Book Review: The Here and Now

The Here and Now
Ann Brashares
Format: E-book from Netgalley
Good Reads

Summary:

Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.

This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins.

Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth.

But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves.

From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking—and a must-read novel of the year.

Review:

Going in to this book I had high expectations for this book because I loved the Sisterhood of the Traveling pants series. They were and still are some of my favorite books (and movies). It also has a dystopian/ sci-fi feel to it which I generally love. That being said this book did not disappoint. 

One of my favorite parts of the book was the unique take on the recent dystopian-ish trend by creating a scary future that is riddled with illness but then setting the story in the present day. This was great because ten there was a clear connection between present conditions and the future. Rather than something happening in the not to distant future that causes most of the differences in the world. 

I also loved reading how Prenna's character develops and interacts with the current world. A big part of that was her relationship with Ethan. From the very beginning of the book you know that their relationship will play a crucial part in the book. I enjoyed their story because it wasn't just about Prenna falling for a guy but also about her interactions with the present world outside of her future refugee bubble. As Prenna begins to question the rules concerning Ethan, she also questions the the other rules and if the others have the futures best interest at heart.

Overall, I loved this story and would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed other books by Ann Brashares or other popular futuristic YA novels like Uglies, Divergent, and Hunger Games.