The Future of Us: Book Review

Novel: The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

Release Date: November 1st, 2011

Publisher: Razorbill

Pages: 309

Format: Advanced Reader Copy

Source: BookPeople Teen Reviewing

It's 1996, and less than half of all American high school students have ever used the Internet.

Emma just got her first computer and an America Online CD-ROM.

Josh is her best friend. They power up and log on--and discover themselves on Facebook, fifteen years in the future.

Everybody wonders what their Destiny will be. Josh and Emma are about to find out.

(Synopsis from Goodreads)

Willa's Rambles:

   I couldn't wait to read this book, simply because of the amount of hype and excitement surrounding A) the authors, who are both incredibly awesome, and B) the topic - I seem to be reading books about characters who can change their futures by changing the now. 

   That's probably the best way to explain this book. Changing your future by changing the now. Confusing, I know, but I'll explain it to you in an incredibly detailed email if you email me, but this review if for reviewing not explaining. On to the characters.

   Emma, the girl that annoyed me. I don't know what it was about her, but it just annoyed me. I think it was her selection in boys. I mean, seriously Emma? Make some decent decisions here! Other than that, I think it was simply the matter in which she acted. She didn't seem to have a goal or a big huge motive, and when a character has that, they are automatically, 100% better. (If you're writing something, read that last sentence again. Then go write it down.) If Emma had been like, I want to go to Harvard, and therefore I study all the time and have no social life, I would have been like, okay, awesome, you're got some depth. (Ignore that example though, because if Emma had studied all the time, the book would have been majorly different.)

   Josh, the boy who made up for Emma. Learn something from Josh, people: He makes mistakes. This fact is highly known throughout the novel, and the minute a mistake happens or is referred to, the character becomes relatable. (Write that one down too.) Also, Josh has a goal, and one that if I tell you will give away an awesome part of his mistake. So I'm not telling. I still had issues with him though, simply because he didn't just GO for what he wanted. He knew deep down what he wanted, yet he didn't do anything. 

   I think that whenever writers collaborate, a big issue becomes the characters. Josh and Emma both needed more depth, in my opinion, but it's Jay Ashers and Carolyn Mackler's first attempt, so I'll cut them some slack. 

   The Future of Us is still awesome - don't get me wrong. It rocks. The message behind the novel rings so true, no matter what day and age you are in: Stay in the now, not the future. With that in mind, go wait for the novel to come out so you can email me and tell me I didn't give the book justice.