Future Shock

Another great find this one is for anyone who loves a mystery and/or an urban fantasy genre. While this is a YA book the plot will keep anyone who loves a well written who done it guessing no mater what the age. The characters are so well written and while they aren't the "typical" heroes by the end of the book I really like them all. It doesn't release until April 2016 but you should pre-order this one so you don't miss out.

I loved this book. Elena is just two months shy of her eighteenth birthday but that is not a time she is necessarily looking forward to. As a foster child she will be 'aged out' of the foster care system and forced to make her own way. Elena is a young foster child with tattoos and anger management issues and perfect recall, her mother is dead and her father is in prison for murder.

So when Aether Corporation, approaches her to take part in a day of research in return for which they will pay her an enormous sum of money Elena signs up despite misgivings only to discover that she and four other teens are engaged to time travel ten years into the future.

The team consists of four foster children and one teen from a regular home, Adam. Each of them have some special talent or skill which will be of use in the future. But everything soon starts to unravel. Instead of travelling ten years into the future as agreed, they travel thirty years. The cash they have been given doesn't work in this time because all transactions are made using hand-print technology. More worrying still, all four foster children are "not found" when they try to use their hand-prints, although Adam is able to purchase items using his prints.

Elena begins to suspect that Aether Corporation has lied to them and will kill them when they return to the present. What follows is a richly-imagined, high-energy race, literally against time, to piece together evidence of Aether's true purpose and stay alive when they return to the present time.

I am a fan of time travel novels but most travel back in time so this was a new twist for me. The details of life thirty years in the future were really well thought through and the tension was maintained throughout as the group try to stay alive. Elena is a feisty heroine and Adam is endearing as the nerdy hero. Equally Trent, Chris and Holly are carefully drawn as complex individuals with their own stories and issues.

Although a very different type of novel, I think fans of the Hunger Games or Divergent would recognise a similar type of heroine.

This is my first book by Elizabeth Briggs but I will look for more now. My heart was in my mouth as the book ratcheted up the tension towards the shocking conclusion.

As a fan of Back to the future series I had no doubt about requesting this book.
And, lucky me, it was awesome.
Well written,full of intrigue and twists this book kept me in my feet, waiting for the punch. I couldn't put it down, went to sleep at 3 am, so I could finish soon.
I felt for them like if I was there too, running like a mouse in a labyrinth.

I think the romantic part could be bigger, but that´s my only complain.

Como uma fã da série De volta para o Futuro eu não pude deixar de solicitar esse livro no Netgalley. E, pra minha sorte, o livro foi maravilhoso.
Bem escrito, cheio de intrigas e reviravoltas, me manteve sempre alerta, esperando pelo próximo susto. Não pude deixar de lado, fui dormir às3 da matina pra poder acabar logo.
Eu sentia pelos personagens como se estivesse lá com eles, correndo como um ratinho de laboratório no labirinto.
Eu acho que a parte romântica poderia ser maior, mas essa é minha única queixa

I received Future Shock as an ARC (advance reader's copy) book from NetGalley. The gifting did not determine the review/rating, which reflects my honest opinion. Whatever you do, don't start this one at bedtime like I did or you'll be up reading until 2am. What an excellent plot. I'm not usually a fan of time travel, but the blurb was intriguing, so I had to give this one a try. Excellent characters, fast-paced action, a few twists and turns to keep the reader guessing, and a great ending. This one has it all. An author to watch!

I'll admit this isn't my usual read but the synopsis just grabbed me and so did the book, once I started reading I just couldn't put it down.
Elena's life hasn't been easy she's been rolling around in foster care for years and she's nearly eighteen which means once the state cheques stop coming she'll be out and on her own so she desperately needs a job but no matter how hard she tries she can't get hired, a seventeen year old Mexican girl with tattoos is obviously not what employers are looking for.
After being rejected yet again Elena is approached by the Aether Corporation, for just one day of her time they'll pay her a huge amount. Elena finds herself in a group of five gifted teenagers who've been recruited for a special project, a project which involves them being sent into the future where they soon realise things are not as they seem, something is clearly wrong and they find themselves alone in a future they know nothing about with money they can't spend and identities which no longer exist, well only one of them exists, they've no idea what's going on or who they can trust. I'm not saying anymore because I don't want to spoil this for you I'll just say it's a fascinating book which promises so much and it kept me completely hooked from the first page to the last.

Loved this book! It has so much that I love! A badass female lead, fast paced action, time travel, and an original storyline th at kept me invested in the story throughout. I would definitely recommend this book!

Elena Martinez is a disadvantaged teenager living in a foster home, so when she is recruited for a secret project and offered more money than she has ever seen in her life, she can't say no. This money would allow her to get her own place, go to college, never have to rely on anyone ever again.

