I seem to be in the minority here, but I enjoyed this book quite a lot. Maybe because I have never read the popular novels by Brashares, but mostly because I found the concept entertaining, this is a YA book that follows Prenna James, a girl who is living in a town that she was born in, but not at the time she is currently living. She comes from the future along with other travelers to try and make the world a better place in the future, when climate change and plagues have devastated the planet. She partners up with her friend Ethan to uncover secrets and try to stop events from occurring that will cause future destruction.
So the entire time I read this I kept thinking about how much this reminds me of the TV Show "Travelers" It's not the same, but it is very, VERY, similar in concept. I could be remembering wrong, but there were some themes here that just kept me flashing back to that show. Which came out several years after this book and was much more adult and the traveling was different, but still. There is a romance in here that is typical of YA books, googly eyes, and instalove, I could do without that. I did like the whole time travel concept in this book. How the timeline was woven, if you could change it, what effect would the travelers have on the people in the current timeline. It was all very interesting to me. It was also crazy reading this book and having them think 2021 was so far away. If you take the weak romance out of the story I feel like you have a pretty fun sci-fi romp and I enjoyed it. If you like shows like The Travelers then you might like this, just realize it's written for a younger crowd so it is a lot lighter in tone and intention.

I no longer have access to this book and do not anticipate seeking it out to read it at this time. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares is a captivating blend of science fiction, romance, and young adult drama, delving into the complex themes of time, choice, and destiny. Brashares offers readers a thought-provoking narrative that explores the tensions between living in the present and being burdened by the past.

What sets this novel apart is its exploration of time travel in a way that is both emotionally resonant and intellectually stimulating. Blair’s sense of isolation is palpable, as she is constantly aware that she is not truly a part of the world she finds herself in. Brashares skillfully conveys the inner turmoil Blair feels, torn between wanting to forge meaningful connections and knowing that she cannot stay forever. The ethical dilemmas surrounding time travel are also explored, with Blair and her friends grappling with the consequences of their actions, which can have irreversible impacts on both the past and future.

The Here and Now is a story that will linger with readers long after they turn the final page, urging them to reflect on how they live in the present and the weight of the choices they make for the future.

This was such an interesting book. Dystopian and time travel all wrapped up together. I loved The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which is why I requested this book. It was not what I expected, but it was definitely a good read. I appreciate the chance to read it = and I completely forgot to write a review after I read it!

I wanted to like this, since I have fond memories of reading The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I just could not get into this book. The characters felt underdeveloped and rather bland. There wasn't much plot, either. I'm not even entirely sure what actually happened in this book. Disappointed, but I would be willing to try another book from this author in the future.

zero character development, insta-love, and a deus ex machina love interest. this plot was overly simple yet was riddled with plot holes.

I’ll be honest, I first picked up The Here and Now because of the author recognition. I loved The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and I figured Ann Brashares wouldn’t disappoint!

But with that being said, this book shares some similarities to The Sisterhood series in that it’s emotional and makes you think, but it’s also completely different.

It is about a time traveler, after all.

I found this story very unique. It really sucked me in and I was fascinated by Prenna and her fellow travelers. Listening to the different rules they had to follow and the way their population was secluded kind of made it feel like a cult.

The time traveling aspect was a little confusing at times. While everything came together in the end I felt like the story was a little weak at some points which is why I’m giving it 3 stars. But I did love the slow burn of Ethan and Prenna as they got to know each other better.

I would recommend this book, but I think that it will be more interesting to fans of Ann Brashares than to readers interested in time travel.

The Here and Now
By Ann Brashares
April 8, 2014

Prenna is a seventeen year old immigrant who comes to New York, not from a different place but from a different time period. She and others like her escape the future pandemic. She has rules she must follow. Do not obstruct history in any way. That includes not forming any relationships. When Prenna meets Ethan Jarves, keeping that rule is not all that easy because she falls hard for him.

I liked that the book was a mix of contemporary and sci-fi. I liked the dystopian aspects of the book. (With the mosquito illness that wiped out a majority of the population.)

Thank you to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for this copy to review.

