Where to Start Reading Cristin Terrill
Unlike many young adult authors who build sprawling, multi-book series, Cristin Terrill has focused her career on crafting standalone novels. Because each of her books takes place in a completely different universe, there is no single mandatory starting point or complex timeline to follow. Instead, the best entry point depends entirely on your favorite genre.
- For Sci-Fi & Time-Travel Fans: Start with All Our Yesterdays (2013). This debut novel is a fast-paced thriller about a girl trying to stop a dystopian future by traveling back in time to kill the boy she loves. It is ideal if you like high emotional stakes, dark themes, and tight plotting.
- For Mystery & Psychological Thriller Fans: Start with Here Lies Daniel Tate (2017). This book follows a street-smart con artist who successfully impersonates a wealthy family's long-lost son, only to realize the family is hiding deadly secrets. It is perfect if you love unreliable narrators and shocking plot twists.
- For Space Opera & Romance Fans: Start with The Stars Between Us (2022). Set in a glittering, class-divided universe, this novel is a Dickensian-inspired story of a poor barmaid who inherits a fortune, only to find herself targeted by assassins. Start here if you want high-society intrigue mixed with sci-fi romance.
Cristin Terrill Books in Publication Order
If you prefer to see how Terrill's writing style, thematic depth, and genre experimentation have evolved over time, reading her books in order of publication is an excellent choice. Here is the chronological list of her major novels:
- All Our Yesterdays (Published: August 1, 2013 by Disney Hyperion)
- Here Lies Daniel Tate (Published: June 6, 2017 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
- The Stars Between Us (Published: August 2, 2022 by Wednesday Books)
A Deep Dive into Cristin Terrill's Novels
All Our Yesterdays (2013)
Terrill's debut novel, All Our Yesterdays, immediately put her on the young adult literature map by winning the International Thriller Writers’ Award for Best Young Adult Novel. The narrative features a dual perspective structure. In one timeline, we follow Em and Finn, who are imprisoned in a military facility under a ruthless regime. In the second timeline, we follow Marina, a wealthy girl who is deeply in love with her brilliant neighbor, James. As Em and Finn escape back in time to prevent the creation of the time machine that ruined their world, their path collides directly with Marina and James. The book is highly praised for avoiding common time-travel plot holes and delivering a self-contained, emotionally devastating resolution.
Here Lies Daniel Tate (2017)
Four years after her debut, Terrill shifted from science fiction to psychological suspense with Here Lies Daniel Tate. The book is heavily inspired by real-life con artists, particularly Frédéric Bourdin, who famously impersonated missing teenagers. The story follows a ten-year-old boy named Daniel Tate who disappeared from his wealthy family in California. Six years later, a teenager in Vancouver claims to be Daniel. The Tate family welcomes him back with open arms, desperate to believe their nightmare is over. However, the imposter quickly discovers that the family is hiding secrets far more dangerous than his own lies, and someone in the house knows exactly what happened to the real Daniel Tate.
The Stars Between Us (2022)
With The Stars Between Us, Terrill returned to science fiction but added a heavy dose of romance and high-society intrigue. The book is set on a poor, struggling planet where Vika Hale works as a barmaid. When her secret, ultra-wealthy benefactor dies, Vika is shocked to learn she has been named in his will and is promised a life of luxury on a neighboring planet, including a marriage to the billionaire's heir. However, when the heir is killed in a suspicious explosion, Vika must navigate a dangerous web of political conspiracies, class struggles, and assassination attempts. She is forced to rely on Sky Foster, a mysterious young man from her past, to survive.
The Sequel That Never Was: Clarifying the "Cassandra Project"
Because some online databases and retail sites list All Our Yesterdays under the series name "All Our Yesterdays" or make reference to a sequel, many readers search for a second book. Initially, Terrill had planned a follow-up novel, sometimes referred to by fans or early catalog listings as the "Cassandra Project" (or "Proyecto Cassandra" in Spanish translations). However, the author publicly clarified that after attempting to write multiple drafts, she realized the story worked best as a self-contained standalone and decided not to write a sequel. As a result, the story of Em, Finn, and Marina is fully resolved within the single volume of All Our Yesterdays.
What to Know Before You Start: Themes and Style
Terrill's academic background features a Master of Arts in Shakespearean Studies from the Shakespeare Institute, and this training heavily influences her writing. Readers should prepare for morally grey characters who are forced to make difficult, ethically challenging choices. Rather than traditional good-versus-evil dynamics, Terrill's novels focus on how love, ambition, and the desire to survive can drive ordinary people to perform extreme actions. Whether dealing with the paradoxes of time travel, the deception of an imposter, or the greed of high-society elites, her novels always prioritize psychological depth and character relationships over simple genre tropes.