(3.5 stars) I have mixed feelings. This is just, at its heart, a frustrating book. The main character is like "I can't believe I'm so drawn to this guy who's not my boyfriend! Maybe me and my boyfriend aren't as good together as I thought. Maybe I really like this other guy." And you're like, "So you can hold off kissing the new guy until you've dealt with the boyfriend situation, right?" And she's like "Oh no I absolutely cannot. That's a no go. I will be kissing him now." And you're like "That's what I thought you'd say, you typical YA high school plot."

Despite how much I dislike the "cheating out of sheer inability to resist this other person" trope (I'm sorry, you have that little self control? The hell?), I think the book handles it pretty well. You can feel Skylar's guilt, and you get the sense of her relationship going downhill even before anybody else gets involved. It's not a great plot line to me and I enjoyed it more once that drama had been resolved, but I don't think it's badly written.

Truman himself is convincingly dislikable when necessary without being an asshole, which is kind of outstanding—so often "enemies to lovers" books have a love interest who was truly cruel to the main character in the past (or even during the book!) and treat it as a quirky "they are equally to blame!" situation. This isn't that, thank G-d. This book is like hey, they both have reasons to think the other one is aggravating and mean, but neither of them have ever tried to assault, humiliate, or otherwise ruin the other's life. And I'm like cool, I can deal. I am also very inclined toward this kind of "love arguing with this person so much that I might just have to kiss them about it" dynamic.

I like how the future social media aspect was handled. I read a very similar book once in which the future was shown though facebook (very dated for today's teens!), and I'd say this one compared better. I like that the stuff the main character could see went beyond instagram to linked webpages, and that how well those webpages were organized and maintained said as much about the future as the photos on them. There was also a nice twist in the end about misinterpreting one thing Skylar saw as meaning something else.

I am also always here for complex female friendships! But they were overshadowed by the romance. Skylar is often motivated by what her friends want and what she thinks they need, which is a cool detail about this book, but it mostly comes down to reasons to get Skylar and Truman together in the end.

Harper gets a decent amount of development and is pretty compelling—she's dealing with depression, recovering from self harm, trying to go back to normal life while everyone else can't stop walking on egg shells around her. She gets to be three-dimensional, sweet and determined and sad and tired. Jordan, on the other hand, isn't as developed, and I feel like there was a dropped plot line here. Her and Skylar's friction, partly driven by their different ways of coping with Harper's self harm that happened before the book began, seems like it must be driven by more than that, because she gets annoyed by things about Skylar that are completely unrelated. For that reason, I feel like they needed more conflict resolution than the scene about all three of them, because I think there was more, between just her and Skylar, that needed to be addressed.

I look back on the book with much more good to say than bad, but it was not the most enjoyable reading experience for me.

What would you do if you had access to see your future? Would you take every chance to check it? Even correct it?
Skylar is a junior in high school surrounded by her two best friends, Harper and Jordan, and her dreamy popular boyfriend Eli.
Wanting to check out social media a the prom proposals, she receives a message from Jordan, only its from a class reunion site 11 years in the future. After navigating the site, Sky's future is everything she DOESNT want to happen, including married to her nemesis Truman.
But every chance Skylar takes to correct and set her future in the right direction leads to worse and worse results!
Correcting and overcorrecting, Skyler is losing control of not only her future but her present.
This novel was interesting and nothing like I've read before. I found myself frustrated with every single character at one point in time and did not love how Skylar treats her friends, family, and Truman. I know its YA so as a young woman we all go through growth, but it was a little much for me.
I will say there are some trigger warnings, talk of cutting and suicide.
The author also touches on learning disabilities like dyslexia which I found very interesting
Truman was the most interesting character. He was obnoxiously smart, but sweet and internal struggling with what he wanted to be and who his family wanted to be.
I think the story had good bones but needed just a little bit more relationship growth or character development for us to feel connected to them. Even finishing with an epilogue of what DID happen in 10 years. I was living for that ending that never happened,
Not quite a 3 star for me but rounded up.

I didn't love this book. There were a lot of aspects that didn't really work for me and I found myself getting frustrated. I don't think it's an inherently bad book, I just think it didn't work for me.

Skyler lived in the "now", and didn't worry too much about the future. When Skyler's cell phone showed her glimpse's of her ten year reunion, she became very concerned with acting now to prevent such things becoming her reality. But, while trying to fix the future, she may have caused some problems in the present.

