An unforgettable epic romantic thriller about a girl from the future who might be able to save the world . . . if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.
Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.
This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins.
Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth.
But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves.
From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking--and a must-read novel of the year.
"This gripping story is set in a world unlike any other and inhabited by beautifully imagined characters that stay with you long after the last page. As always, Brashares expertly captures the wonder of love’s enduring power.” – Sara Shepard, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful.
Sci Fi with a beating heart
By Evie Seo
This was my first book by Ann Brashares and I really loved it. For whatever reason, I never got around to picking up any of her Sisterhood novels, even though they always sounded fun and exciting to me. I'm glad I didn't make the same mistake with her latest literary endeavor. The Here and Now is a gorgeously written, smart and moving Science Fiction novel about time travel, forbidden love, difficult choices, sacrifices and second chances. I love Sci Fi books, especially when they revolve around the subject of time travel and paradoxes. I particularly adore books that are intellectually stimulating and seamlessly plotted, with unpredictable twists and surprising reveals. And if they pull on my heartstrings and make me wonder about certain things in my own life (love, friendship, family bonds, destiny, etc..) - even better! The Here and Now did all that for me and I guess it's safe to say that I loved everything about it. Ann Brashares writing style is simply beautiful and breathtaking. She has a fantastic way with words. She draws you in and keeps you there, and before you even realize it, you're completely lost in the story. Her style is evocative, insightful and honest. The book is filled with thoughts and passages that just beg to be highlighted and quoted. It's not just some cheesy Sci Fi flick, it's a truly thoughtful and meaningful story that just happens to have a fascinating time travel premise. Our heroine, Prenna, immigrated to 2010 New York from a distant future. A future where the world as we know it no longer exists. It's been destroyed by our own selfishness and ignorance. A deadly blood pandemic killed millions, leaving the survivors to live in constant fear of getting infected. No time to come up with a solution. No way to fix things. Together with a group of survivors, Prenna travels back in time and starts a new life in New York, where she is safe from the pandemic, but far from being free. There are strict rules she and other time-travellers have to follow. She has to do her best to blend in, she can't draw attention to herself, she is not allowed to talk about the future or her life before the time travel, and - most importantly - she can't get intimate with any of the time-natives. While not very happy about it, Prenna manages to follow all these rules. At least until one day a short conversation with a certain homeless guy flips her entire life completely insight out. I really liked both Prenna and her time-native friend, Ethan. Their relationship was obviously very complicated - and by complicated I mean strictly forbidden, possibly life-threatening to one or even both of them. They were so perfect together. The chemistry between them was both sweet and spine-tingling. And yet their love story was a tragic one. A real forbidden and impossible love, not some fake, "it-all-magically-works-out-in-the-end" one. A truly heartbreaking story that kept me glued to the pages all the way through. The character development was very good. I especially enjoyed learning about Prenna, her experiences, thoughts and feelings. Coming from year 2098, she had a hard time adjusting to the new reality and I really loved reading about her reactions to certain things - things that we would normally take for granted, like clothes, fully-stocked stores or cookies. And I thought the letters to her deceased brother, in which she'd talk about the world in 2010 and all the things that amazed her, were a great addition to the story. At 288 pages, The Here and Now makes for a quick and very entertaining read. But, even though it's not very long, it's certainly a well thought-out and satisfying read. A book full of surprises, brilliant thoughts and truly heartbreaking moments. I can't wait to read more of Ann Brashares works!
16 of 20 people found the following review helpful.Exciting Time-Travel Story
By Amazon Customer
In this story, Prenna and her mother travel back in time with a group from the late 2000s. They are escaping very difficult times, including disease and economic and social unrest, and they hope to travel to the past so that the tragedies of their time can be averted. Once they arrive in 2010, they work hard to avoid detection as time travelers; they try to blend in and avoid close relationships with people indigenous to 2010. The rules that they follow are strict and cause Prenna and others a lot of anxiety. There is a significant amount of tension within the time traveling group.As the years go by, teenaged Prenna becomes infatuated with Ethan, a boy who is not a time traveler. Romantic relationships outside of the time traveling group are forbidden, so this potential relationship sets up a conflict. I found the romantic plot a little tiresome, especially given that there was a much more interesting story line to explore.The more interesting plot is how the time travelers will avert the future that they know is coming. While I do not want to give away spoilers, Prenna finds out about a possible strategy that might result in a better future, though she cannot be sure. Most of the plot of the book is about Prenna's efforts to change history for the better.The book is set up so that there could be sequels to it, but there are no genuine cliffhangers. In other words, this novel stands on its own.The story was well-written. The state of the future world was clearly described, but the author focused primarily on the "here and now." I liked the main characters: Prenna and Ethan, as well as the secondary characters: Prenna's mother, the homeless man, Katherine, and others (I don't want to give away spoilers.). Prenna and Ethan were portrayed in a believable way. The characters that the reader is not supposed to like are also believable; their motivations are clear and they have some complexity.The stated target audience is 12 and up, though (for my family) I might increase the lower limit to 13 or 14. I found it entertaining and I am an adult.Overall, I recommend the book to people who like YA, dystopic, or time-travel books. If you do not care for any of these categories, though, you probably will not enjoy the book.SPOILER ALERT: In this paragraph, I describe the adult content. In order to do so, it is necessary to reveal some plot aspects. The book contains no swearing, drug or alcohol use, or sex. At one point in the story, two teenagers plan to have sex, but they cancel their plans before anything happens. A teenaged couple do kiss and "sleep" together; they want to do more but do not. Two people (both of whom the reader cares about) die violently, and Prenna remembers the bloody deaths of her younger brothers from dengue fever. I have a ten-year-old daughter, and I feel that this material is too mature for her, though I think that some (not all) 12-year-olds would be ready for it.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Light & Fun YA Fiction, but the end left me disappointed.
By Niki Tee
I've not read the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series and I've never seen the movies, so I'm very new to Ann Brashares.To sum it up, I enjoyed this book up until about the 90% part. There were some things missing, a bunch of glaring plotholes, and unbelievable coinky-dinks, but whatever, it's nice to have easy fiction now and again.Basically, Prenna, a 14-year old girl from the future comes back in time with a group of contemporaries to escape an apocalyptic scenario unfolding in her native time. Mosquitoes bring and distribute the most devastating blood plague of all time, taking with it her two brothers - one a baby. She arrives in our present, attends high school, and aims to live as benign a life as possible. Three years pass and she's now 17 and our story begins.The rules of the Community are very specifically set so that the future group interacts with the present group as little as possible, NEVER falls in love with "time natives", and has very little effect on the progress of time. How does that make sense, though? Shouldn't the goal of this flavor of time travel be to change the future by having a gigantic effect on the past?The pieces fall into place way too easily in this story. The hero is the hottest, super smart, a lab tech at a pivotal location in the book.. Fake phone calls are believed without suspicion.. The leaders of the Community pose NO resistance to Prenna's Declaration of Independence... It's all just way too utopian from the point of view of the teenage girl.The real sour spot for me in this whole story was the ending. After building up the whole story in one singular direction, there's a moment of epiphany and a sudden, unlabored unraveling that abruptly cuts the whole thing off. I was really put off by how quickly things changed then ended, and by reading other reviews, it appears I am not alone. I wish it had ended differently.Overall, though, the first 90% of the book was really pleasant and built up pleasantly. I can't recommend it because the ending kinda blows, but if you can hunker down and prepare for it from the get-go, you'll be solid.**This book was provided by the publisher free of charge in exchange for an honest review.via NetGalley
