Series: Standalone
Release Date: April 8th, 2014
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 in 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.
• Death
• Murder
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 4/5 stars
This admittedly was one of those books that I thought would be a fantastic purchase, since hello, the author wrote the Sisterhood series! And it was about time travel, and had romance and of course an action-packed mystery plot! But then I read, and I was hesitant.
“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.”
Because even though I do love the classic Romeo and Juliet plotline … no one wants to read an ending where the hero and the heroine can’t be together! But I gave The Here and Now a chance, and I’m sincerely glad I did.
The start of The Here and Now was slow-paced, but after I got into it, I wanted to unravel the mystery with Prenna. And the best part was that the plot twist wasn’t obvious. There were twists and turns, and although some parts you understood before Prenna, there was still enough of the plot hidden from the reader that it wasn’t until the end that everything came together. The mystery was so well done.
The plot of The Here and Now was all about time travel and how Prenna’s people travelled back in time to somehow save the world. And with that plot came the theme of bravery, and going against what you were raised to accept and doing what you think is right. This is common in dystopian books. I believe that Prenna was a perfect dystopian heroine, precisely because she was hesitant about what she had to do. After all, it would mean turning her back on all she was raised to believe. The narrative really showed Prenna’s inner struggle but also how smart and brave she is.
And then there was Ethan and Prenna! They were so cute and nerdy. It’s amusing reading some of their conversations because they both obviously like each other, but Prenna has the survival of the human race literally on her shoulders. And then there’s Ethan who understands that she’s in danger, but also has a few secrets of his own. They’re perfect for each other, and I seriously want a sequel because The Here and Now cannot end like that! It’s not a cliffhanger, but I feel that the ending was unfinished, since there were so many questions unanswered.
But besides that, The Here and Now definitely earns it’s four stars!
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