I said it, when I featured this book back in April as my Can't Wait Wednesday pick, I was intrigued by the premise, but I was really coming for the promised hate-to-love romance, and I was not disappointed.

Truman and Skyler had quite the rivalry. Their bickering and arguing became expected in their classes, but through the verbal sparring, it was easy to see an obvious spark. I liked these two, and the way they challenged each other, while having such opposite goals. Truman was slogging through his present in order to ensure his future, while Skyler was sort of coasting, only worrying about the now. They helped each other meet in the middle, while also maybe realizing that they may have outgrown some of their plans.

For me, the "magical" element played a small role, though I appreciated them as a creative way to get Skyler to start really looking at her life. What was more meaningful for me was the overall message, that life is about balance, and even if you have the best laid plans, your future may not match the one you envisioned. It's also about friendship, and working to foster those important relationships. And, it's about being true to yourself, spending your time and effort to achieve things that matter to you, not just to impress others.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I liked the idea of living in the now vs. planning for the future, and how sometimes things are out of our control, no matter how hard we try to follow a plan. I was also a fan of these two "enemies", and liked watching that tension turn into more.

Unfortunately this was a miss for me. The premise sounded cute, but I had a bunch of issues with it. My main complaint is Skylar, our heroine. She is so selfish, self involved and immature that I couldn’t connect or care about the outcome. My other issue is her voice. What 16 y/o talks about “the soul healing aroma of tomato sauce and melted cheese”? None. And why does she have a car but not a good cell phone? Also the way that cutting and a suicide attempt were glossed over (in part because Skylar is so self absorbed) really irked me.

Fun story with a bit of magical realism. I think this was such a unique commentary on social media and its impact on us.

Thank you NetGalley, Delacorte Press and Sara Bennett Wealer for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
First of all, let’s talk about this cover. I LOVED this cover. They say not to judge a book by it’s cover but I knew I wanted to read this just based on that. Then the synopsis totally pulled me in. I’m a sucker for a enemies-to-lovers trope. That being said I wasn’t blown away. I’ll start with the big one: unlikable protagonists are hard to read. The cheating felt totally pointless, not that there is ever a point, and it just became a distraction while reading.
I did like how the author handled some of those harder topics that authors usually avoid. *TRIGGER* Self hard, suicide* and mental health are topics that need to be handled with care and I though Sara Bennett Wealer did that perfectly!

If your Instagram suddenly started showing you pictures from the future, how much would you want to see? That the question in YA dramady Now & When.

Skyler is happy with her life on paper. Perfect popular boyfriend, two great best friends, and the perfect enemy to spar with in class, Truman, a debate club blowhard who thinks he knows everything. But when Skyler starts getting notifications on her less-than-reliable phone from a high school reunion site where she seems to be—gasp, then another horrified gasp—married to Truman, she panics.
Determined to change the future she tries simple things like dousing herself in coconut lotion because she knows Truman hates the smell. But when the reunion site starts changing with bad results for herself and the people she loves, and she finds herself more drawn to—you guessed it—uber enemy Truman, Skyler starts to question her choices.

I’m torn about this book. Some things I really liked. In typical me fashion, Truman was one of them. I felt for him and wished Skyler was a little nicer. That said, he was a little hard to like at times. But Skyler seemed immature to me. I didn’t get what she liked about her boyfriend, and her transition to liking Truman seemed very quick and future-phone dictated. There were heavy issues in this book. Skyler thinking her actions could alter the fate of a friend suffering with depression felt sort of nuts. Of course, I’m saying that as an adult reading a book meant for teens. It might be completely believable to someone who’s encountering a depressed friend for the first time in their life, and it might be a really valuable book to read.

Ultimately, I’m always drawn to these stories with magical elements and often leave a little disappointed because I’m left without an explanation. Of course I am. There’s no way to explain a phone sending you pictures from the future. But I do think there were some great themes about living in the moment and doing what you can today to secure the future you want whether or not you can see it clearly.

Thank you to @netgally , @randomhousechildrens , and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

This book really reminded me of the book "Of Curses and Kisses" by Sandhya Menon in the sense that is a YA romance with a bunch of subplots and a small paranormal aspect.

