'cause I haven't read it yet, but it sounds like they work together to do some spying on one of the women's husbands, 'cause one of them is married. And somehow, he, I believe he ends up dead, and now they basically both need alibis for the murder to make sure neither of them goes to prison. I think that's roughly what's gonna happen in the book. Honestly, I'm not that sure. But I'm just excited to read it 'cause she's a new author that I found last year, and just really enjoyed First Lie Wins. And I'm hoping that this book lives up to expectations, 'cause I feel like there have been some disappointments recently for me in the book world, in the reading world. Win. I'm hoping for a four or five-star thriller. We'll see.

Kelsey 4:29

Okay.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 4:29

What are you reading?

Kelsey 4:30

Good luck

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 4:31

Thank you.

Kelsey 4:32

Just wrapping up, Lucky Red, and I think I read or I mentioned this in the previous episode, but I had no idea what it was about, and I'm glad I didn't know. It

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 4:45

Oh.

Kelsey 4:46

great

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 4:46

Oh

Kelsey 4:47

going into it completely blind. I was like, "Oh, where's this going?" It was like a Western,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 4:53

Oh, okay

Kelsey 4:55

I don't know what year it was. It probably said somewhere, like the year, but it was like maybe 1800s. And it's about a brothel And this queer character who makes a living by being one of the... What do they call them? The... I don't remember what they call them in the book,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 5:18

Okay.

Kelsey 5:19

one of the girls that, works, is a sex worker. Yeah it's, it was a good story. I really liked it.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 5:25

Okay

Kelsey 5:26

our book club is meeting tomorrow to discuss it.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 5:31

Oh, interesting. Okay, I'm curious. It sounds like a lot of things that I wouldn't have put together in the same story. Oh, a Western and,

Kelsey 5:38

No

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 5:38

a queer character and a brawny

Kelsey 5:40

Yeah, no. Also I didn't mention the author, Claudia Cravens.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 5:45

Okay.

Kelsey 5:45

do think that you would like it, Amanda.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 5:47

Is it

Kelsey 5:47

I do

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 5:48

a long book or is it a pretty quick read?

Kelsey 5:50

It's n- no, I don't think it's a very long book. Let me real quick. 'Cause I read it or listened to it, I can't tell

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:01

Okay.

Kelsey 6:01

is.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:02

I can look it up later. I was just curious. Maybe I'll add it to my...

Kelsey 6:05

hours. 11

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:07

Oh, so probably

Kelsey 6:07

wouldn't be that

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:08

350 or something. Okay.

Kelsey 6:09

Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:10

That's not bad. It's definitely got an intriguing premise that you don't come across often.

Kelsey 6:15

Yeah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:16

I don't, like, when was the last time I read a book set in the Wild West? It's not really my thing. Okay

Kelsey 6:22

wouldn't have, I- it wouldn't have been a book I would have chosen.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:25

Yeah. Lucky Red

Kelsey 6:27

why I enjoy the book club,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:29

Yeah

Kelsey 6:29

Because I don't choose pretty much any of the books because I'm like, "I don't know, you guys have, a more eclectic taste in

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:39

Yeah

Kelsey 6:39

And sometimes they're hits and sometimes they're

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:42

Sure.

Kelsey 6:43

or

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:43

Yeah.

Kelsey 6:43

lit it and sometimes they're quit it for me. But when they're lit its, it like, it's

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:51

Really good.

Kelsey 6:51

well.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 6:52

Okay. Hey, we are clearly all about expanding our reading taste on this podcast, so that's very much in line with who we are and what we're trying to do. So that's great. All right, Lucky Red. I'll keep that in mind. Okay. Well, I am, like, so ecstatic to talk about this book because I, at this point, gosh, I've read it now I think two months ago, and have,

Kelsey 7:15

And it came out in the spring, right?

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 7:17

Yeah, so I read it the month it came out. I this is definitely a book, I actually have it here with me. I went out and bought it because I knew that it would be, like, a bazillion-year wait on Libby, and I just needed to read it. So super stoked to talk about it, 'cause it's definitely, if you read the book along with us or if you've read it already, it is definitely a book worth discussing, 'cause it's totally bonkers and touches on a lot of social things. So that's why I chose it. I wasn't necessarily sure if Kelsey would like it, give it a lit it, but I do think regardless of what she thought she would have some strong feelings about it or have things that she wanted to comment on. I'm also having my book club read this book, so my book club will be reading it or is currently reading it. We'll be discussing it next weekend, I think. So I'm also curious to get to chat about it more there as well. So that was the reason why I chose it. It's a huge book right now. It's super buzzy. Everyone's talking about it. It's definitely gonna be one of those 2026 books of the year type book. And it's very much a book of the moment. Like, all of the issues that she's touching on are super relevant, super timely. It's happening right now. So I think that's another reason why I wanted to read it and talk about the different issues it touches on. So yeah, that's why I made Kelsey read it. Hopefully, again, you guys joined my book club and read along with us. But the moment of truth

Kelsey 8:41

And I w- I think I was the only one in there

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 8:43

You were

Kelsey 8:44

or so far,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 8:45

so far, 'cause this is, yeah, this is May for us, but this'll drop in a couple weeks. But Kelsie, was this book a lit it or quit it for you?

Kelsey 8:56

It is a soft lit it

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 8:58

Yes. Okay. I anticipated that.

Kelsey 9:00

horrible.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 9:03

You liked it mostly. Okay, great

Kelsey 9:06

yeah. Yes.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 9:08

Yeah.

Kelsey 9:08

But okay, we'll get

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 9:10

We'll get there. We'll get there. Don't worry. We'll have plenty of time to chat. But you have a book to summarize, and you don't seem to be too thrilled about it.

Kelsey 9:17

No, I'm not thrilled about it. It's like these stupid timelines and I hate when there's different timelines. And

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 9:24

two... I guess there's three. There's three timelines, yeah. Cause there's

Kelsey 9:27

there?

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 9:27

yeah, there's like the present, there's like when she's in college, and then there's in "1855," quote-unquote. Is there more than that? I think it's just the three

Kelsey 9:35

It but it starts in the past, which is what you're saying is

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 9:40

Mm-hmm.

