Monday, April 21, 2014

The Here and Now - Review

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

Rating: 3 Stars

Description:  Prenna James and her community are used to living by a list of rules.  Rules that are supposed to keep them safe and keep others from finding out their secret.  Because Prenna and her group aren't from around here.  They're from another time, a time when things have gone very badly and they've come back to see if they can make the future better.  But they can't let anyone know, they can't get close to anyone and they absolutely can't fall in love.  Things begin to not look quite so black and white when Prenna falls in love with Ethan.  A regular boy from a regular family.  The more she examines the world around her the less she knows who to trust.  What if they rules that are supposed to be keeping her safe aren't doing that at all.

Genre: SciFi/YA

My Impression: 
Pros:  I liked Prenna and Ethan.  Ethan was intelligent, insightful, sensitive but willing to fight and just thoroughly nice.  Prenna was smart and somewhat cynical.  She was willing to question authority but not blindly rebellious.  Ethan and Prenna's quest to figure out what is going on and find the truth about the rules versus reality is interesting.

Cons:  While I enjoyed this book it did seem to be missing something - a certain depth of characters or environment.  I never got a clear picture of where they actually were and the action felt very rushed.  This is one of those books that you put down and say "It was good but..." but can't exactly put your finger on what it was.  For me I think the book felt a little fluffy for the seriousness of the topics and characters.

Overall Impression: This is a fast and enjoyable read but it felt like it was missing a little depth or substance.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Probably not anymore science fiction but I'll give the Traveling Pants series a try.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  To a YA reader who loves science fiction.

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