It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail,his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.
By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.
I decided you all deserved another review, but unfortunately I have to wait until mid-October-ish to get anymore books. That's all I want for my birthday! I still have to make a list . . . This is all beside the point.
The point is Future of Us. Fantastic book! I thought it was a great idea and I got all giddy over the ending! So cute!
Alright, so like most of the books I've read, the setting is not present-day. It's 1996, and the whole story is based around two kids named Emma and Josh. Don't worry, they're not fighting for their lives like pretty much every other book I've reviewed. They're actually pretty normal.
And, they've got fantastically normal names; I can't stand weird names that are spelled really weird like Aewyouiwekd, but pronounced 'Kelly'. Sorry if you're name is Aewyouiwekd, but you're probably pretty sorry about that anyways.
Anyways, the story behind the book is this: Emma and Josh get a CD--or something, whatever it's called back then--and download the internet. Since I wasn't even born then, I have no clue as to what they're talking about. All I know, they download the internet and it takes them to a page called "Facebook". When Emma gets logged in with her email and a usual password, she notices the dates on the posts. Fifteen years in the future.
¿Que?
Exactly. It shows her future. Obviously, Emma is a little freaked out, so she shows Josh. He checks out his future. According to Facebook, Josh's life is awesome in fifteen years and Emma's sucks. Naturally, Emma, the girl in this situation, is angry at Josh for something he can't control. They stop talking, it's all horrible and maddening, blah blah blah.
Then Emma refreshes the page and her future is different but, so is Josh's. He's not happy. So, that's that.
The plot is great, I liked it, and the characters are genuine. I mean, they're common and you can relate to them.
Since I read this book around the last few months of school last year (May, June, either one) I don't really remember the characters. I do remember, however, that this book is worth it.
The P.O.V* changes between Josh and Emma, switching each chapter. That's helpful, I don't think I could have read the entire book if it was just Josh's point of view--but that's just me. So, I say go forth and read this book! It's really good, and even though you think you know exactly what's going to happen, the author 'refreshes the page' and changes the outcome!
I only have a couple extra comments about this book.
- It's really strange to read about someone's reaction to Facebook when they haven't seen it before, it's something that seems totally average now.
- Apparently, in 1996, less than half of all American high school students had ever used the Internet, and Facebook wouldn't be invented until several years in the future**.
*Point Of View
**Okay, if you have this book, you'll know that I pretty much copied this part off of one of the first pages... I'm not ashamed.
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