Review: The Future of Us

Title: The Future of Us

Author: Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

Series: None

Release Date: November 21^st, 2011

Number of Pages: 356

Publisher: Razorbill

Source: Bought

It's 1996, and less than half of all American high school students have ever used the Internet.

Emma just got her first computer and an America Online CD-ROM.

Josh is her best friend. They power up and log on--and discover themselves on Facebook, fifteen years in the future.

Everybody wonders what their Destiny will be. Josh and Emma are about to find out.

This was one book I was really excited to read. After all, how could I not be excited about a new book form Jay Asher (I love Thirteen Reasons Why!). I thought it would make me a little nostalgic, but I may be a little too young for that. A lot of the references were a little lost to me, being only five at the time. Is it strange that I don’t remember a time without a computer? (scary, but true) That’s one of the great aspects of the book. I think it will attract to older readers because of that. It took me a while to get into the books because of all the references, but once I got over them, I couldn’t put it down.

One of the main ideas of this book is how every choice affects our lives. Emma tries to change her future through her actions, checking every time to say how it affected her future life. One of the things that made me think though is the reaction they have when they see their Facebook pages. It reminded me of the fact that most of us weren’t too interested in sharing that much info online, only to end up putting everything about us on those pages. It feels strange, doesn’t?

I love the story. I ended up cheering for certain characters or wanting to scream at certain characters to grow up. I really liked the main characters, Emma and Josh (but I preferred Josh, to be honest). Emma was fun and entertaining, but she was so dense some time! How could she not see what was right in front of her eyes! She is the one character I really wanted to scream at. Josh was simply lovable. I thought he was the perfect balance to Emma’s narration, giving us a different kind of voice about what was going on. Of course, I can’t really forget about the two best friends, who were the perfect relief when the drama was present between Josh and Emma.

It was an amazing book that will probably please both the younger audience that may not remember those years, and the older that will love the nostalgic side.

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why

Title: Thirteen Reasons Why

Author: Jay Asher

Release Date: October 18^th, 2007

Series: None

Number of Pages: 288

Publisher: Razorbill

Source: Bought

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Jay Asher's brilliant first novel is a moving, highly original story that focuses on a set of audiotapes made by a girl before she committed suicide, and which explain to 13 people the reasons why she decided to end her life. Told in a highly effective duel narrative -- alternating between the girl s voice and the thoughts of a boy who is listening -- this honest, poignant story reveals how other people's actions shape, and by extension can ruin, an individual's faith in people. Intensely powerful and painfully real, Thirteen Reasons Why reveals how brutal high school can be, the consequences of spreading rumors, and the lasting effects of suicide on those left behind.

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Wow. Seriously, I was not expecting this kind of book. I had read the summary. Yet I wasn’t expecting the book to leave me that speechless. It was such an amazing books.

The story itself is Clay listening the tapes and learning what pushed Hannah to kill herself. We get to here her story, while also reading about Clay’s reaction to her words. I found it to be really powerful. I’ve heard many readers say that her reasons weren’t good enough, that it was making fun of teenagers who had real reasons to kill themselves. Okay, first, I don’t think you can judge someone reasons to commit suicide. Usually it’s about the fact that they have lost hope in life. Not everyone see the worthiness of life the same way. I think that’s what is so powerful about the book. You understand that the way you threat people matters, because something you may think is a joke to you can feel like the end of the world to another person.

Also, you stop for a second to thank if someone you may know may show the sign of thinking about suicide. That’s another I heard about the plot: Why didn’t they realized she was about to kill herself? I think it is simple, we see what we want to see.

The characters didn’t really matter to me, except Hannah. I came to care about her in a way, even if I think it is really cruel to do what she did. Yet, I understand. She wanted them to understand. Clay didn’t really mark me as much, but I don’t think any of the other characters could have made a narrator as good as him. He didn’t really do anything wrong. She only wanted him to understand why she did it. He was the only one she wasn’t really angry with.

Jay Asher’s writing was powerful. I read the book in one sitting, on a patio at Starbucks. My coffee turned cold, yet I didn’t care. I couldn’t put the book down until I was done with it.

I have to say that I’m completely in love this book. I think everyone should read it. Amazing and powerful. 5/5