Lisa Mauro's "The Place We Went to Yesterday"

Title: Something Missing

“The Place We Went to Yesterday” by Lisa Mauro

Reviewed by Jessie D.

5/21/16

1:00 p.m.

 The Place We Went to Yesterday follows the miserable life of Ella Santia, a young Latina girl whose family despises her and whose allies are virtually nonexistent. From her abusive family, to an abusive foster parent, to abusive girls in a group home, Ella faces a number of obstacles on her journey to become a stronger and more assertive person.

After a considerably slow start, the story never really gains any steam, and more than half of the book was just background information that the author could have shown in one chapter, rather than six. Although a number of interesting and dramatic events occur throughout the course of the book, the lack of a cohesive plot in this novel makes for a lackluster story that does not command much attention. With more of a rambling, sauntering pace, this book is far from a page-turner, and, despite the fact that the main character’s circumstances do evoke sympathy from the reader, the audience will not find themselves sitting on the edge of their seats wondering what would become of the protagonist after overcoming such adversity.

Throughout the story, we see Ella struggle with body image, bullying, and blatant hatred from those around her. Instead of exploring and focusing on Ella’s interactions with and the results of these struggles, the author skims over the follow-up and simply moves on to whatever is in line for Ella to face next. This leaves the reader wondering what real significance these events hold in relation to the overall story and Ella’s overall transformation.

The book had an interesting concept and intriguing characters, but the author failed to capitalize on these two concepts by providing a story of rambling memories, rather than a novel with a fully developed plot.

I give “The Place We Went to Yesterday” 2 out of 5 stars.

Stay Fresh

Jessie D.