The Future of Us
by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
Date Released: November 21, 2011
Pages: 356
Summary:
It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail,his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.
By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.
My Review:
Okay, so I was wary about reading this book because right before I checked it out of the library I read a couple review of it and a good number of them were on the negative side. But I ignored that and read it anyway because I've noticed there are times when books get horrible reviews, but I end of loving them.
I did end up liking this one. I loved the whole concept of seeing what your life is like in 15 years through Facebook. And despite some things that annoyed me, the plot was pretty good. And the things that did annoy me weren't the plot's fault, but the character's. Not that that sentence made any sense.
One thing I liked about how the characters saw their future, was that it was through Facebook instead of an alternative like actual time travel. Their glimpse into their future lives through Facebook really left a lot of things unsaid, which could be a good or a bad thing. So the plot was good.
I wasn't too keen on the character of Emma. She really bugged me. I mean she took things WAY too seriously and overreacted about pretty much every single thing she read about her future. She freaked out when she saw her future husband and got rid of him because she thought he was a jerk. She had never met the guy and would have no way of knowing that! For all she knew he could be the awesomest guy on the planet. But no. She decides that she hates him. Along the same lines was how she manipulated her job and the city where she lived. She found out she was a marine biologist and she was excited about that. But when she saw she was living in Ohio she automatically assumes her husband is being completely inconsiderate of what she wants to do. By reading that one fact she just automatically assumes that she isn't happy with her career in the future. For all she knows she could have a super duper cool job swimming with dolphins at the local aquarium! Just because she doesn't live by the ocean doesn't mean she doesn't have an awesome marine biologist job.
Josh on the other hand was a much better character. He definitely wasn't as obsessed with his future as Emma and for the most part left it alone. Except for one thing. He tried to force a friendship with Sydney. He didn't check his Facebook constantly so for all he knows befriending Sydney in high school ruins their future together! So that little thing about him kind of peeved me off, but no where near as bad as Emma. He also acted like a girl whenever he talked about how "OMG I TALKED TO SYDNEY TODAY."
Overall this book was actually pretty good once you look past those character flaws. The one thing I wish they had told us that they really didn't was when Kellan got pregnant. I kind of wanted to know that.
My Rating:
