Review: The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

Title: The Future of Us
Author: Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler
Publisher: Razorbill
Release date: November 21st 2011
Pages: 356
Genre: YA
Source: Bought
Find out more: Amazon | Goodreads


Goodreads description:

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.

First sentence:

I can't break up with Graham today, even though I told my friends I'd do it the next time I saw him.

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars


I was really, really excited to read The Future of Us. I loved Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why, and I'd heard great things about Carolyn Mackler. And this idea is so awesome - unique and fascinating. But I ended up feeling pretty underwhelmed about the whole novel.


I still love the idea. Discovering yourself on Facebook fifteen years into the future is one of the most intriguing hooks I could imagine. It's fun to wonder what I would do if I found my future self on Facebook. While the plot is predictable, I really liked reading about how Josh and Emma handle the situation, how their decisions in the present affect their future, and all of that. I liked the plot, and I still think the unique premise is what makes this book worth reading.


The rest of the novel, though, didn't really work for me. My main problem are the main characters. They're just so... bland. I couldn't connect with neither Emma nor Josh because I felt both lacked personality - there's nothing that makes them special or memorable. I wanted them to have some kind of quirks or interests to make them stand out, but they're pretty boring. I didn't build up a relationship towards Emma or Josh, and I didn't particularly care what happened to them. And characters are what's most important to me in a book, so that kept me from enjoying The Future of Us as much as I wanted to.


I actually liked the secondary characters in the beginning - I think if I were to discover everyone I know on Facebook in the future, I would want to know what happens to all those people. I was disappointed that we didn't get to see all that much about other people. Josh and Emma almost only look at their own profiles and futures instead of the ones of their friends, and they say it would be wrong to look at their friends' profiles, but really, I don't see the difference to wanting to change their own futures. I would have liked to see them discovering more about all of the people they know. The same goes for the real-life secondary characters. I liked reading about Kellan and Tylor in the beginning, but don't think we got to know enough about their story.


I've heard a lot of people say what they loved most about this book are all the 90s-references, but since I was born in 94, I didn't get a lot of that. And while I can't blame the book for that, I still think it's kind of strange how much the story relies on references that their main target audience, being YA, probably won't get. Maybe it would have appealed to me more if I were older.


I'm also a little concerned about the timelessness of The Future of Us. The descriptions of Facebook are accurate for the time the book was published, but Facebook is already different, with the Timeline and all of that. Two years from now, the Facebook in The Future of Us will be completely different from the real one.


 Maybe I just had too high expectations for The Future of Us - I was expecting epic awesomeness, and while what I got is a cute story with a unique premise, it's nowhere near epic. The novel is too plot-driven for me, and the characters fall short, which didn't work for me, since I prefer character-driven novels. Whatever the reason, I felt very underwhelmed reading The Future of Us.


If you've read this book, what did you think?

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
(Amazon / Goodereads)

Goodreads description:

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out how he made the list.

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This novel took my breath away – I could not put it down until having finished the very last page, and I loved everything about it. First off, the format was a great idea. It was a very original way to let two distinct voices merge, and Jay Asher made it seem effortless.

Both of the main characters are raw and realistic. While I didn’t like Clay too much in the beginning (back when he felt this was all a mistake and he didn’t belong on the list), this seemed like a realistic reaction, and later on I warmed up towards him. Hannah, though, I loved from the beginning on. I liked that Jay Asher didn’t go with classic bullying as the cause for her suicide, but chose a more subtle (but nonetheless hurtful) way of constantly not being appreciated. Her problems seemed like things that could happen to anyone, but showed that if you add them all up, the do affect people greatly. I found it easy to relate to Hannah and I was drawn into the situations she described – so much so that I felt her excitement, her anger and her desperation.

What I admire most in this book is the wide range of emotions it evoked in me. It was sad, obviously, but it was also uplifting. Despite the solemn topic, I could not stop smiling after having finished the novel – the last scene had such a powerful and uplifting effect on me. The book also scared me, to some extent, as I thought I related too Hannah a bit too easily – when she described the thoughts and feelings leading up to her suicide, I felt myself go “I’ve thought that, too,” or “I’ve felt that way, too,” which surprised me as I don’t consider myself a particularly depressed person.

Most of all, though, the novel is thought-provoking. By explaining that little, unimportant things that seemed like no big deal at the time played such a big role in Hannah’s suicide, Jay Asher made me question the way I treat the people around me. He made me think twice about saying or doing something that could be considered hurtful, things I don’t usually pay attention to. I honestly cannot think of anything bad to say about this book.

This is a thought-provoking novel I think everyone should read, even though it isn’t an easy read due to the many issues it addresses. You will not forget this book, as it will make you question the way you treat people. This book could really make a difference. It is both heart-breaking and hopeful and it conveys a beautiful message.