Anna Pitoniak

A heart-wrenching debut novel about a young couple trying to find out what they really want in life--and whether or not that includes each other. Julia and Evan fall in love as undergraduates at Yale. For Evan, who grew up in a small town in Canada, Yale is a whole new world, and Julia--blond, beautiful and rich--is part of his vision for a successful future. After they graduate in 2008, they move together to New York city, where Evan takes a job at a hedge fund--another step forward in the life he imagines for himself. Julia, who has only known a life of privilege, graduates with an art history degree and no plan for her own future. She lands a low paying assistant job at a nonprofit, unsure about what she really wants, and wondering when everyone else figured that out for themselves. With the market crashing and banks failing around him, Evan becomes involved in an increasingly high-stakes deal at work, and begins to realize that the price of privilege may come with dangerous strings attached. Meanwhile, Julia reconnects with someone from her past--someone who offers her a vision of a different kind of life. Told in alternating perspectives, The Futures is a vivid story about love--falling in and out of it--betrayal, and the burning desire to be valued.

The Futures

Sahi K

It's difficult to finish a book when you don't like any of the main characters, but I did, so it's probably some testament to the author's writing skills.

The book is told in alternating points of view of Evan and Julia who meet in college and fall in love and then decide to move in together after graduation. Evan joins a hedge fund in New York and Julia struggles to find her way in the real world. The reader is supposed to empathize with their struggles after college, when they are still unsure of what they want to do or where they want to be; but I wasn't able to do that. Evan falls deep into the muck that is hedge funds, unknowingly at first, but doesn't try to do the right thing later because he thinks he deserves the payoff; forgetting his girlfriend in the midst of his soaring ambition.

Julia comes from a privileged background and finds a job through her connections because she isn't actually interested in anything. She comes across as very entitled and selfish, trying to come up with pathetic justifications for her infidelity but what ultimately made me hate her is when she justifies not telling Evan about her affair with Adam because it's too hard to find a new place to live. I mean, come on !!!!!!! This is totally ridiculous. After this point, the only reason to read through was not to abandon the book midway. Ultimately, when bad things happens to Evan and Julia, it almost feels like they had it coming.

This book might work with readers who can relate more with issues about new college graduates dealing with the real world but this was not for me.

Amanda Rios

bianca

Ariana

Sheila Masterson

*A completely original, heartwarming and unforgettable love story* Evan and Julia are in love. In love with each other, in love with New York. New York is where they plan to build the life they've dreamt about. New York is where Evan will be drawn into the high stakes of finance, right before the crash. New York is where Julia, shut out of Evan's new world, will turn to someone from her past. They'll take chances and make mistakes in pursuit of their futures. But will New York bring them together, or tear them apart? 'An emotional page-turner' Cosmopolitan 'A story that feels familiar yet wholly original, like every heartbreak ever' Marie Claire 'I absolutely loved it' Jane Fallon

The Futures

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