Lately, I've been a sucker for anything time-travel related. I've seen it coming up more and more in new releases, and I haven't found too many that have disappointed me yet! Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed The Here and Now. In The Here and Now, Prenna is part of a small community of time travelers that have arrived in the past, desperate to find a way to change the devastating future that was their home. Plagues and poverty is all they've known for years. But the longer they stay, and the more self-aware Prenna becomes as she gets older, she's noticing that the community seems corrupt. They're surveilling them, and stifling their interactions with what they call the 'time natives' - or those who are from the present time. And who really knows what they've actually got planned to stop the future from unfolding the way it did in the past?
I thought the dynamic between Prenna and Ethan was really cute. Ethan is the one boy that Prenna can't seem to keep out, and can't bear to keep lying to. I thought it was very sweet the way that he seemed to understand her without having to push her too hard or too far. But I can't say a whole lot more about their relationship than that... it was cute. It wasn't super developed or so-adorable-I'm-gonna-melt... it was just... cute. Which is totally okay sometimes too!
The time travel was very straightforward in The Here and Now. There's the future, and the past. And you've got to make exactly the right change in the past in order to change anything in the future. The issue of paradoxes or alternate futures didn't seem to come up. The idea was more that time is a train, and you have to do some pushing to get it to change its track at all. This fresh, simplistic view of time travel is perfect for an Ann Brashares novel. At the end of the day, I didn't go into The Here and Now expecting a mind-bending time travel adventure. I expected an honest, real look at a girl who comes of age in her own way. That's what Ann Brashares writes best, in my opinion. The time travel piece almost took a back seat to the character and identity development that Prenna goes through.
Most of the more critical reviews of The Here and Now that I've read are attacking the fact that some of the big plot turns and revelations aren't exactly what you would call masterfully plotted. And I'll admit, they're really not. But that didn't ruin them for me either. I enjoyed The Here and Now from start to finish.
I read The Here and Now in near one sitting. It easily caught and held my attention, and I found myself needing to know whether or not the future could be changed. If there's another book, I'll definitely be reading it just as soon as I can get my hands on it!
Great review. I always love Ann Brashare's books, so I think I'm going to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read this one. I really like her past books so I can't wait to see how this one is.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great review!