Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Here and Now

The Here and Now
The Here and Now
Author: Ann Brashares
Genre: Teen & Young Adult
Book Type: Hardcover
reviewed on + 175 more book reviews


YA with a hint of sci-fi, a report of time travel and a forbidden love.

Prenna travels back in time from a future world where millions have died from the plague as the result of politics and environmental meltdown.

Ethan sees Prenna when she appears in front of him while he is fishing by a local creek and instantly falls in love.

But they cannot be together, for Prenna is part of a secret community that has developed rules so as not to interfere with the current time natives. The main rule is that members cannot fall in love or be intimate with anyone outside their enclave. But Prenna, age 17, and her classmate, Ethan, bond during a shared class in high school and find themselves drawn into a plan to save the world on May 17, 2014.

Very predictable with stereotypical one-dimensional characters, this novel seems to be the start of a series. The action and developing plot require a great deal of suspension of disbelief. With themes of loss and identity that are never fully developed, Prenna's past life is only hinted at and the full reasons for the community's return to circa 2014 are not adequately explained enough to make it all believable. The narrative includes some political posturing and attempts moralistic commentary on the lifestyles and habits of contemporary society.

I'll see what the teens think of this one but I'm not likely to read the follow up. I'm pretty sure I know how it's all going to end.