This book is very character driven. It was fast paced. The romance was cute. The future-telling website was well incorporated. I appreciated how it changed so many times. The friendships felt realistic because they didn't always get along and sometimes kept secrets from one another (like real humans). I LOVED Harper's storyline (she's one of the female protagonist's best friends). She had previously struggled with mental health and self harm. I was in awe of the author's ability to show how that can affect the mental health of the people around you. It added a lot of complexity to the story in a really awesome way.

Overall, I thought it was pretty good. I think the romance was a little bit forced but mostly cute.

“For fans of Jenny Han and Christine Ricco comes a romantic dramedy about a teen girl who stumbles upon a mysterious website that tells her everything she doesn’t want to know about her future.” Fine. That sounds interesting. However, Now and When is merely the poor reader’s updated version of The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. In Wealer's story, Instagram has replaced Facebook, and Skyler Finch, the protagonist, is unbelievably invested in changing the outcomes of the class reunion site by clumsily trying to change the present. What she should have tried to change is herself. Asher’s and Mackler’s book from 2011 presented the story in a more satisfying way, and without a suitable payoff, this book is nothing but a self-centered ego-trip.

Now & When is a YA with a unique storyline, and I was immediately intrigued by it.

Skylar and Truman are both high school juniors, and can't stand each other. In class they heatedly discuss topics and away from the classroom the arguing continues. She is in a stable relationship with her boyfriend, and while her home life isn't perfect after her dad lost his job, things are okay. That is until she gets a random Instagram message that seemingly comes from the future, and scariest of all: In said future she is married to Truman. Skylar becomes obsessed with changing her fate, and without realizing, starts messing with not only her own future, but the people around her. Things fall out of control, but the closer she gets to Truman, the more Skylar sees why her future self may have fallen for him.

I love the slow burn romance aspect of the story. Truman is a mixture of Seth Cohen from The OC and Ben Gross from Never Have I Ever and I am here for it. While I'm not a fan of the name, I enjoy an intelligent and caring hero with a side of nerdiness. Skylar isn't really one of the popular girls, but she is definitely driven by popularity as are a lot of high schoolers. She is still trying to figure out who she is and how to get there. There is a little of cheating happening, but considering that this is between teenagers and doesn't go further than kissing, it didn't bother me too much. Maybe it was just that I really didn't care about Eli and Skylar's relationship.

The book also touches on mental health and self harm, which is so so important. I do wish Skylar's friendship with Harper would have been less secondary. I think this whole situation could have had the potential to really matter, but instead it feels like the suicide attempt gets almost brushed under the table.

Overall I enjoyed the uniqueness of the story, but am left with a few questions after finishing. I wish we would've gotten some sort of epilogue. After the whole story is very much about what happens in the future, we don't get answers. What happens? Did the predictions come true? Who sent the messages from the future and why? Why does no one try to figure out the mystery behind the messages? I just think if I'd get messages from the future, I would start to investigate what prompted them and not just solely focus on who I supposedly end up with.

I received a free advanced copy from the author/ publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I love the enemies-to-lovers part of this book. The story line itself is very unique also- Skyler can see the future somehow through her phone and finds she’s married to Truman, her nemesis. With different actions her future changes and sometimes not for the better..

However, I felt like there wasn’t enough character development. We know Truman can be obnoxious and Skyler finds him repulsive, so then why is she randomly kissing him? There was no exploration of their relationship and how it built. I couldn’t find myself rooting for them.

I also wanted to get behind the best friend trio but the characters just seemed to not be good friends and fought all the time. It made it hard for me to like them.

I do love the story line, I just wish there was more to it in regards to the background and character likeability.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Now & When feels like a very ambivalent book: characters lack growth and motivation, the plot lacks organic growth, and it feels like it was trying to be one thing but ended up something else. That isn't to say that it is not a light and pleasant read; rather, that there are problems with the narrative and clarity that can be frustrating. A lot of the issues I had with the book made sense after I read the end notes, where the author describes writing a very different book (a much more somber one during the time she lost her parents) but turned it into a rom-com at the request of her editor. It explains the lack of focus and inexplicable actions of many characters.

Story: Skyler Finch has the perfect boyfriend, two great best friends, and loving parents. Money is a bit short thanks to layoffs and closure at the big mill, but the family is doing ok. Then Skyler's old phone begins to randomly glitch and shows her a future high school reunion website that very obviously could not be faked. As Skyler tries to change the future, she finds the consequences might be more dire than she had expected.

