I just finished reading The
Future of Us. Since I’ve started writing, I’ve noticed I read novels
differently than I used to. Now, when I read, I dissect and analyze the author’s
writing style. This leads me to the first reason I enjoyed this novel.
The story is told in two distinct characters: Josh,
written by Jay Asher, and Emma, written by Carolyn Mackler. Often books with
multiple POVs are written by the same author and, although there are two view
points, the underlying style is the same. But this doesn’t happen in The Future
of Us because both writers have completely different writing styles.
It is only my opinion, but I enjoyed Josh’s voice better
than Emma’s because of Jay’s writing style.
Jay Asher is the bestselling author of Thirteen Reason’s Why. He’s a fabulous writer and his characters
always reflect a deep point of view which melts me into the character’s plight
more than a writer that doesn’t completely exercise this skill.
For character depth, however, Emma wins hands down. Carolyn
deserves mucho kudos for layering her character’s behavior.
Although, a teen may be able to relate to Emma, an adult
reader is able to notice the reasons behind Emma’s actions, which made me
deeply sympathize with Emma’s character.
For example, without giving a spoiler alert, Emma’s mother
is on her third husband. Emma’s father moved away, remarried, and has a new
baby with his second wife. How can this family dynamic not affect a teenager as
she develops dating relationships? Wouldn’t any girl want to find a boyfriend,
aka future husband, that she will be happy with until death do they part?
As I got older, that was my dating goal. Luckily, twenty-two years later my
husband still puts up with me. Or maybe it’s because I’m a technotard and have
never bothered to open a Facebook account.
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