Title: The Here
and Now
Author: Ann
Brashares
Publisher: Delacorte
Press
Publication Date: April
8, 2014
Genres: YA,
Sci-fi
Reviewed by: Ellen
Fritz
Ellen’s rating: 4/5
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.
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.
REVIEW
Time travel being one of my favorite topics, The Here and Now certainly got my full
attention. Prenna James, an immigrant from a distant, gloomy future, is here to
make the change that will ensure a different future. Slightly supernaturally
gifted Ethan Jarves wants to help. Only, do the authority figures from Prenna's
time really want things changed?
This short, fast moving novel has a captivating start,
several clever plot twists throughout the story, and an unusual but highly
satisfying end. Until the second half of the book I really struggled to connect
with the characters.
When Prenna, however, shakes off the fear she feels
for her authority figures, she seems to come alive. Even her sense of humor
seems to gain momentum. As though encouraged by Prenna's sudden awakening of
personality, Ethan Jarves also becomes a bit more lifelike.
This meticulously planned tale shows what can happen
when several people travel to a certain time from different times, and the
devastating results when those same people are not careful about the diseases
they bring along from their time. Although The
Here and Now is a light romance, it is also a story of choices, decisions
and sacrifice.
I would recommend this book as a light, engaging,
often suspenseful, but very relaxing read.
ABOUT the AUTHOR
Ann Brashares grew
up in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with three brothers and attended a Quaker school
in the D.C. area called Sidwell Friends. She studied Philosophy at Barnard
College, part of Columbia University in New York City. Expecting to continue
studying philosophy in graduate school, Ann took a year off after college to
work as an editor, hoping to save money for school. Loving her job, she never
went to graduate school, and instead, remained in New York City and worked as
an editor for many years. Ann made the transition from editor to full-time
writer with her first novel, The
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Ann and her husband
live with their three children in New York.
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1 comment:
Great review! I have this on my TBR pile :) I was a fan of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants so it will be interesting to see if I enjoy this as well :)
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