Kelsey 9:41

now-ish.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 9:42

Mm-hmm

Kelsey 9:42

But then that's the only time you have it, and then it leads in, else leads into the n- the now. Does that make sense? It go, it starts there, but then it goes back, and then comes forward

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 9:57

I'm so confused, but it will all become clear

Kelsey 10:00

Just that

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 10:03

I think it's also confusing because of the twist too, right? 'Cause the past isn't in fact the past.

Kelsey 10:08

Yes.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 10:09

but okay, let's

Kelsey 10:10

Anyway.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 10:11

we'll just get into the summary and yeah.

Kelsey 10:13

Okay. I did my best, y'all. I didn't read over this, so I might change things along the way.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 10:20

Okay.

Kelsey 10:20

just wrote it, and then hopefully this has the best information or whatever, okay. So the book starts off part one, the past, it starts off with Caleb and Natalie at the farm.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 10:37

Mm-hmm.

Kelsey 10:38

book is through Natalie's POV, and their farm is placed in the middle of nowhere, Idaho. wanted to mention some important characters. The mother, or I think they call her Mama, Natalie Heller Mills. She's the main character, and the POV Caleb is her husband. He works the ranch Clementine is the eldest child. she's about 12 in this timeline. Shannon is her social media producer who also lives on the farm with them full time. Interesting character, Reena, is Natalie's ex-college roommate that she fixates on throughout the book and her life, unbeknownst to Reena really. Then the rest of the children are Stetson, Samuel, Jessa, and Junebug. is currently pregnant as well with their sixth child in this past timeline. And early on we are opened up to Natalie's current world. She has about five million followers on Instagram, her husband is a cattle rancher. They have five children, like I said, and one on the way, and they have two nannies and one social media producer that works for them. They also have workers out on the cattle ranch, but those people are not well-known. They just, we know that they're there.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 12:05

Mm-hmm

Kelsey 2.0 12:06

And they have a line of home products that they sell. This is how they make their money on social media. and it's clear that Natalie plays this role that she tries to keep up a facade of a perfect life. and initially, know, her POV is like, "Oh my God, I love my life. Thank God for everything." And then it very quickly, like not even 15, 20 minutes into the audio, You're getting the sense that she's angry and that she actually hates her life the things that she's doing. I think the first thing that you realize is she says to somebody, "Oh, pregnancy brain." And then she in her own dialogue, she's like, "I f*cking hate that," phrase. And so anytime she swears in her mind or at least what you think is in her mind she's like, "I'm sorry, God," blah, blah, blah. And so it's like this interesting, internal world that you're getting to know from Natalie's perspective. So then the next immediate chapter is titled The Future, and all of a sudden Natalie is in a world that she doesn't recognize. She thinks she's in her modern home, but quickly realizes that nothing in her home is modern. Everything appears really old-fashioned and not from this century. So they don't have heating, they don't have lighting and no modern appliances. She's in a bedroom waking up, and she hears children laughing and finds that she doesn't recognize the children when she leaves the room. She's greeted by Mary, who is, again, almost a teenager, so similar to Clementine. There's a child, Noah, Abel, and Maeve that live in this timeline, and she's grappling with idea that she's not where she's supposed to be. She initially thinks that she might have been kidnapped because she had so many followers people wanna do her harm then she finds some height measurements of the children and of herself, dated in the 1850s. And it's as if she's been brought back to the 1800s. And there are rude awakenings Natalie faces in this timeline. instance, she attempts to leave twice. In the initial attempt, Caleb hits her to get her back to the house. the second time, her foot gets stuck in an animal trap and she really severely hurts her ankle doing this. so sh- every time she's brought back to the house Mary in this case mends her to health and they don't have any modern medicine that they're using And from there, the book begins to tell Natalie's story. So then it goes back in time all the way to when she starts college when you first meet her back in that timeline. She's 17, and she attends Harvard, her roommate Reena Some things happened there, but we can speak more to those instances in our discussion. You learn that she grew up with her sister and mother, sister being Abigail, and I forget her mother's name. Her mom

Kelsey 15:06

um,

Kelsey 2.0 15:07

her childhood told the girls that her husband had died, so their father, and her mother taught her traditional values and traditional gender roles through the church that they attended. not long into college, she meets Caleb, ends up being her husband. He's part of a famous political family, and he's the youngest of the family. And they marry quickly and have their first child Clementine Natalie is very disappointed by Caleb, who ends up being, like, this man who has little ambition Is lazy and has no direction in his life. And she sees herself as having, like, all this ambition, and is really disappointed that Caleb lacks that quality. she spends a lot of her time trying to make him into something he's not, trying to push him towards a career or towards anything to him to be a man in her eyes. But eventually she gets the help of her in-laws, because her in-laws also have this idea that they're, like, disappointed in their son and want him to do something with his life. In the end, they buy a farm and land only with the help of their- her father-in-law, they can begin a cattle ranch. By the way, Natalie and her husband know nothing about cattle ranching, and they end up killing a lot of animals in the process, and she ends up having more babies because it was the deal she made with her father-in-law exchange for the money for the farm. gave them five million dollars to start this farm, and and so yeah, she always wanted a family, a giant family, but it's really clear throughout the book that she's constantly pressuring herself into these traditional values that she doesn't really want, but I don't think it's clear for her h- she wants beyond that. and so their life grows from there. and Caleb struggle in their romantic relationship, and Natalie resents Caleb. Caleb stays very distant but they continue to grow their family. One day, Natalie gets a ton of followers Her Instagram is about the ranch and their life. and it's because of a man on social media who mentions her as being, like, this traditional wife and someone that other women should look up to and yeah that she shares the, all the values that a woman should be. Millions of people end up following her. This is how they end up famous and make money through the ranch because the ranch by itself you don't make any money doing the farm work, or at least they didn't. And especially not a rich life. And then let's see. Then becomes like a more household name and she ends up hiring Shannon, the social media producer. Shannon works for her for two years and things end up going sideways and Shannon begins to tear apart the facade of the ranch she speaks to the nannies about their lives and to the eldest child, Clementine. and she's slowly breaking apart the ruse that Natalie has attempted to create at the ranch. One small detail is she learns that the children really have no knowledge of the outside world by being homeschooled by the nannies and including something basic as the ocean. Clementine's asks one, one day like "What's the ocean?" And Shannon's

