Hallway 100 Comics

Just like logging into Facebook, spoilers be everywhere! Because without spoilers, reviews are no fun. Scroll down for my spoiler filled review. If you haven’t read it, I say give it a shot. You’ll know from the first few chapters whether it’s for you or not. I give it a Grade A, and highly recommend.

The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

I enjoyed The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, tremendously. Enough to read it all in one day. And it was more optimistic than the somewhat depressing Thirteen Reasons Why (which again, was an amazing book).  The ending was satisfying and the plot kept you going.

In-depth thoughts:

• I liked the slow reveal of Emma and Josh’s backstory. You could tell from the get go that they were best friends who were now distant, just from their awkwardness. I never got the girl or boy next door vibe–it was clear that they had once been great friends. It made me want to know more. And care about them more.
• Emma and Josh are great people. They’re not perfect, but they’re good. They’re high schoolers you would actually want as your friends, which, let’s be honest, how common is that? Looking back, do any of us think we were great people in high school? Or that the way our friends acted was great? Neither Josh nor Emma are foolproof, but it’s hard not to root for them.
• I related to Emma’s need to know more, need to try and fix things, while I also related to Josh’s fear that playing with time will just make things worse. I’d struggle with both thought processes in their situation. Also, Josh was naive and goofy, while Emma was more sarcastic. I couldn’t have asked for two better leads.
• Kellan’s daughter. Did Emma have a right to pull out all the stops in removing her from existence. I’m all for avoiding unwanted pregnancies, but there weren’t any signs that Kellan didn’t enjoy her life. She seemed ecstatic when her daughter bought her those Rolling Stones tickets. I feel Emma didn’t learn her lesson fully, because she did what she thought was best for Kellan. Let the girl make her own decisions. I think the point of that was to let Kellan pursue her dreams and not be burdened with a teenage pregnancy, which I get, but I feel this also could be taken as bashing single moms. And single parents are amazing people, trying to juggle work and kids is not easy feat with two parents, let alone one. This just rubbed me the wrong way, but I know it wasn’t meant this way, so I’ll ignore it.
• Cancelling of the Facebook — have you ever cancelled your account and felt free? Like free or everyone’s expectations for you? That’s why I liked the metaphor of when future Emma cancelled her Facebook–Emma was now free from worries of her future, just as future Emma would be free from worries of other people’s superficial expectations. This was the perfect metaphor–literal and figurative.
• The friend group — Kellan and Tyson were good friends to each other.
• The slightly different accounts of Josh and Emma’s awkward failed kiss was awesome. No one remembers stressful events accurately. It’s nice to see that portrayed here.

Overall, a worthy read. I’ll probably give it another whirl someday. Not sure if it’s top shelf status, and I can’t put my finger on why. There was nothing inherently wrong with it that would keep it from there. But my gut, my intuition, says not yet. So we’ll see. Probably as I continue my surge of books, I’ll have a better idea of where it stands. Right after you finish a book, it’s hard to make that call.

So anyway, to the future of us! May we all realize that it’s not worth the sacrifice of an unhappy present.

Grade A 

Confused by my grading scale, click here to find out how the grades relate to star-ratings you’re more used to seeing.