Ann Brashares

Seventeen-year-old Prenna, an immigrant who moved to New York when she was twelve, came from another time and she and the other travelers must follow strict rules to avoid destroying the new life they have worked so hard to get, as well as the one person Prenna is desperate to protect.

The Here and Now

Monicap

Decent story, amazing premise, unique world. But it just felt passionless to me.

graelihn

So this book started off pretty slow and didn't really pick up in action for me until the pages were in the hundreds. Many of the characters felt empty and one dimensional, and annoying. The one character that I thought could redeem the book ended up being pretty gross and scoff worthy majority of the time. The plot was so jumpy that I had to re-read sections to try and pick up something I was certain I had missed (pretty sure I wtf'd a more than a few times out loud) and extreme situations seemed to resolved themselves in a matter of paragraphs and felt like an afterthought. 

This was my first taste of the time travel genre and this book kinda made me not want to visit again. The only reasons I pushed through to the end were 1. I think every book deserves a fair chance and 2. I have this horrible habit of not being able to quit a book once I've started reading it no matter how much I don't like it. Believe me, I've tried to stop. 

Toward the middle of the book I had decided to give it 3 stars but after finishing it downgraded to 2. I wish I could have enjoyed it more because time travel really interests me but man this is just not the book.

Seventeen-year-old Prenna James emigrated to New York when she was twelve. But 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 and take the lives of her younger brothers. But everything changes when she falls for Ethan. She might be able to save the world ... if she lets go of the one thing she's found to hold on to.

Melissa Palmer

Book #111 Read in 2014
The Here and Now by Ann Brashares (YA)

This is a young adult dystopian book. The main character is a teenage girl who, when a young child, traveled back in time from a future where a blood plague has killed many people. There are rules that these "travelers" must follow in order to live safely among the people truly from the present. Prenna begins to break these rules when she becomes very close to Ethan; Ethan knows her true story. The two try to save a life and create a new future. Will they be able to do so without hurting everyone more?

This was a quick reading; the writing flowed well. It had mystery, action, science fiction, romance and humor in it. I enjoyed it.

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

Annie

Pop Sugar Challenge:
- a book at the bottom of your tbr

Yoomi

** spoiler alert **
           
It starts off with an interesting premise. A girl travels back in time to help save the world from the future she comes from. I was a little wary because time travel is a tricky subject. I do find it interesting and the setup was enough to keep me reading past the first couple chapters. The group that Prenna travels with has a creepy cult feel to them and Ethan, the love interest, isn't broody but smart and friendly. A nice change.

After that, I found myself getting more and more annoyed. It was easy to predict some plot points, like the mystery of the sweater and the bum. The storyline having to do with her father is what bothered me the most. He stays behind when Prenna and her mother travel, which should have been heartwrenching to begin with. Then, Prenna finds him and loses him within a few pages and then hardly mentions it again! HE DIED IN HER ARMS! She escapes from a "safehouse", which is more like a prison, her father has just died, and she's trying to save someone's life but she is out enjoying the beach, going shopping, and flirting? Then she has a moment to question the man who she thinks killed her father, and that doesn't even come up?? She doesn't want to know why? She doesn't want to throttle him? Her character is so uneven, I can't relate to her. The only tangible emotional moment was when she tells Ethan about her younger brothers. Other than that, she's a girl going through the motions. She's meek one minute and then suddenly finds strength enough to stand up to and threaten the leaders. Somehow, it all ends well. But by then, I no longer really cared.

I kept waiting for something more. A twist. A surprise. But it just ... ended. It felt anticlimactic. A disappointing read.

17-year-old Prenna James emigrated to New York when she was 12. But 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 and take the lives of her younger brothers. But everything changes when she falls for Ethan. She might be able to save the world - if she lets go of the one thing she's found to hold on to.

The Here and Now

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