Kelsey 18:51

like,

Kelsey 2.0 18:51

Wait, what the f*ck?" And even Natalie was trying to say "You know what the ocean is, like they taught you that," trying to cover up that gap in knowledge. And then eventually Shannon sleeps with Caleb he thinks he's in love, Caleb tells Natalie that he's leaving her for Shannon. Natalie ends up losing her cool and ends up in a physical scuffle with Shannon. chokes her but she doesn't fully remember the details. This is where you start to wonder about her mental health. You wonder the whole time, but s- at this point she's like losing parts of her memory during actual events while she's like choking Shannon. She ends up calling her father-in-law who's this rich politician for help and they come up with a plan of support. Then they all realize what Natalie actually did and that's when their world like truly starts to fall apart. Throughout learning all of this in the book there are flashes of going back to the 1800s and they eventually intersect in the end, realize that she's had a mental breakdown after the incident with Shannon. because also as an aside Shannon ends up going to the public about her story of the ranch, and people really wanna know what's going on at this ranch and Shannon shares that. And so they end up doing is choosing to live a basic life to prove to people, that she could do it because that's what she's professing in her Instagram and her social media is that she wants to be a traditional wife and and live a traditional life. she had four more children that were born into this life, Mary being the oldest, which was who she was pregnant with, at the beginning of the story. And Mary ends up taking care of everyone at the house because her mother is mentally And the true older, daughter, Clementine, essentially comes in to rescue the children from the abuse from their mother and dad what they both put them through. And in the epilogue, you find out that she's in prison, Natalie,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 21:13

Mm-hmm

Kelsey 21:13

for child abuse,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 21:14

Mm-hmm.

Kelsey 2.0 21:15

and she's requested to do an interview, and she specifically requests Reena this woman that she felt connected to all these years, but judged heavily and obsessed over her life heavily. And in the interview, we end up finding out that Mary has written a book about her mother and her life with her mother. And the book just ends there.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 21:40

Mm-hmm Yep

Kelsey 21:41

So It was too. Oh my God.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 21:47

No, you did a good job of unraveling the events in a way that made sense. 'Cause in the book it's as you said, it's hopping back and forth, and the big twist is like, is she actually in 1855? Was there time travel involved? Has she been kidnapped? And so yeah, the big twist is that no they chose to live this really rustic life. They're still in the same house. They haven't left the house. It's the same house. They just,

Kelsey 22:12

Yeah

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 22:12

ripped out all the appliances, the electricity, the wiring for all that,

Kelsey 22:17

crazy

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 22:17

And you also find out, which I found really interesting, that two of her, the original set of children, so now they're older,

Kelsey 22:26

Stetson

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 22:27

Stetson and I don't remember all of their names.

Kelsey 22:29

I just had it.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 22:32

But they're living,

Kelsey 22:33

and Samuel

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 22:34

Stetson and Samuel, they're now grown, and they're living not on They're living near the ranch in their own little house, and they're the ones who are providing food, produce to the family, and basically keeping them alive. 'Cause again, as Kelsey mentioned, neither Caleb nor Natalie actually know how to farm or do anything.

Kelsey 22:53

Yes

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 22:54

It's a really it's fascinating. It's really fascinating. So anyhow, so much to discuss. So much. But let's start with the positives. What are some things that you did really enjoy or find intriguing about this book?

Kelsey 23:07

Yeah, I I enjoyed the fact that Natalie was an unreliable narrator

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 23:12

Mm-hmm

Kelsey 23:12

in this book, like that, Yeah, and the way that unraveled to realize that she was an unreliable narrator, I appreciated that storytelling and writing. Yes, so that was the first thing.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 23:29

Okay

Kelsey 23:29

I- it kept, like it was good storytelling. I I was intrigued by what was happening. I was like, "Okay, she's back in the 1800s," like what the f*ck? And, she's d- you know, all these like different

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 23:45

'Cause like she was pregnant and now she's not, and what's going on?

Kelsey 23:49

Yes, that, those aspects of, like this mystery aspect

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 23:52

Yeah.

Kelsey 23:53

book,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 23:53

Mm-hmm.

Kelsey 23:53

and also that it was like watching a dumpster fire the whole time. You're like, "What the f*ck is wrong with her?" The fact that it ends pretty much with her assaulting Shannon,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 24:06

Mm-hmm

Kelsey 24:06

this made a lot of sense connected to her internal dialogue throughout the book and wasn't as surprising, but it was just like this

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 24:16

Train wreck, yeah.

Kelsey 24:17

Yes.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 24:18

Yeah

Kelsey 24:18

And so that was intriguing to me.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 24:21

Yeah, she's really, she's a very unlikable character, and I was curious how you would feel about that, 'cause I know I tend to like unlikable characters more than you do.

Kelsey 24:31

Yes

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 24:31

I wasn't sure how you were gonna respond, because she is not a good person. She doesn't really have any redeeming qualities or moments in this book, really. There's never a moment where you're like, "Oh, okay, Natalie, I see you." It's like, no, you're horrible all the time. So I'm surprised that I guess we haven't gotten to the negatives yet, but I am curious, did that bother you at all that she was unlikable?

Kelsey 24:54

No,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 24:54

Okay

Kelsey 24:55

actually. Throughout this book I was like yeah,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 24:59

Okay.

Kelsey 24:59

one thing that comes to mind, like when I think about the negatives that kind of ties it together, but,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 25:05

do you wanna mention it now since it connects to it?

Kelsey 25:08

yeah, sure. I just it's... This book is almost a soft quit it because of this, Like I don't f*cking understand the point of this book. I don't understand who this is for, and to me, I didn't like necessarily learn anything from she's sharing.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 25:29

Okay

Kelsey 2.0 25:30

this just felt like a standalone. It didn't seem to me like a commentary on feminism or the downfalls of like traditional living. It just felt like it was the only point of this book for me that I got out of it was, like this was a funny, interesting story. Like

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 25:54

Interesting

Kelsey 25:55

that it, it's supposed to have more meaning, and it's supposed to like comment on society. But I just like, I don't... I did not get that.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 26:07

Intr- okay. Wow.

