Book Review: The Future of Us

What would you do if you saw your future self living a life that you didn't want? Would you try to change it? Would you know how?

The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, tries to answer those questions.

When Emma, a high school student, downloads a free version of AOL in the mid nineties, a strange website called Facebook pops up on her screen. She reads posts from a woman, and eventually becomes convinced the woman to be her future self. She gets a glimpse of herself as an adult, and she doesn't like what she reads so she takes steps to change her future.

I found the premise of this book very interesting and the book is well written. However, I did find it hard to believe that anyone could actually believe that a website was predicting her future. But, it is fiction. 

The chapters went back and forth from Emma's point of view to her friend, Josh's, point of view. I think it was a good way to move the story forward in a clever way. Emma and Josh's relationship is written well, and is very believable. I think the writers did a great job with a premise that could have been predictable. 

The authors recreated the 1990s very well, without hitting you over the head with it. It takes you back to those early days of the Internet, AOL, and dial-up. You can even hear in your mind that distinctive sound of the Internet connecting.

Facebook has become such a huge part of a lot of people's lives, and I think it's hard for some people to remember that there was a time when there was no Facebook, and people still had friends, and lives. I guess I don't have to say that I'm not a huge fan of Facebook.

The Future of Us brings up a lot of questions, and they're not easy to answer. How much are we in control of our own future? Does every choice we make change our future, or does each choice make our future?