Release Date: 5th January, 2011Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books
Pages: 356pgs
The Story
It's 1996 and less than half of all American high school students have ever used the Internet. Facebook will not be invented for several more years. Emma just got a computer and an America Online CD-ROOM with 100 free hours. When she and her best friend Josh log on to AOL they discover themselves on Facebook . . . fifteen years in the future. Everybody wonders what life has in store for them. Josh and Emma are about to find out.
The Review
A big thanks to Caroline from Simon & Schuster Australia for sending me a review copy of this book!
Ever wonder what your life would be like fifteen years into the future? Who you would marry? What you would do for a living? How many children you would have? Or what friends you would end up staying friends with? For most people, we would have no idea what life has installed for us but for two best friends, Emma and Josh, finding the answers to these questions will be answered in just a matter of a click of a button - on none other than their Facebook accounts. It's ironic isn't it?
When I first heard Jay Asher was writing another book, I was very excited because I fell in love with his debut novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, and while I haven't read anything of Carolyn Mackler's but I was still pretty excited to get my hands on this book. I had complete trust in these two authors and they delivered quite a brilliant and an original young adult book. On a personal level, you could easily relate to these two main characters, and it was great to see the internet playing a huge part in a time where teens rarely - if not at all - used the internet. I know for certain that I couldn't live without it. Not like they did back then. So again, this was a refreshing idea.
THE FUTURE OF US is told in two perspectives, in Emma and Josh's, while alternating between each chapter. I love alternative chapters if they're written right - especially when you're dealing with a girl and a boy character - and they were written very well for a book like this one. Both Josh and Emma have love and hate qualities about them, which made them even more real to me and when it comes down the inner core of their characters, they are your average teenagers whom happen to have the exciting opportunity to see themselves into their future.
Concerning Emma's character, I liked her. But I also didn't like her. She could be high maintenance at times (that's for sure) and she could be quite brash toward her friends, but I enjoyed seeing her growth and she ended up becoming someone who could learn from her common mistakes. Same goes for Josh - who isn't perfect either. He was sweet, sincere and seem to hide behind his feelings for Emma, which seemed pretty obvious, but his go-with-the-flow attitude towards life was the sole reason why I loved this book and it was great to see these two best friends slowly falling in love with each other, even when they were being stubborn and blind. Which is more of a reason why I loved their character interactions.
THE FUTURE OF US is an incredibly, thought-provoking, and an entertaining read that I'm sure will please many of its readers. If you love something contemporary with some sweet teenage romance mixed in with a hint of time-travel, then you're going to love this book and everything in it!
The Rating 
4 1/2 / 5 stars
4 1/2 / 5 stars
I agree with what you've said in this review. I like Emma at times, but then I didn't like her. It was def awesome seeing her grow as a person though! I also love how Emma and Joshs friendship develops throughout the novel, and the 90's references were an added bonus!
ReplyDeleteAwesome review. :D
I so agree with what you said about the characters, especially Emma. There were times when she did things I didn't like, but it made for such a flawed, REAL character and I loved watching her grow as much as Josh <3
ReplyDeleteMy feelings pretty much mirror everything you said. Fantastic review, Erin! :)
Really excited for this one! I wasn't even going to read it before, but now after your review and some other positive ones I've seen, I think I have to now. The character interaction and general story seem awesome! Fab review, thanks :).
ReplyDeleteRenu: The 90 refs were awesome! :)
ReplyDeleteBrodie: Good to see I'm not the only one who love/didn't like Emma at times. Thanks.
Liz: Definitely read it! It's a Jay Asher book . . . you have to love it!
Like you, I fell in love with Thirteen Reasons Why and I've been looking forward to reading Jay Asher's next book. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteI all kinds of want to read this and your awesome review just made that worse! I am going to have to go pick this up soon. I love this cover so much more than the US one:)
ReplyDelete