The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler.

About the book

The Future of Us is a stand-alone YA novel by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. It was published on 5^th January by Simon and Schuster and the book is 368 pages long.

Synopsis (Taken from Goodreads.com)

It's 1996 and very few high school students have ever used the internet. Facebook will not be invented until several years in the future. Emma just got a computer and an America Online CD. She and her best friend Josh power it up and log on - and discover themselves on Facebook in 2011. Everybody wonders what they'll be like fifteen years in the future. Josh and Emma are about to find out.

What I thought

I really liked the idea of this book. Facebook is such a big thing now and pretty much everyone has it so for people to be able to see it in the past, when it wasn’t invented, was something that interested me. This book gives a different form of time travel and not the normal way, which is why I wanted to read it.

Main characters Emma and Josh stumble upon Facebook when they use an AOL trial on a new computer. The internet at this time isn’t something that is in all houses nor do people have mobile phones etc. The year is 1996 and things are very different from how they are now. The story shows what life was like before the internet with boys rolling around on skateboards and people waiting by their telephones for hours before someone would actually call. Even then, there was no caller display. The use (or lack of) technology was a great thing in this book and was spot on in regards to the time the book is set.

The book is told through dual narratives from both Emma and Josh which was a nice touch. I like this being done in books as it means you really get to know both main characters well. Emma was a little hard to warm to as she seemed quite shallow at times but Josh was nothing but sweet and lovely. The characters have a past which makes things slightly awkward between them at times but I liked this. It meant that the story wasn’t only about Facebook and there was a lot more going on throughout. Emma and Josh were great people to tell this story as both were different and they both had different views on things.

As Emma and Josh get to see into the lives of their future selves through Facebook, I wasn’t sure how this would work of affect things. Little things that either Emma and Josh do change what their future selves say and do on Facebook and it also affects major decisions in the lives. I really liked how one little movement or thought could change everything in the future. The Future of Us really made me think about actions and consequences and how the smallest of things can affect everything.

All in all, The Future of Us was an interesting read that was quick and easy. It had an interesting plot and good characters which made me want the best outcome for them. The use of Facebook was different and new, which makes the book stand out in comparison to others.