The magical realism isn't really explained and isn't meant to be pondered - it just is. Much as with Marty McFly and Back To The Future when he sees himself disappearing in a picture of his family, Skyler as well is trying to figure out why the future is sending her very specific info and notifications. She shows it to her friends and they kind of blow it off, despite all realizing that there was nothing faked. I found that to be very odd and hard to get past. It was reactions like that (or non-reactions) that took away the magic and made it a shrug.

Characters are given complex set ups that are rarely explored. We get good reasons why Skyler dislikes Truman Alexander, is horrified to see that she ends up marrying him, but we don't get reasons why she is suddenly kissing him (other than that he is superficially attractive). Similarly with Truman, we don't get a lot of reason to appreciate why he is attracted back. Both do have verbal sparring matches but they don't really explore the thin line between passion and loathing (as the books suggests in one scene). Truman's horror at seeing himself married to Skyler in the future also belies why he would be kissing her suddenly. She was never someone he considered dating and it is obvious he considers her not good enough to be in his life permanently. The romance here is inexplicable and very doa. There is a LOT of tell but not enough show to back it up.

There are similar character development issues with friends Jordan and Harper. Jordan is standoffish and forthright - yet we're told constantly that the friendship between Skyler and Jordan is in trouble. That Jordan always looks to be ready to dump Skyler at any moment. Harper, meanwhile, is the heartfelt 'hippie' who tries to bridge the gap between her two friends but is also suffering from mental issues herself, some suicidal serious. It means that Skyler spends a lot of the book trying to change a future in which Harper does not take her own life. The relationship of the three girls doesn't really change much, certainly not for the positive after all the magical realism. Jordan is too busy setting up a prom to be concerned with knowing the future (other than how her hair looks) and Harper doesn't want to see the future at all, considering it a cosmic no-no. So they weave in and out of Skyler's life but don't touch it as much as they should.

In all, I think the romance was definitely the weakest part. Most of the book was Skyler freaking out or Truman freaking out. Their sparring matches seem pointless. Most of the time they are together, they disagree or upset the other one. And then suddenly they kiss then break it off and pretend it didn't happen. And oddly enough, Truman always felt like a 12 year old rather than a 17 year old. I had to keep looking at the cover to remind myself that he was nearly an adult.

I did read through the book easily in one sitting. There weren't many slow moments and the story moved quickly enough. The hook of seeing how the magical realism would turn out kept me invested to the end. But I admit to feeling as ambivalent about the story as the story itself was ambivalent about everything. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

<i>Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

So, I did actually enjoy this book. The premise was interesting, and I am a total sucker for "enemies-to-lovers" trope. I loved the idea of the main character getting phone notifications from the future and trying to change her own destiny. I also appreciated that the novel addressed issues such as depression, suicide, and the insane pressure put on high schoolers to succeed.

I think what ultimately prevents this book from being a four or five star read for me is that I just really had a hard time loving any of the characters. I wanted to like the friendship trio between Skyler, Harper, and Jordan, but it was just okay. As a main character, Skyler was really rather frustrating. Everyone who was aware of the future postings was telling her to stop trying to change things, and she was incredibly obstinate, to the point of making some really dangerous decisions. There were so many problems in this book that could have been avoided had she made better choices.

Despite the issues, I felt as though it was an enjoyable read. Even when everyone in the book was driving me nuts, I was still rooting for them, and there were many sweet moments. I would definitely read more by this author!

This has a great cover! The blurb sounds cute and interesting! But, you can't always judge a book by its cover.

What would you do if you were given a link to a website from the future that includes photos from your 10 year reunion? It's a good question and it does lead to some interesting events for Skylar.

I can understand the message behind the whole knowing the future and trying to change it to how you want it. It can be obsessive and really it's just better to take one day at a time. Knowing the future and trying to change it left Skylar not being a likeable character for a majority of the book. She was too busy trying to change her future, her friend's future, and it made her do stupid things.

One of those stupid things *Spoiler!* was cheating on her boyfriend who even did a cute promposal for her. Now, this is really where I started to dislike the book. I was really enjoying the beginning and the little banter between Truman and Skylar. But, cheating is just a big fat no! Especially when you don't learn from your past decisions.

Skylar kisses Truman and feels guilty. Obviously she should! But, she is never fully honest with herself or her boyfriend. Here's the thing, if you are conflicted then get out of the relationship you are currently in and say you need time to figure things out. Don't be a dillweed and wait until things start escalating! Are you stupid or are you stupid? Then, after she tells her boyfriend and they make up she thinks its a good idea to later continue a project with Truman, alone, and then go bowling together and not tell her boyfriend that she was still hanging out with him. That girl needs some sense...

