#62 Book Review: The Future of Us

The Future of Us
Release Date: January 5th 2012
Author: Jay Asher, Carolyn Mackler
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia
Source: Publisher for Review
Format: Paperback
Where to Buy: Amazon & The Book Depository
More Info: Goodreads

Summary from Goodreads:

It's 1996 and less than half of all American high school students have ever used the Internet. Facebook will not be invented for several more years. Emma just got a computer and an America Online CD-ROM with 100 free hours. When she and her best friend Josh log on to AOL they discover themselves on Facebook... fifteen years in the future. Everybody wonders what life has in store for them.
Josh and Emma are about to find out.

My review:


Cover:
The cover looks really cute with the doodlings and scribbles all around. I also really like the font of the title with the 3-D effect which gives this 'modern and future' feeling and the colours used in the cover such as blue and red. 

4 Forget-Me-Not flowers for the cover!

Story:


Have you ever wondered what your future is?


Josh and Emma used to be bestfriends but something happened last November and they stopped seeing each other. When Josh suddenly comes to Emma house 6 months later to give a CD-ROM, Emma installs the CD in her computer. What she never thought was that it was a program called Facebook. When she explores Facebook, she finds her name and that she is married to someone else and even have children. What does this mean? Emma makes a conclusion that Facebook is actually showing their future. While we are all wondering what our future will be like, Emma and Josh are about to find out. 


The concept and theme of The Future of Us is actually really unique and interesting. Imagine finding out your future through Facebook, see who you marry in the future and what your children looks like. Besides seeing the future, you can even change your future too. If you don't like the person you'll marry in the future, you can change it by making sure that you'll never meet this person in the present day so that in the future, your lives will never be intertwined. I love reading the story, how seeing the characters' futures makes their lives change. This book makes me wonder a lot of times what my future is!


Characters:
While I certainly did enjoy story, I was really annoyed with the characters, particularly Emma. She is a selfish girl who only cares about herself. When she finds out that the person she marries in the future is not what she expects, she refreshes the page and makes sure she marries someone else. She is never pleased with her future and her life becomes so focused on the future in Facebook. Josh was actually quite a great character although I didn't like the way both Emma and Josh interacts with each other as if they don't like each other when the attraction is clearly there. It was frustrating seeing them pretend they love someone else. I feel really sad since when the concept of the book is a really unique idea, it would have been more enjoyable if the characters were enjoyable to read about too. I particularly think that the characters are the downfall of the book but nevertheless, I still enjoyed reading the book!


Overall:
Are you ready to find out about your future?  The Future of Us is a book with a unique concept and will make you wonder what your future will be like. Even though I did not enjoy reading about the characters, I certainly did enjoy the story! The Future of Us makes me think that perhaps it's best if I don't know the future because life is more interesting when you don't know what's coming ahead! 

4 Forget-Me-Not flowers for The Future of Us!

Thank you Simon & Schuster Australia for the review copy!