The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

Synopsis: Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.

This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins. 
Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth. 
But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves. 
From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking—and a must-read novel of the year.

From Goodreads.com

Review: I enjoyed this book, for the most part. At first, it was somewhat difficult to get into it, but once the story picked up, I sped through the rest of it. This is an interesting story on time travel, especially because of the fact that the group of people travels once, and cannot go back to the time they were from originally. The story obviously brings up many questions about time travel and how time works in general. It definitely is a book that makes you think.

The characters were likable and relatable, yet they do seem a bit underdeveloped for most of the book. There is a lot of potential for their own backstories to be expanded upon even further, especially the main character, Prenna, and her family. 

The plot was very interesting, especially once I got further into the novel. It is not a simple plot, which is expected with most time travel books. I enjoyed where the plot went, yet some parts of it almost felt too convenient to happen the way they did. 

Overall, I did like the book, but not as much as I have liked other books by Ann Brashares. If you want to read an interesting time travel novel, I would recommend adding this one to your list. 

This ebook was provided to me through Netgalley. 

My Name is Memory

     I really loved this book. Ann Brashares did an amazing job writing this. She is also the author of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books.
     Daniel is a man who has an amazing memory. So amazing, in fact, that he can remember all of his past lives. And one component is the same in every one: Sophia.
     Sophia is the one he has always loved, and always lost. He spends each life searching for her, hoping that this will be the life he finds her and gets to be with her. Of course, their bodies are always different, but their souls never change. Daniel could recognize Sophia's soul from anyones.
     The book switches between descriptions of Daniel's past lives(and his memories of Sophia) and the present time(in the 21st century). Don't think that the switching is confusing, it isn't. At the beginning of each chapter is the place and year, so it is easy to keep track of the history and what is going on. It is written beautifully.
     The one problem I did have with this book was the ending. I won't give anything away, but it was very sudden, as if the last chapter or two was left out. There are some rumors online about this book being the first in a trilogy, but I'm not sure if this is true or not. So far, there is no sequel. I am hoping for one to be written and published, but I'm not holding my breath.
     I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good love story and/or history.