Sergio Cobo’s ‘A Story of Yesterday’ is the mirror we all need

James Clear was right when he said in Atomic Habits that “Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.”

This idea resonates well with A Story of Yesterday, a brief yet impactful book by Sergio Cobo. Through themes of loss, survival, addiction, revenge, and sexual assault, the story shows how the choices we make—often without realising it—shape who we become and change the direction of our lives in ways we never expected.

A Story of Yesterday follows four characters whose lives are somehow connected by their decisions over time. We first meet Victor, who tells us his story through flashbacks. We learn about the other characters as the author switches from one perspective to another.

Victor is drowning in grief and regret over what happened to his wife, Monica—regret born from his own choices. He loses the will to live because he feels like it should have been him who died, not her, but simultaneously feels like he has to keep going. In some strange way, living is how he must pay for his mistakes. Maybe being miserable is what he deserves.

“I have never considered suicide after my wife’s death. I thought if I was still here, it had to make some sense to go on living.”

To deal with his loss, he starts frequenting the Temple—a bar where he drinks to forget. It’s also at the Temple that he meets Lara, another soul weighed down by grief—this time for her sister, Inés, who was raped and murdered on the street. Their shared loss pulls them together. Lara is always smoking a cigarette with colourful smoke, and somehow, that smoke mirrors the emotions they’re both carrying.

Victor can feel something happening between them through their interactions, though he can’t quite name it.

“We seemed to be playing a game of which I did not know the rules,” he tells himself after one of their encounters.

And as they say, people come into our lives for a reason. Sometimes, that reason is good. Sometimes it’s bad. Sometimes, you wish they had never entered your life, like Lara’s reason for crossing paths with Victor: revenge. You see, Lara has been led to believe that Victor is the man responsible for her sister’s death.

Through Lara, the reader meets Rosa, another character whose life is also tied to Victor, again because of his choices. According to Rosa, everything that has happened to her and her husband, Carlos, stems from her husband's friendship with Victor.

It was Victor who introduced Carlos to drugs—an addiction that spiralled out of control. One time, Carlos ended up in a coma for four days after taking drugs that had been tampered with. Rosa wants revenge for what happened to her husband and uses Lara to carry out her carefully calculated plan.

But after Lara acts on her revenge, she tries to understand the connection between her sister Inés and Victor. She tries to connect the dots, but nothing seems to add up. According to Sergio, what happens next proves that rushed decisions can leave you stuck between a rock and a hard place, wishing you'd taken more time to think. The price Lara pays for her revenge is too heavy.

A Story of Yesterday is well written, but sometimes confusing because some ideas seem unfinished, especially since the story unfolds through how other characters connect to Victor. At some point, the reader might wonder: Who exactly is telling the story? And what happens to the other characters? They aren't as fully developed as Victor, making the narrative feel uneven. Perhaps this has something to do with the translation—some things may have felt more complete in the original language, Spanish, than in English.

Still, the flaws of these characters—especially Victor—make you reflect on your own life. The book pushes you to consider how much of your current life is shaped by the decisions you’ve made and whether you’ve taken the time to understand the impact of those choices. It’s a reminder to slow down and gather the facts before making life-altering decisions.

Victor eventually becomes aware of his identity and what has shaped his reality. “The mirror showed the face of a junkie, and at that moment, without knowing it, I realised that I was a drug addict.”

This accidental self-awareness gives him the clarity he’s been missing. And sometimes, that’s where it begins—with a moment of truth, a mirror, a realisation. After that, it’s about doing right by yourself and taking responsibility for your choices.

Jane Shussa is passionate about books, coffee, nature, and travel. She serves as a Senior Digital Communications Officer for Twaweza East Africa.