Kelsey 2.0 26:09

I... It just felt like a train wreck, is what it felt like. Like it just felt like a modern train wreck of a

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 26:18

Yeah

Kelsey 26:20

I, yeah that's the thing. And I remember,, in the comments on your book club, I was like, "What the f*ck is, what's the point of this book?"

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 26:30

Wow. Okay. It, it definitely is a social satire that's why she wrote it, and so there is obviously that humor that comes along with being satirical. It also is a th- like, marketed as a thriller 'cause there is that what's going on, what's happening, trying to figure out... It gets... It's a psychological thriller. But I think I liked it

Kelsey 26:49

I would not classify it as that

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 26:51

Oh, really? I feel like the whole thing with her mental breakdown and trying to figure out what exactly happened with her being in 1855 that's the thriller aspect, and I could see that being pulled out of this novel and that being built into a thriller. So yeah, that's the psychological thriller aspect. Then obviously a bunch of it's about social commentary and social satire. But I-

Kelsey 27:14

Ara

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 27:14

gosh, I feel like it has so much to say. I think if you're looking for one clear message, then yeah, that you're not gonna find it because she does touch on a lot of different things. 'Cause she's,

Kelsey 27:27

Yeah

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 27:28

talking about the political sphere, she's talking about womanhood and motherhood. She's talking about religion. She's talking about fame and online identities versus reality.

Kelsey 27:37

Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 27:38

d- which I could see someone seeing that as a downside. Like, Oh my gosh just pick a couple of issues to address and leave it at that. You don't have to try and dive into every... You know, she starts talking about the manosphere and, like, all of this stuff.

Kelsey 27:50

Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 27:51

but I think the reason why there isn't some clear message is because we're in the moment. This is a book of the moment, like I was saying, and it's very hard when you're living it to step outside of and be like, "Oh, here's the big takeaway. Here's what we should or shouldn't be doing." Here's looking back 2020 like, hindsight this is the takeaway. This is what we should or shouldn't have done. So I think sh- she is, as we all are, like grappling with all of these things in the moment, and it's not supposed to be a book where you come away with like, "Oh, got it. That's the lesson that I learned. Moving right along." It's more like, wow, this is all very complex and nuanced and complicated and messy and a train wreck, and how do we, like, how do we deal with it? And how does it impact us? Because there is no necessarily clear answer, tie it up with a bow, here you go. I think-

Kelsey 28:42

What is the point of her being so angry and hating her life because... was this derived from someone she, knows or

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 28:52

Yeah,

Kelsey 28:53

mean? What

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 28:53

yeah. I've, to

Kelsey 28:55

that

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 28:55

m- my understanding, so granted, I also just wanna, for those of you who are new to this podcast, who haven't been with us from the beginning and don't know Kelsey and my background, so I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian home, which is very similar to Natalie. And for me it was, yeah, so I had a whole different perspective on this book. But I think

Kelsey 29:15

I

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 29:16

one of the sources of her anger is that you see that Natalie is an incredibly intelligent, incredibly ambitious woman, but given the body that she was born in and the faith that she was born into, none of those things are supported, encouraged, recognized. And so I think there's this constant frustration where she's constantly butting up against these parameters that have been set for her, and I feel like that's the source of her anger and why she is this incredibly frustrated woman. Also some people have theorized based on the scene with Shannon when she's assaulting her that perhaps she's also a closeted lesbian, and so there's that sexual frustration as well, especially 'cause her and her husband don't really have a sexual relationship at all, right? She's using a turkey baster to make these babies. So I think for me those were the two things in my interpretation of the book was like,

Kelsey 30:11

crazy

Amanda 30:12

that's why she's such an angry woman, is that she feels so unfulfilled and trapped, and she has to use whatever means she has, which are few, to shape her life into the way that she wants. She's the one who essentially makes this deal with Caleb's dad to get this ranch. She's the one who gets this whole business going with her online identity. So she is trying to take advantage of the avenues that she does have access to, to assert some autonomy, independence, intelligence, dominance that she as a woman is not allowed to have. So do I like Natalie? Absolutely not. But do I understand maybe where the source of her anger is coming from? Yes. I think she's, yeah

Kelsey 30:59

It's just interesting. Again, like I thought it was fun storytelling, and that was that.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 31:05

So you didn't get like any, like there weren't any...

Kelsey 31:08

get that there's commentary about these things, but it didn't all it didn't like really come together for me. Are they also trying to say, the author like traditional living is, the bane of this woman's existence? Like I, I guess I'm curious about that part too,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 31:27

Yeah.

Kelsey 31:29

Yeah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 31:30

that's the thing about

Kelsey 31:31

that like the thing that's trapping women? Like I, I don't know. That's hard to, for me, that's hard to really... I don't know. It, think what the book does is it puts it in a really negative light, right? Like traditional living or traditional gender roles and I don't know that that's the case, like that I believe that,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 31:56

Yeah

Kelsey 31:57

right? I don't know that I believe that entirely and and maybe that's why it's hard for me to like really grapple with this story. not that I wanna be living like these people, but to, ah, what's the word I'm looking for? But to like comment, comment

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 32:17

Okay

Kelsey 32:18

The fact that if you're choosing this trad wife life it's automatically a negative thing. That's

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 32:26

that's so interesting because again, for folks who don't follow us on socials, I read this book and then I did a book review on socials, and that actually one of the things I talked about in that and the reason why I liked this book is because it's not just attacking tradwife. She actually isn't saying

Kelsey 32:39

interesting

Amanda 32:40

are just, tradwives are awful and like you shouldn't be one," and like all of the other versions of womanhood and femininity are better. If anything, the author shows the issues with all of the other ways of being a woman, right? Whether you're taking Reena's path and trying to make your way in corporate America, that also was like awful and not fulfilling and very frustrating for her. Or

Kelsey 33:00

But we

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 33:01

look

Kelsey 33:01

know that. That's only through Natalie's lens.