I received this book years ago when I first joined NetGalley and finally had an opportunity to read it. I love Ann Brashares and the premise of this story, especially post pandemic. The story was fast paced and kept me interested throughout, it was hard to put down!!

This was a fast paced teen thriller. A girl from another world who can save this one but then love blooms. How will everything play out.

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

258 Pages
Publisher: Random House Children’s, Delacorte Press
Release Date: April 8, 2014

Fiction, Teens, Young Adult, Children’s Fiction, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Time Travel

Prenna and her mother live with a colony of others who have traveled from the future. Their world is dying, and it was their only chance to survive. To live here, they must follow the colony’s rules especially with interactions with the habitants. No one can find out their secret or their future will be at risk. Ethan is kind to Prenna and she is warming to him. She does not remember meeting Ethan when she arrived in this time.

The book has a steady pace, the characters are somewhat developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. There is a romantic thriller twist to the story. It was a quick read and I really enjoyed it. If you like time travel stories, you will enjoy this book.

I've been a fan of the author for years and this book was really so moving. I loved the setting, the writing, the romance. It was the first book in a long time that I closed the last page wanting even more of the beautiful story.

I was so excited to read "The Here and Now" and experience a very different kind of story from Ann Brashares. I thought the story – about Prenna, a teenaged girl travels to New York from a different, pandemic-stricken time and has to ensure she doesn't ever slip in revealing where she's really from or interfering with the timeline – sounded promising and intriguing.

At first, Brashares does a great job with this story – she sets up the world well and it's extremely compelling. However, I found it difficult to really connect with the characters, who all fell a bit flat on the page. I kept wishing for more depth, especially from the leads and the romantic plot, and was disappointed that never happened.

Overall, this was a quick read that started off super interesting, but it unfortunately fizzled out and didn't quite work for me.

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

This has been on my TBR pile for so long, and I'm glad I finally got around to it. I really enjoyed the storyline and seeing the characters change throughout the story was a great character development. The plot was great and kept my attention. I'm glad I got the chance to read this and will be on the lookout for more in the future!

Now that we have had a pandemic, I probably viewed this book differently. The time travel aspect gives a different spin on the story and it was enjoyable.
Many thanks to Random House Children’s and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was released in 2014 - interesting to actually read it in 2022, with the past couple of years of pandemic living under our belts. Wouldn't it be lovely to be able to time travel back to 2019, or earlier, to find out what really happened and better yet, stop it from happening? That's the premise of this book - people from 80 years in the future have found a way to travel back in time to stop a mosquito-borne plague from decimating the population. Can they? Should they? And should it fall into the laps of a couple of 17-year-olds to ultimately determine the success of such a plan? Being a YA novel, that's just what happens here. Typical of people their age, they make some good decisions, some epically bad ones, and they have a hard time staying on task thanks to their hormones. But the adults around them make some pretty heinous decisions as well, so it's hard to lay all the blame on the kids. Overall I didn't love or hate this one (I see some pretty vicious reviews here) - time travel is notoriously difficult to write, and difficult to wrap one's mind around when reading about it, so I usually just try to suspend my disbelief and pretend it all makes sense. Wasn't any easier or harder to do that with this book - but the YA factor sometimes was a distraction for me - I kept wanting to yell at them to focus - then again that's probably just the geezer in me. I expect the YA crowd would love this one.
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

I've been trying to go back to my older books in my Netgalley TBR and my reading preferences have changed so much that I couldn't make it very far in this one. Just wasn't quite working out for me. At this time, I'm no longer interested in this title. Thank you for the opportunity to read the book and I apologize for the inconvenience.

A dystopian romance by Ann Brashares - yes please! I LOVED this, it has echoes of Allie Condie's Matched series. I loved everything about this - the romance, the world building, the story. I will read this again and again.

I was not a huge fan of this book, despite my excitement based on the summary. Unfortunately it just didn't do it for me. The plot was interesting, but the characters fell short in my opinion. The book moved too slow for me to really consider it a thriller, and I didn't enjoy the ending. That being said, I will likely give Ann Brashares another chance and seek out her other novels as I have heard good things about her!

I requested this years ago, however I don't think this aligns with my current interests. Thank you for the opportunity to read, but I unfortunately will not be reviewing this.