Saturday, April 5, 2014

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

Publication Date: April 8, 2014

Series: Standalone

Genera(s):  Sci-fi/ Romance

Subjects: time travel, love, thriller, viruses

Setting: New York City and New Jersey, April-May 2014

POV/Tense:  1st person POV, present tense: Prenna James

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 242 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: Random House: Delacorte Press

Summary/ product description: “An unforgettable epic romantic thriller about a girl from the future who might be able to save the world . . . if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.

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.

From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking—and a must-read novel of the year.”





My Review:  The Here and Now is a very fast paced read. It’s thrilling and romantic and better than I expected. If you’ve read Unremembered by Jessica Brody, its a little bit like that book, and maybe also Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris. I only heard about this book through the Shelf Awareness newsletter, in which I entered a giveaway for a fee ARC. I won a copy and enjoyed reading it.

This book has a plot that’s so intricately woven that it became exciting, as it was unraveled. It’s filled with sci-fi stuff and talks about time travel, virus and technology. The book is set in our time, spring 2014. Prenna came for 2095 to 2010 and has lived in our time for 4 years. She had to assimilate and learn the current ways of life. In her time there’s a blood born virus transmitted by mosquitos. It’s very deadly and her and many others who survived the virus are sent back in time to stop it before it ever happens.

Prenna’s not allowed to fall in love with time natives, but she has a crush on this guy named Ethan. Ethan like her, clearly, but she’s not supposed to get intimate. They become friends and he teaches her card games. It turns out that he knows that she’s from the future because he was there the day she came through the time-bridge. I like Ethan. He’s very smart, sweet and adorable. He likes to tease Prenna by making up nicknames like Henny. He helps her out. They must stop a murder of a scientist before it happens. Prenna is a good narrator. She’s no the most exciting heroine, but she’s not boring.

The Here and Now is a standalone. Everything wraps up at the end and you just know that the futures it going to be better. I really enjoyed this book because it was so fast and easy to read. The story may be complicated, but not at all confusing. It’s the kind of book that high schoolers who don’t necessarily like reading will enjoy. I recommend this book to fans of the Unremembered series by Jessica Brody, Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris, Tempest by Julie Cross, and Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone.


Cover Art Review: I love the cover. It has a velvet texture and triangles. Lots of blue and images. Look like the Mind Games series covers. It makes me think of the Erudite faction in Divergent.



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