Amanda 33:04

we do know, like at least factually, that when they reunite at the end of the book, that in spite of Reena's work in that field for, at that point, I guess probably, what, 15 years since college maybe more, more than that actually,

Kelsey 33:19

Mm-hmm

Amanda 33:20

only gotten so far in her career as a news reporter. Like she's like with some basic station in like the Midwest somewhere. And sure, we don't have all of the details of Reena's life, but you can see that she hasn't reached the success that a man probably would have. Not, I'm not saying that every man has a super successful career, but I think you could make that argument. And I think even when y- you see the the college girls at Harvard and like she's there in her, like her like Amish prairie dress, whatever, at this party, and you're seeing these girls and the ways that they're interacting with each other and interacting with men, and you're like, she doesn't necessarily Carol Claire Burke is not painting those girls in a great light either and saying, "This is what you should be doing," right? This is Like, party girl lifestyle at college and just whatever. The way that she talks about how Reena treated that man that she was seeing in college. So I think she does go through with Reena with Amelia, who's Caleb's mom, who like is a wealthy woman and has a certain level of privilege and power because she is the wife of this politician but she gets by because she's like heavily medicated and is actually miserable. Or Natalie's mom, who is technically a traditional housewife, but actually cheated on her husband and then divorced him, and then lied about it. So it's like none of the women in this book, or like Shannon, who is kinda this free, empowered woman, but then sleeps with someone's husband. So I wouldn't... I personally like the book because she has it out for everybody. She goes through all of these different versions of womanhood and is

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 34:52

like,

Amanda 34:53

And here's the problem with this, and here's why this is problematic, and here's like..." So I think overall it's a condemnation of the patriarchy, obviously

Kelsey 35:01

it's interesting too her sister Abigail ends up finding a good life

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 35:07

Yeah.

Kelsey 35:08

pastor

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 35:09

Yeah

Kelsey 35:09

is more progressive

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 35:12

Mm-hmm

Kelsey 35:13

and is divorced

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 35:16

Yeah

Kelsey 35:16

because her husband was abusing her, right? And,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 35:19

Or yeah

Kelsey 35:20

I think that's what was happening. And but was condemned for doing so

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 35:26

Mm-hmm.

Kelsey 35:26

by Natalie.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 35:27

Yeah

Kelsey 35:28

But then finds this other path with

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 35:32

you mean? Yeah.

Kelsey 35:34

I, I'm-

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 35:34

'cause that's the other thing too, 'cause it's also there's different forms of religion. There's different forms of Christianity. Some are really traditional and fundamentalist and super conservative, and some are, like, very open and welcoming and accepting. And so I feel like she just basically is giving us this like, microcosm of all of these different aspects of society. And again, this isn't a book where she's like, coming out with like, "This is what I think and here's my message." She's just like, "Here, take a look at this. Take a look at the world that we're in." She's just letting us see ourselves, like reflecting it back at us, and it's up to us to make meaning and decide what to take from it. I don't think it's a book where she's getting up on her soapbox and like, "This is what I think and I'm gonna..." 'Cause some books are like that. It's like, oh, it's very clear what your message is, and I want you to believe X by the end of this book, and I didn't feel that way about this book at all. It just made me ponder and I learned a little bit more about... 'Cause I'd never heard the term manosphere, actually. And diving into that whole part of our society and the way that, there's this growing number of men who are just like, "Oh," "we've had it so hard, and actually we're the ones who are suffering in society," and "Let's all sit around and pout about it."

Kelsey 36:45

There's another word for that. Um,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 36:47

Toxic masculinity.

Kelsey 36:49

No,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 36:50

Red pill.

Kelsey 36:51

no

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 36:52

Oh. I don't know.

Kelsey 36:53

I know it

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 36:53

Oh, incel?

Kelsey 36:56

I don't think so.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 36:56

Okay

Kelsey 36:57

to think about it. But yeah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 36:59

Yeah.

Kelsey 37:00

Mansphere.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 37:01

Yeah. So I, yeah I guess I liked it 'cause I felt like it did have a lot of things to touch on without it being like, "And here's what I think you should think about it." I like when books give me the freedom to be like, "Okay, this is what I'm gonna take away from it."

Kelsey 37:16

but she's also clearly saying what she thinks about it.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 37:19

I'd

Kelsey 37:22

think there are, like, with Natalie being so unstable in

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 37:27

Yeah

Kelsey 37:27

she's clearly sharing that this life, if you're gonna choose it, makes you blah blah blah, right? And also it's negative in this and this way. That's

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 37:38

I don't think so. There... No, because here's...

Kelsey 37:40

from

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 37:40

No, because she was that way before she started her family, and Abigail, who was raised in the sa-

Kelsey 37:45

born

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 37:46

Abig- but Abigail, who was raised in that same environment, had the same mom, same faith, also had multiple children, is not like that. So they do give us

Kelsey 37:56

bec- Yeah

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 37:57

this... I feel like they give us this example of a more traditional, like Abigail is like the representation of a more traditional life, but that's healthier. She does have multiple children. She is a stay-at-home mom. She doesn't have an education really outside of like high school. I don't think she went to college. But ultimately she does find happiness and fulfillment with a man who is like more or less the head of that household, it sounds like, but who's also kind and progressive. So I feel like she does give us alternatives. Yes, Natalie is the main protagonist of the book, but I don't think Natalie... Natalie is not who she is because she... the trad wife life did not make Natalie. Like, Natalie chose the trad wife life, and then twist- You know what I mean? She's the one who went to the extreme side and

Kelsey 38:47

But I do think that it's commenting that this life will

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 38:52

I think it's,

Kelsey 38:52

you down this path.

Amanda 38:53

I think it can are you familiar with Ballerina Farm That's what this character is based on. So Ballerina Farm is this mega tradwife influencer. It's, they ha-

Kelsey 39:03

that was my question

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 39:05

Oh, what was your question earlier?

Kelsey 39:07

who is this pertaining to? Is this a person she knows?

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 39:10

I see. Yeah, no, it is, it's based on or connected to that social media influencer who has millions of followers. They live on a ranch out in, I don't know, I have no idea, Iowa or something. They have a bunch of children. She's always pregnant. She was a ballet dancer. She went to Julliard, and then ended up leaving all of that behind. And yeah, they make their own food, and they sell their own pro- Like it's literally this. So it is a commentary specifically on that.

