The Future of Us Paperback – October 16, 2012

Emma and Josh, by some glitch in the universe, are able to log in to Facebook 15 years before it exists. Because they `know' what kind of lives they will live in their 30s, they behave and think differently, causing ripples in time and affecting not only their future selves but the futures of everyone around them. This makes for a fascinating story, and a very interesting study in human nature.I would classify this book as science fiction, in that it attempts to tackle the idea that divination, knowing one's future, is a recipe for disaster. Could one manipulate his or her unfavorable destiny without making it worse? Can even knowing about your future cause it to spontaneously change? In The Future of Us, the question is "How do we reconcile the choices we make when we are young, with the destiny of our future selves?" The insertion of Facebook is a perfect way to introduce this problem. The culture of Facebook (encouraging users to display the details of their family and relationships, the intimate day-to-day struggles and life circumstances) is a very interesting platform to test this theory. The authors introduced a new way to time-travel, like being sent a newspaper from 2026 every morning, only way more personal. Mackler and Asher mastered the time-ripple effect/concept without the campiness of time machines or wormholes. Anyone thinking back on their high school experience tends to spend some time wondering what would have happened had they married their high school crush, let alone had the guts to talk to them. Would his or her life be better? Worse? And for those just entering high school--some believe they are meant to be with their current flames for the rest of their lives, whereas some are serial-daters. Do our current relationships determine how happy or successful we will be down the road? And, in the case of the characters portrayed in the book, are their high school relationships the be-all-end-all determinant that most think they are when it comes to either `ending up' poor and lonely, or happily married with a kick-ass job? Just refreshing a Facebook page from 2011 lets them explore how even a change in their regular breakfast habit can affect who they'll end up with in their 30s.This book, because it deals with present and future characters, appeals to readers of all ages, not just teens. This was a very suspenseful and intriguing novel, with a bonus lesson--that our behavior, attitude, actions and even ideas can cause not only ripples but WAVES. On the other hand, obsessing over a perceived future turns out to be a waste of perfectly good present. There are some very cute and romantic (but not cheesy) moments, and the two main characters (written from male and female perspectives every other chapter) are realistic and endearing. A very worthy read.

If you follow my reviews then you know that contemporary is not really my thing. I have said it before, but my life is contemporary. So I want my books to be fantastical and take me somewhere completely different. So then why am I reviewing a contemporary book today? That would be the fault of Susan from Wastepaper Prose. The two of us were driving to a conference and she said she was going to put in an audiobook. I love listening to them, so I was game. I asked her which one and she said Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (review here). She said it was a contemporary and that I would thank her later. I inwardly (and probably outwardly too) cringed and braced myself for the book. I can say now though that Susan was 100% right, Thirteen Reasons Why was amazing! I don't know how he did it, but Jay Asher captured all of my attention and I was the one begging Susan to put the book back on after we would take breaks, just so I could hear what happened. My point to this little story is that I will read pretty much anything Jay Asher writes from now on. So, when I saw there was a book coming out that he co-wrote I knew I had to read it.The Future of Us, is a story about two friends, Josh and Emma. They live next door to one another and have been best friends for a long time. They had a recent falling out, but start to weave back into each other's lives more when Emma gets a new computer. One day, Josh brings an AOL CD-ROM to Emma and when she signs on she discovers her Facebook page. Now this is 1996, Facebook has not been invented yet, so neither of them knows what it means exactly. However, when they start exploring, they realize this page tells them about what they are doing fifteen years in the future!Emma is the more uptight of the two and does not like the future she sees for herself. She is constantly trying to do things in the present to change how she ends up in the future, but winds up never being happy with the outcome. Josh was more laid back and found out his future looked pretty good. He doesn't want Emma meddling with everything and screwing it up for him. The two of them are beyond cute together, I kept rooting for Emma to wake up and realize how great Josh really was! Sometimes it is hardest for us to see the wonderful things are right in front of us, and Emma is a perfect example of this.This book has also made me look at Facebook in a whole new light. Imagine it is 1996 and I stumble across Facebook, what would I think? I was a freshman in high school in 1996, so I would have been about the same age as Josh and Emma. Would I have liked what I saw? I know I am happy now, but what if I saw before how things would have turned out, would I have changed anything? This book just made me think about how might have handled this situation. The idea of discovering your future opens up a whole world of possibilities; would it be a good thing or a bad thing? That is the question that Josh and Emma explored in this book.I am a huge fan of getting to see the main female and male protagonists' point of view. We got that in Thirteen Reasons Why and now again with The Future of Us. Something about that style of writing always draws me in more. I think it is mostly because guys and girls think differently, if you ask them both to tell the same story, you will get two different versions and I like exploring both of them. I also like that since I listened to this book, I got to hear Emma read by a female and Josh by a male. Sometimes they have one person do both parts, but not with this book. It was a great way to differentiate between the chapters and I enjoyed knowing at all times whose eyes I was seeing the story from. Typing this now I can still clearly hear both of the voices running through my head. I don't think this book will leave me for a long time. Kinda like how Thirteen Reason Why is still with me. These books are hard to forget.I can't finish this review without mentioning some of the awesome references in it. It was the year I entered high school, so all of the pop culture acknowledgments that made it into this book were things I could easily relate to and had me laughing out loud. My favorite show for example, Friends, makes an appearance, as well as my first CD, the Green Day Dookie album, and a Discman! Do you remember those things? I remember when I got my first one, it was one hundred dollars and it skipped when I ran with it. Little details like this just made the book that much more enjoyable for me.Overall, this was a fantastic book. I actually found myself driving the long way home every day, just so I could hear more from this story. If you grew up around this time, then this book would be perfect for you. If will take you back to when you were this age and make you wonder how you might handle the situation Josh and Emma found themselves in.

Fantastic story, well written. As a teacher takes me back to my high school years. For my students, a good introduction to some of the issues and challenges that they will experience in their relationships in high school, while also making them realize that decisions they make now can impact their entire future. Very entertaining, very well-written, and very much worth reading in a middle years or high school setting.

I thought that it was really good and it made me want to read on. You should definitly download this book.

It is really amazing I like the book

The future of us is a very unique novel that I really enjoyed reading. I have to say I did not mind the authors not explaining how these two 90's teens were able to access their future facebook pages. I didn't buy this to learn about quantum physics or the science of time travel and didn't feel an explaination was needed.We meet Emma who has just had her first computer bought for her by her slightly absent father. A friend gives her a disc to access the internet and when they go online they find their facebook pages from 15 years in the future! I really enjoyed seeing Emma repeatedly unhappy with what she see's and constantly trying to change her futre for the better but mostly I loved her friendship with Josh. The two have been going through a rough patch for a few reasons and this really did bring them together again after nearly driving them apart. Its interesting to wonder what you would do with the information of who you'll marry, what job you'll have and deciding if you could change things, would you? should you?It was also very clever how the two authors worked together, you'd never guess it was two different people writing as it all flows so seemlessly and gives each of the characters their own voice. This may not be the best book I have ever read but it was a fun read and a bit different and very enjoyable.

thank you