The Here and Now

by Ann Brashares

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

The Here is Now was such a pleasant surprise! It's not mind-blowingly amazing, or anything, but it was a fun and interesting read. I love time travel and really liked the way it was handled, but I do wish there were a bit more details about how it worked. Prenna, her mother, and many others from 2098 travel to 2010 after a plague has swept through their time. Four years later, the world is on the brink of something, but Prenna doesn't know what. At least until a seemingly crazy homeless man gives her some clues and tells her to team up with her friend Ethan. From there, the two teenagers discover the fork in time and try to prevent Prenna's awful future from coming true.

The first part of The Here is Now was quite boring. I was worried that I wasn't going to like it, but eventually it does pick up, and I ended up really enjoying it. I can't even tell you what it was about the beginning that I didn't like, since nothing happened so I don't remember! However, the turning point was after Prenna does something super stupid. Of course, she knows too much so her leaders are after her. She decides that she wants to go home and shower before disappearing, because they're probably not looking for her at home. What?! The middle and ending are pretty great though, since Prenna seems to use her brain more after that severe lapse in judgement.

Like I said before, I did want to know more about the time travel aspect. We learn a lot about the future that Prenna came from, but nothing about how she came from it. All we know is that scientists discovered how to do it, and that it was easier to time travel than to inhabit the moon or Mars. Okay...but, how does it work? Time machine? A wormhole? What?! I guess in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter much how they arrived, just that they did. But really, if you're going to use time travel as a plot device, at least tell us quickly how it's done!

The Here is Now was good. I liked it a lot, especially when environmental issues came into play. I find Prenna's future highly possible and terrifying. It may be where we're headed if we're not careful. There's nothing whacky or outlandish about that future. It's very set in reality, and will probably make you more wary of mosquitoes.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.