Kelsey 39:37

Mm-hmm.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 39:38

but, and like a lot of, So one of the things I did like

Kelsey 39:41

who?

Amanda 39:42

Ballerina Farm

Kelsey 39:43

Okay, I'm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 39:43

one of the things that I liked about this book is when Natalie is talking about the different comments that are being left on her different posts. So there's, what are they, what do they call them? The angry wives or the angry women? Angry women.

Kelsey 39:56

women,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 39:57

Angry women. Who are just like, "Yeah," "This is awful and toxic, and you're so unhappy, and you're setting back feminism," and da, da, da, da, da.

Kelsey 40:06

Mm-hmm

Amanda 40:07

which are, comments that are left on Ballerina Farms posts, right? And people are like, "What the hell are you doing?" "You're, you are setting women back, and you're trying to get us back barefoot in the kitchen without, like dependent on a man."

Kelsey 40:20

Interesting

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 40:21

I don't know. I feel like to me the book is calling for moderation if if anything. It's like too much of anything is bad, right? If you go all the way to one side, and you're like, "Yes," "the men should be at the head of the household, and women shouldn't go to college, and they should just..." Obviously that's prob- problematic. And if you go the other way, and you're like, "All men are awful, and we hate them, and we don't need them," and whatever, like really militant feminism, like that also can be problematic.

Kelsey 40:46

Yeah

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 40:47

it's like can we find s- some middle ground here?

Kelsey 40:52

Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 40:53

I don't know. That's, yeah. But that was my takeaway. I feel like that's also I think when she's talking about faith and when she's talking about politics, that's also maybe what she's saying. It's like, yeah, people have differing beliefs and standpoints, and if you go to either side, whether it's way too far right, way too far left, way too far, militant feminism, way too far trad wife, whatever, like you're gonna find yourself in a really problematic situation. And you don't get anywhere by hating on other people and their choices. Part of feminism especially is women can choose how they wanna live their lives, and if some woman of her own free will decides that's the life she wants for herself, like

Kelsey 41:26

Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 41:27

of her, like fully in her faculties chooses that life, then who are you to be like, "Wow. Wow, I can't believe you're such a horrible woman"?

Kelsey 41:38

Yeah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 41:39

yeah.

Kelsey 41:40

yeah, and I do think the last thing that I'll say as like these things that I was pointing out earlier is just this also is very white women centered,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 41:51

for sure

Kelsey 41:53

maybe that's why I had such beef with it is because I just, I'm... I don't relate in the same way. And I could see how you relate with your background, like your upbringing. But but yeah, I had no connection to any

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:07

Oh, for sure. Yeah

Kelsey 42:08

And this... I feel like that's who this is geared towards is white women, right? And so

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:14

Oh, yeah.

Kelsey 42:15

yeah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:15

That, that makes sense. It's a white woman writing for white women. And we both know that women of color have been left out of the conversation around feminism for forever, right? And around the fight for women's rights for so long. So yeah, this is definitely not written for us or to us.

Kelsey 42:31

Yeah

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:32

And yeah, my only point of connection, like I said, was, yeah, through just having an extremist religious upbringing. And

Kelsey 42:39

which

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:39

that I

Kelsey 42:40

give much clarity into Natalie's upbringing there. It just had a few sentences of "Oh yeah, we went to church, and everyone was a traditional wife and

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:50

Yeah.

Kelsey 42:51

had a bunch of babies."

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 42:52

Yeah, 'cause they don't, I actually, 'cause I looked, 'cause I was like, "Do they ever mention specifically what denomination she is, or what?" And they don't. They mention Mormon and Baptist and, like, all these things throughout it, but you never really know, so she left it deliberately ambiguous. You don't know what traditional fundamentalist group she's a part of. But yeah, it, there, yeah, there was a, for me, there was a lot there because I also was homeschooled, and we also had, not to go off on a tangent, but when they were, when you were talking about how Clementine didn't know about the ocean. So there, and

Kelsey 43:24

Oh,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 43:25

if anyone who is listening, if anyone who is listening grew up in a super fundamentalist evangelical Christian home back in the '90s and was homeschooled or went to a Christian school, you will be familiar with these two publishing houses that made curriculum for Christian schools and for homeschool families called, one was called Bob Jones, and one was called Abeka. And they'd had the full curriculum, so math, history, science, et cetera. And it is, going back and looking at what we learned in those books is shocking. We didn't learn, for example, about like, dinosaurs, right? Because dinosaurs are, like,

Kelsey 44:04

Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 44:05

up with our conception of, how old the world is based on the Bible, and, like, all of this stuff. It's just we just didn't learn about it. The history of this country and, like, all of that stuff was very whitewashed, very much, This Judeo-Christian perspective. It was crazy.

Kelsey 44:19

so

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 44:20

it's really, and when you're in it, you don't know. That's all you know, so I'm like, "Okay, that is how the world works, and that is history, and that is science." And

Kelsey 44:26

Yeah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 44:27

yeah, there are definitely moments in th- this book where I was like, "Yeah, I lived that life. It's kinda crazy." We weren't homesteaders. We had, a vegetable garden and stuff, but we didn't make all of our own food or bake bread every day or anything.

Kelsey 44:39

your, dad was a doctor, right?

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 44:41

Yeah.

Kelsey 44:41

doctor?

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 44:42

my d- yeah, my dad's a family practice physician.

Kelsey 44:45

Yeah

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 44:45

but yeah, my mom's an engineer, right? A civil engineer, but then she like, after baby number four, 'cause I have six siblings she left, stopped working and was like a fully stay-at-home mom and

Kelsey 44:55

Okay

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 44:55

radicalized. But anyhow, that's a whole nother story. So yeah, I, I really liked this book, and it made me think. And listeners, we definitely wanna hear from you on this one for sure.

Kelsey 45:08

Yes, we do.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:09

We do.

Kelsey 45:11

yeah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:11

Yeah. Okay. I'm assuming then, Kelsie, your final recommendation for this... Actually, I don't know, what is your final recommendation for this book?

Kelsey 45:19

Yeah, that is a good question. Personally, if you're looking for a train wreck of a story yeah, it's entertaining.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:30

Mm-hmm.

