Review: "The Future of Us"

The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler
3 out of 5 stars

I had this crazy long dream this morning that I traveled back in time to high school but still had all my knowledge of the future/present. It was really weird, I was able to change all kinds of things. Maybe I was thinking of The Summerhouse before I fell asleep or something, I don't know. But anyway, I thought it would be a good time to review this book, since it's kind of connected. Plus, it's next on my (long, long) list. :)

It's 1996 and Emma & Josh are next-door neighbors, former best friends. Josh gives Emma a free AOL CD he got in the mail for 100 hours of free Internet and Emma logs on to her Facebook page. Except Emma doesn't have a Facebook page, Facebook hasn't even been invented yet, and the Emma on her page is 15 years older and deeply unhappy. Sounds like an interesting premise right? I was really looking forward to this book when I first heard about it. I mean, how many of us are totally addicted to our Facebook now? I know I am. I've already checked it like 4 times just writing this much of this review lol.

This book started out really good. Lots of great flashbacks to 1996. I'm the same age as Emma & Josh now, so I was 16 also in 96. Ugh, that was a long time ago. (FB check=5) It was great to read about all those things from then like Walkman's, VCR's, Dave Matthews Band, Wayne's World. And remembering aaalllll the AOL CD's we used to get in the mail (we used to try to think of fun crafts to use them for) and the god-awful long time it took to actually dial-up to the Internet. Lol...I think if you were around in the 90s, you will enjoy this book for the most part. But younger teens and kids in the future I think just won't get it. If you remember when Pluto was a planet...

I flinch. What the hell happens to Pluto?

Okay, aside from the nostalgia factor, which really saves this book, we have the story of Emma & Josh. Emma was very hard to like. She was pretty shallow, only concerned with what great husband her future self had. When she finds out he's not all that great, she decides to change things. And keeps changing things, a growing chain of events that could potentially screw up her future forever. Josh, on the other hand, is perfectly happy with his future and doesn't see any reason to change things. (FB check=6) They're both only interested in who they end up with and it comes across as very narcissistic. I mean, if you were able to log onto your FB 15 years ago, wouldn't you be checking every single person you've ever come in contact with?? I do that now, sometimes! Not to mention: sports teams, politics, bands, movies, everything in your "Likes" page, etc...and just to have fun, let's take my music & movie/tv likes and see how they compared to 1996.

Let's see...Toy Story, Dazed & Confused, Young Frankenstein, Camp Nowhere, Buffy, Foster's Home, Roseanne, & MXC...not bad. Music: Joan Jett, Mozart, Beastie Boys, Nirvana, GNR...16 year old me would have approved I think. :)