Fourteen year old Ethan goes fishing one day. A beautiful girl materializes out of thin air. Ethan tries to talk to her, help her, but she rebuffs him and leaves with his Giants sweatshirt. Four years go by and the same girl shows up in one of his classes.
Prenna is from the future. Along with about 1000 other survivors from the future, she lives in a community. There are rules for Prenna and the others. They have to maintain their separateness but try not to stand out. Prenna isn't good about following the rules and frequently gets in trouble. She's especially not good about staying away from Ethan.
I did like Prenna and Ethan. This book only works if you don't want it to make sense. There are so many holes in story, I'm surprised that it even makes sense. I think it was my intense desire to like The Here and Now, that I was able to finish it. I don't think Brashares had this one fleshed out. She had some potential but it lacked everything that her other stories had. I was also angry at the ending. I didn't want to say goodbye to Prenna and Ethan. I did like the characters and I wanted to hear more about them. I also wanted the story to make sense.
The Hear and Now wasn't my favorite but it wasn't terrible. If you do read it, let go of expectations and enjoy the ride. If you try to make it make sense, you won't make it far. I hope Brashares revisits this one and polishes the story. Others who shared their thoughts on The Hear and Now: Rather Be Reading YA, The Good, The Bad, and The Unread, Bookish, and Gone With The Words.
The Here and Now satisfies the Reference To Time Category of The What's In A Name Challenge.
Sorry that it was a bit disappointing for you!
ReplyDeleteInteresting - I've just read another review of this in the same vein as yours, so overall I'm getting an idea of an average book. Still, well done on What's In A Name!
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