Kelsey 45:30

what I would say.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:32

Okay.

Kelsey 45:32

is entertaining,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:33

Okay

Kelsey 45:33

In the end. But if you are not a white woman, you may struggle the representation in this.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:44

Sure. That's fair. You might not have that point of connection.

Kelsey 45:47

Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 45:48

yeah, I would highly recommend it. This was a five-star read for me. It's definitely gonna be one of my top reads for the year. I do think if you are part of a book club, I think reading this in community is great, because I do think there's a lot to unpack here and a lot you could discuss. And I'm excited to do that

Kelsey 46:05

could see

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 46:05

with my book club. Yeah, there's a lot. So yeah, this one comes highly recommended from me. And I think, too, as a thriller reader, that aspect I really enjoy, 'cause I do specifically love psychological thrillers that are, like, very twisty and mind bendy, and this one really gets you, 'cause you're like, "How the heck is this possible? What's going on?" And that was, yeah, delightful. Okay. Oh, also-

Kelsey 46:28

didn't feel like a thriller to me. I get the psychological piece, but I just would be like psychological something else

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 46:35

Yeah

Kelsey 46:36

of thriller.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 46:36

and it's very much a hybrid, right? It's not a straight psychological thriller, so it's probably...

Kelsey 46:42

yeah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 46:43

it's, combined with another genre. But yeah, I really liked it, and I'm excited to see how Anne Hathaway does with the film, 'cause obviously she already has the rights for it. She's gonna be the one starring in it, and I'm not sure how they're gonna tell this story The twist is gonna be obvious, I think, 'cause the kids are gonna be different kids unless they... I don't know. I was talking with my friend Anna about it, and we were like, "How are they gonna pull this off in film form?" So we shall see. We shall see.

Kelsey 47:18

But the kids are totally different in the other timeline

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 47:22

They are, but she thinks that they are this like, she's like, Mary is like Clementine, but she's not exactly her. Like Stetson is like this other kid, but it's not exactly. So

Kelsey 47:33

it's gonna be Caleb, but

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 47:36

Yes.

Kelsey 47:36

older.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 47:37

And exactly, and if we see that Caleb's older, then we're gonna know that it's in the future, not the past. I don't know how they're gonna, I don't know how they're gonna do it, unless they're gonna rework it and come up with a different twist. So

Kelsey 47:47

Maybe

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 47:48

very curious to see that. But anyhow, moving on to our literally the best or literally the worst. Kelsey, you've got one-star reviews from Goodreads, so you get to go first.

Kelsey 47:59

Okay. So this one is from Suzanne. It is very short. "Am I being gaslit? 4.23 average review on Goodreads," which by the way, it's 4.0 now. Holy rage bait.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 48:16

Is that's all? That's...

Kelsey 48:18

it. That

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 48:19

Oh, interesting. I actually don't think it's rage bait. I... Yeah, I don't know. I feel like,

Kelsey 48:26

we don't know what they were, like, commenting on

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 48:28

yeah.

Kelsey 48:28

I

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 48:28

Yeah, I don't know. Yeah. It's a little, it's a little vague. It's a little short and a little vague. Okay. All of mine are pretty short. My first one is from Kate Quinn. "Trad wife culture meets Shutter Island with a dash of Amy from Gone Girl. The protagonist, heroine is the wrong word, is frankly despicable, but that doesn't mean her cutting observations on the pressure of being female and living up under the weight of expectation on women doesn't have a bite of wince-inducing truth. Toxic and mesmerizing. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time." Oh, there, there is an element of Shutter Island and Amy from Gone Girl. That's such a good... Oh, that was such a good combo. Yeah, I totally agree, Kate.

Kelsey 49:13

the wife is crazy? Shutter Island

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 49:16

No, because in Shutter Island he thinks he's somewhere where he's not. And then Amy from Gone Girl is unreliable.

Kelsey 49:25

Okay.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 49:26

That's my understanding of what they're trying to say.

Kelsey 49:28

I don't know that last reference,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 49:30

Okay

Kelsey 49:30

but okay. Amber "I picked it out expecting a thought-provoking story. The book's summary sounded so good. Unfortunately, the summary was better than any part of the actual book. What I got was a novel that feels less like fiction and more like a long lecture."

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 49:50

Oh.

Kelsey 49:51

Interesting.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 49:52

she is, touching on a lot of stuff, but it doesn't, it's not dry and boring like a lecture. Okay. My next one, or five star, I'm sorry, is from Katie O. "What in the actual tradwife MAGA maha conservative Christian manosphere clusterfuck social media world do we live in that makes this bonkers book seem so real? The marketing copy I received for this book described it perfectly when it mentioned something about how this is a book that needs to be published right now. This is the time for this book, and that makes it even more disturbing. I was absolutely riveted with the story, thoroughly disturbed, but couldn't look away." Yeah, it is a book of our time, unfortunately. That is the world we live in, and I'm glad I read it when I did.

Kelsey 50:42

It was disturbing

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 50:43

Very disturbing.

Kelsey 50:44

What did, what was the word they used, though? That was, like, messy or something?

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 50:48

Clusterfuck.

Kelsey 50:50

Yes. It was

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 50:52

It was that

Kelsey 50:54

Which is the aspect I really liked.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 50:57

Yeah

Kelsey 50:57

yeah, I don't know. Okay, this one is from Cosette. "The more I think about this book, the more disappointed I am by it. I think that upon its release, Yesteryear is going to be everywhere. "It's going to be the white woman book club pick of choice, sure. It'll probably make for a great movie, although I'm not sure if I can picture Anne Hathaway as Natalie. Not the point, though. Also, Anne Hathaway, please call me. It's also, to me, half-baked and hollow, and probably Ballerina Farm lawsuit fodder.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 51:37

Oh

Kelsey 51:38

Yesteryear is yet another case of I loved the concept and I think the execution really fell flat for me. As my dear friend Em said in her review, 'Amongst my crowd, however, of young, lefty progressive, hater-ish, sometimes non-white women reared on the internet, witness to changing social trends and terrible...' Ers-

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 52:03

Aristocracy? What? Aris-

Kelsey 52:06

Atrocities.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 52:08

Okay. I was like, what?

