Book Review: The Future Of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

The future might as well be bleak, if these two are in it...

What if you’re given a chance to see what your life will be like years from now… will you take it? I just finished reading The Future Of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, and I have to say it’s not worth buying in paperback.

The story is set in 1996 when best friends Josh Templeton and Emma Nelson, after installing a free AOL CD, discover that they’re able to log on to Facebook. But, Facebook hasn’t been invented yet and they’re looking at their lives fifteen years into the future. And as they refresh the pages, they learn that everything they do in the present, no matter how small, creates ripples of change that affect the outcome of their lives later on.

I’ve read Jay Asher’s 13 Reasons Why and it was so good that I was expecting to get the same, if not better, experience reading this book. Dead wrong.

While I was entertained by the premise of the book, the idea of being able to look into the future, the rest of the novel didn't quite live up to my expectations.  First of all, the characters are completely uninspiring, even annoying. Our world is infested enough with self-absorbed, vapid teenagers. Must the protagonists be as well? I mean, personally, I enjoy reading because, by stepping into the characters shoes, something meaningful is added to my life and I gain a little bit of perspective. But, here, the characters are sooo concerned about mundane, idiotic things. I want to read about exciting, vibrant characters; not whiny, shallow teenagers whose main distress are future husbands and old condoms. I mean, sure, maybe they were going for realistic, but the execution leaves much to be desired.

Which brings me to my second point: the focus. If you’re given a portal of sorts into the future, what would you do? Honestly, if I were in that situation, I would have tried to check how I could make myself rich or look at future careers that I could pioneer and make a headway in. But nooo. Apparently, Emma and Josh are more concerned about who they’ll end up with. Talk about wasted opportunities. At least in The Time Traveller’s Wife, Henry had the brains to check out winning lottery numbers.

All in all, I rate this book a 5/10. It might not be great, but it’s an easy read, something to pass the time while you’re on the toilet.