It was just really annoying and made me dislike her and him. Truman gets the blame too because he knew about her boyfriend. Just ridiculous! 🤦‍♀️

Anyways, one of her friends has/had a *Content Warning* cutting problem. Skylar is concerned but she was also more concerned with her own future. I think that this was just kind of thrown in and didn't feel like it really needed to be there.

The plot, besides what was already talked about was fine. I thought it was interesting and made for some good moments.

Overall, I can't say I didn't like some of the book and maybe that's because it became one big train wreck.

Skyler is perfectly happy; she's a junior in high school that has 2 best friends and a popular boyfriend who just asked her to prom in the cutest possible way. But then she receives an invitation to join a reunion website, where she sees pictures of her and her classmates, all approximately 11 years older, at their 10 year class reunion. What's particularly interesting is that she sees herself positioned VERY closely to her current nemesis in these pictures...and they're both wearing wedding rings. Skyler tries everything she can to avoid that future, but every decision she makes seems to change the future she sees on the reunion website - but not for the better.

I loved the concept of this book, and I thought it was a very cute, a little bit romantic, story. My only complaint is that the reunion site is never fully explained - I would have liked to know how exactly Skyler got access to a website from the future! But that small missing piece didn't make the story any less enjoyable.

I received this ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!, I absolutely loved this book. The book was about a teenager named Skylar whose phone can see the future via instagram messages. She was not happy with the future with a particular boy so she tried to change it. I believe this book had a bit of magical realism. What happened was that every time she changed the present the future changed until she learned her lesson. The end result was beautiful. I loved Skylar and all of her friends. I wanted more!!! Thank you for my copy!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children’s/ Delacorte Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was incredibly intrigued by the magical realism. The main character, Skyler, can suddenly see 11 years into the future. Once she notices she ends up with Truman, a guy she can't stand, she's determined to change her fate. Except as she tries to make things better, things keep getting worse.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I liked how the story shows that every action has a counter-action. I enjoyed the plot idea, and I really liked Truman. Skyler, the MC, had a lot of personal growth as a character, but I wasn't the biggest fan of her. There's also a cheating plot-line, which I felt could have been left out and the story would have been just fine.

Overall, it was still an enjoyable YA story. It just didn't sweep me off my feet like I hoped it would. I wish I could have connected a bit more to the characters.

But I will say, the cover is GORGEOUS.

Now & When by Sara Bennett Wealer is about a teenage girl named Skyler Finch whose phone can somehow see 11 years into the future. When she sees that her fate is to end up with her archnemesis Truman Alexander, she feels she has no choice but to change her fate. As she tries to make things better for future Skyler things only get worse in both present day and the future.
I am honestly having a bit of trouble reviewing this book. While I liked the premise, it felt like things were missing in both the characters and the plot. Let me first say even though I did only give this book 3.5 stars if you are a fan of YA you should check it out.
What I loved? The plot, I have been loving magical realism and while this technically is not in that genre it should be. Being able to see into the future and watching it change almost in real time is so looming and intriguing. I also enjoyed that the leading character was constantly evolving throughout the whole book. Skyler, while not always the most likable character, was on a uphill arc this whole novel. Truman was a very cute and sweet YA love interest, while I didn’t always understand the dynamic of his and Skyler’s relationship it was cute nonetheless.
What I didn’t love? There was no true explanation of why Skyler’s phone could see into the future. This book was based around that one key factor so why were we not given any context to why it was happening at all? Now aside from Truman and Harper it was extremely hard for me to like any other character throughout Now & When. Everyone just seemed very self-obsessed even for a bunch of high schoolers I would have liked to see more maturity.
This author had a lot of good moments in this book, so much so that I will be checking out more from her. While Now & When was not a home-run for me it was still an interesting novel with a different plot than most. Thank you NetGalley for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I could not finish this book. I made it about a third of the way through and just do not see it getting any better. I personally wasn't into the writing and found Skyler's constant "I have a perfect life, why would I want to change anything?" attitude slightly annoying. I also didn't think there was any chemistry between Skyler and Truman, and this just made the fact that she's cheating on her boyfriend even worse since there isn't even any attraction between the two of them.

These are my personal opinions, so please do not let this discourage you if you are interested in this book!