Book Review: The Future of Us

Last week my favorite librarian chatted with me about YA books. I mentioned my love of Jay Asher and she recommended a book he co-wrote with Carolyn Mackler called The Future of Us.

Best recommendation ever! I laughed, I flipped pages until my vision blurred and every day I anticipated getting back to it.

The story is set in 1996. Two estranged best friends, Emma and Josh are re-united by an AOL CD-Rom. Josh receives it, but he doesn’t have a computer so he brings it to Emma. This is back in the age of dial up so it take a couple hours to set up. When it’s done, Emma creates an AOL account. Suddenly her screen changes to Facebook…

But it’s Facebook 15 years from 1996. She’s somehow able to get a glimpse of her future. She and Josh reconnect over this crazy anomaly. While Josh’s future looks pretty awesome, Emma doesn’t like what she sees in her own so she sets about changing things. Every action she takes in the present ripples into hers and others Facebook pages. But no matter what she does, future Emma never sounds happy…

If you were a teen in 1996, you’ll remember listening to Green Day and Dave Matthews. The internet being a new thing. And what it was like before everything we did became online fodder.

Mr. Asher and Ms. Mackler do a fantastic job setting the scene and the protagonists’ reactions to Facebook are priceless! Especially Pluto.

They created characters I was sad to say goodbye to. As I read the last scene, I was hoping they’d have a sequel.

The book is very clean writing and super fast paced. The chapters alternate between Josh and Emma’s POV in the first person. I love first person POV because it draws me in more.

I was completely sucked into their world and loved every second I spent there.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone writing YA because the authors created highly believable and multi-dimensional characters and did a fantastic job setting the scene without bogging the reader down in setting. The pacing is lightning fast. An un-putdownable book!

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