"The Here and Now" Teen/YA Book Review

            Hey folks! I just finished an absolutely awesome book by Ann Brashares (If you're not familiar, she is also the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series) titled The Here and Now. Random House Children's just released this in early April, so, if you know an older teen who loves to read, you are definitely going to want to get this one for them, which you can find on the publisher's website HERE.
            17 year old Prenna is like most girls her age and falls madly in love with a boy at her school, even though she can't tell him...Except she really can't tell him. If she were ever to become more than friends with him her whole world (and the future) would fall apart.
            Prenna is not exactly a typical 17 year old girl at all. She and a group of others immigrated in 2010...Not from another place but from 90 years in the future. Escaping a dying, plague ridden world, Prenna's community of "travelers" have very strict rules on their conduct in their new time; two of the most important rules being to never get intimate emotionally or physically with a "time native" and the other to NEVER let time natives know where they are really from.
            Prenna's trouble first begins when the crazy old homeless man that Ethan, her loved interest, is friends with wishes to speak to her alone. What he shares with her is impossible and goes against everything that has been instilled in her by her community of fellow travelers, yet she can't shake the feeling that there is truth to it. Without giving too much away, this sets in motion a series of events involving Ethan and Prenna racing against the clock to stop a murder that will change the world forever.
            I've been reading quite a few teen/ya novels lately for book reviews and I have to say, either I wasn't reading the right type of books for me when I was that age or authors have gotten a lot better at writing interesting stories! This was such an easy story to get into right off the bat. It pulls you in with a sense of mystery and intrigue and keeps it going throughout the entire book. It's definitely one of those stories that keeps you reading because you just have to know what happens next!
            I thought the characters were very well written and easy to relate with as well. While of course I like some description of people, places, and things, I don't like too much of it, personally. I thought The Here and Now had a nice balance: Just enough to give me an idea of a character's personality, for instance, but not so much that I become bored. I highly enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it for older teens.

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book for review from NetGalley.com. All opinions are my own and may differ from your own.