Kelsey 52:11

'I can sense this book raising questions to the end of, who's this for? What was the point?'" Yes, thank you. "I am not the target audience for this book, despite being an early viewer of Ballerina Farm's content and countless conversations with my friends about the rise of tradwife-ism in today's political climate, and that bums me out a little because Yesteryear was one of my most anticipated reads of 2026." wah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 52:45

Yeah, this is definitely gonna be, for sure a bunch of people's book club picks. F- I,

Kelsey 52:50

Yes.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 52:51

yeah, obviously. Yeah, and that touches on stuff we talked about earlier with who the book is written for.

Kelsey 52:56

Mm-hmm.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 52:57

okay. Next five star is from Claire Pooley, "I'm fascinated by those women who glamorize the type of existence that feminists have been attempting to escape from for centuries. The idea of having six children, baking your own sourdough, making your own soap, while homeschooling and running a farm, while wearing a ball dress," I'm assuming they mean a ballgown, "horrifies me and makes me feel incredibly tired and inadequate. So this book had me hooked from the start. What a ride." Yeah, I agree. I think that's the, just-

Kelsey 53:28

tr... Go ahead

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 53:30

No, I was just gonna say I think that's one of the kind of key aspects too to keep in mind is that Natalie is performing tradwife-ism. She isn't in reality a tradwife. And so I think there are women who probably do live a more traditional existence and enjoy it, right? But aren't deluding people into thinking like, "Oh my gosh, I'm doing like all the things. I'm doing them perfectly, and not a hair is out of place." And I think that's, yeah, that additional layer where it's ugh, this is like really gross.

Kelsey 54:05

Yeah.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 54:06

Yeah.

Kelsey 54:06

"Hello, ladies."

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 54:09

And she's got two nannies like running her household and like her children aren't eating dinner 'cause it took her five hours to make a gourmet meal. Yeah

Kelsey 54:16

Yeah. Ugh. Weird. There's so much to the book that we couldn't touch on, but it, there's a lot. The last review I have is from Han. "I don't remember the last time I rated a book one star, but the time has come. This book was the depiction of rage bait writing and awful structure. I'm feeling delusional seeing this high of an average Goodreads rating. Did we read the same book?" Thank you,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 54:49

Okay. All right. Yeah. That's fair. I'm curious, I should go and look or do you remember what percentage were one-star reviews off the top of your head?

Kelsey 54:58

I think there was like a little over 1,000

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 55:01

Oh, okay. So

Kelsey 55:02

very

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 55:02

not very high. Okay.

Kelsey 55:04

Mm-hmm.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 55:04

All right. Let's wrap this up with our final five-star review. This is from Angie

Kelsey 55:10

us

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 55:10

Miale, I think. Okay. "Everyone's gonna read this book. I didn't say everyone's gonna love this book. I said everyone's gonna read it because it's explosive, it's surprising, it might even be triggering for some of you, and everyone is going to be talking about it. What about me? I loved it. I was absolutely invested in this highly original story. If you like an unlikable, unreliable narrator, you will want to add this to your TBR immediately. The ending was creative and hit me between the eyes like a two-by-four. Let's just say it was not what I was expecting, and I think a lot of people are gonna be mad about the ending, and other people are gonna love it as much as I did. Every year I call a title the book everyone is going to read. Last year I called it Broken Country, and the year before The Measure. In 2026, that book is Yesteryear." Yeah, I think so. I think it's already gotten so much hype, and the fact that Anne Hathaway already bought the rights is just gonna add to that even more,

Kelsey 56:08

Mm-hmm

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 56:09

for sure

Kelsey 56:10

That was one thing I didn't mention. I did really like the ending and how it wrapped up there,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 56:15

Yeah, I did too

Kelsey 2.0 56:15

insane Natalie looked, and then her obsession with Reena came

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 56:21

Mm-hmm

Kelsey 56:21

circle. And and then her children's conclusion essentially.

Amanda 56:26

Yeah. also I just was thinking about it. I think one reason why she is obsessed with Reena is because I think some part of her wanted that life, right? That independence, autonomy wanted to go maybe and work in corporate America, whatever it was. And

Kelsey 56:40

Mm-hmm.

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 56:41

there's a lot of jealousy, I think, there that drives that obsession with her

Kelsey 56:45

And in general, she was just like a weird person

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 56:49

Yeah

Kelsey 56:49

strange person from the beginning with her strong beliefs of like

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 56:53

Mm-hmm

Kelsey 2.0 56:54

women shouldn't be doing this and women shouldn't be doing that, and Reena into all of those things that she's told herself she can't do. Yeah,

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 57:02

And when you're raised that way too, you have to keep telling yourself that "I'm doing the right thing and oth- other people are wrong," in order to,

Kelsey 57:09

survive

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 57:10

and justify it 'cause you're like, "Wait this seems... Something's not right here."

Kelsey 57:14

Yeah

Lit Vibes Only Podcast 57:15

Yeah. All right, friends. We're gonna wrap up this episode with a quick reminder of where you can find us on socials. We are on Instagram at litvibesonly_podcast. We are also on TikTok and on YouTube at litvibesonlypodcast. If you wanna join our book clubs, you can do that on Fable. I'm litvibesonlypod-amanda. You can find Kelsey's book club at litvibesonly-kelsey. Come join us, read along with us, vote on the next books for our Lit It or Quit It episodes, so you get to have a say. It's a great time, and we really wanna try and grow those a bit more. And then lastly, if you wanna help our podcast grow, then we really need those downloads, those ratings, and those reviews. So if you haven't hit that download button yet today, go ahead and do that as we're wrapping up and then hit that five-star button on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you're on Apple Podcasts, you can write a quick review, and if you're on Spotify, you can also write a comment on this episode. Let us know what you thought about this crazy ride of a book. We'll also have voting open Yes, do it. We're also gonna have voting open on Thursday, and I really want people to vote because I'm so curious to hear other people's perspectives on whether or not this book was a lit it or quit it and why. So make sure you're following us on our socials, so that you can be part of the voting on Thursday. Thanks so much for joining us, guys, and we'll see you next time. Bye.