Review: The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

The Here and Now

By: Ann Brashares

Pub. Date: April 8, 2014

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Pages: 288

Source: Netgalley

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.

I received this galley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children's.

I think I am the only female on the planet who has not read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books, so The Here and Now was my first book written by Ann Brashares. Maybe I went in with too high expectations, but I was not impressed. I feel like this book could have had so much potential, but the story and characters just fell flat for me.

I am a huge fan of time traveling books, and while usually they leave me confused and with a gigantic headache, this one wasn't confusing at all, which I appreciated! Prenna, her mom and a whole group of others have come from 100 years into the future. In their time, a plague has wiped out almost everything and the planet isn't really livable anymore. Things are bad so this elite group was chosen to go into the past to live. There is a whole bunch of rules that they must follow, and if you screw up too much, you disappear. This group definitely reminded me of a cult. The leaders just controlled the people and didn't allow anything out of their norm.

Prenna is fine with following the rules, she knows it's for the best. But that changes when she meets Ethan. Ethan turns her world upside down and makes her realizes that she has most likely been lied to about everything she has known. I did like Ethan. He had a good personality and he was a good guy, but I didn't see any real connection between him and Prenna.

Overall, while the story was a bit predictable, and I found myself getting bored, the story had a good concept. I think I was just expecting and hoping for more.

2.5 stars rounded to 3.