When she finds out that the secret project involves time travel, she is hesitant, but how bad could it be? It would either work, or it wouldn't, and in any event it seems that she will be guaranteed the money, so she agrees.

Of course, something goes wrong and Elena and her fellow time travelers are soon on the run. They have a mystery to solve, and they have to be back at the portal in 24 hours or they will be lost in the future forever, or worse.

A wonderful whodunit. What really intrigued me about Future Shock was Elena's ability. Her eidetic memory sets it apart from other YA books. It was a bit predictable in parts, but I loved how it threw curve balls out there begging you to take a swing.

I would like to thank Albert Whitman Teen & NetGalley for a copy of this e-ARC to review. Though I received this ebook for free, that has no impact upon the honesty of my review.

Goodreads Teaser: Elena Martinez has hidden her eidetic memory all her life--or so she thinks. When powerful tech giant Aether Corporation selects her for a top-secret project, she can't say no. All she has to do is participate in a trip to the future to bring back data, and she'll be set for life.

Elena joins a team of four other teens with special skills, including Adam, a science prodigy with his own reason for being there. But when the time travelers arrive in the future, something goes wrong and they break the only rule they were given: do not look into their own fates.

Now they have twenty-four hours to get back to the present and find a way to stop a seemingly inevitable future from unfolding. With time running out and deadly secrets uncovered, Elena must use her eidetic memory, street smarts, and a growing trust in Adam to save her new friends and herself.

Creative and full of twists this book will take you on a great ride, so get comfy and prepare to travel to the future, and hopefully back again. The story certainly delivers, there's action, mysteries to unravel while racing a ticking clock, and high emotions that swing from mistrust, to violence, romance, friendship, and of course betrayal.

Having the story be told from Elena's point of view allows us to see so much more than would otherwise be possible, since she has an eidetic memory. In other words Elena can't forget anything she's read, seen, or experienced - even if she wants to. While each of the other teens involved in the super secret project have their own talents, none seem to be as powerful as Elena. Not until they meet Adam and discover that he's a true genius, having graduated from college with two degrees before his eighteenth birthday. But Adam doesn't fit the profile of the other four kids, including Elena. He's so clearly not a product of the foster care system, and therefore vulnerable to the rest.

Chris is a mountain of a guy, and has a temper. His new sidekick, Trent, is mouthy but more of a rabble rouser than anything else. And Zoe is a tiny, meek little mouse of a girl. But they all know the rules of the street and system, so when Adam blithely puts his foot in his mouth almost from the start Elena feels compelled to defend and protect him. And though she's small compared to the boys her reputation seems to have proceeded her, to her dismay.

The truth is, none of these kids are what I just described above. They are all so much more than the quick labels that get slapped on them at one point or another. Yet because of what they've gone through they are very, very slow to trust in others. So watching them struggle with the lessons they've often painfully learned and the reality of their situation is a fascinating exercise in human relations. It's something Ms. Briggs handles with grace and sensitivity, all while managing to keep it feeling realistic (at least to someone who's had the great luck to never enter the foster care system).

And it's the emotional baggage and leaps these kids are forced to deal with that make this book so compelling for me. Certainly the mystery and dangers they face are riveting, but without these characters and their unplumbed depths it would simply be your average future travel mystery. Instead it's a lovely blend of human emotions and what fighting for your lives brings to the fore in each of them. The twists and turns in the plot certainly keep the story moving forward at a relentless pace, but never so fast as to lose the threads that bind these kids together, wether they want to be together or not. Hands down a solid read, and one that will have you dreading the idea of putting it down, so prepare plenty of time because this book is a page turner that will get its hooks into you from the beginning straight through to the very end.

This book was a quick read for me. A fun romp through time with mystery and some romance. Plenty of twists and turns to keep me guessing.

I have read a series by this author before. Although this was a different genre and age category, a lot of the elements I enjoyed were still the same.

At first, I had trouble keeping the teenage characters straight in my head....with the exception of Elena, and Adam. The other three blurred together in my head until close to the end.

I loved the idea of going to the future. I also liked the idea that this group of odds and ends would be going to explore the unknown together.

I really enjoyed Future Shock and I definitely see it being as one of the best YA releases of the year.

Elena Martinez has an eidetic memory. After being in the foster care system for so long, she's worried about what will happen to her when she turns 18. When she gets offered a large amount of money from Aether Corporation for a discrete mission, she eagerly accepts. When she arrives at the corporation, she finds out that her mission is to travel to the future. But when she finally arrives, she has to rely on herself and the people with her to figure out what Aether Corporation is really up to.

Elena was such a great hero. She relied on herself and used her brains to solve problems. The plot was really intense on its own, and I'm not sure about the technology parts but I loved the time travel elements.

The romance does play a large part in the novel but I really enjoyed it. Adam is a huge nerd but also surprisingly has a mysterious side which I think works for all of us.

In terms of diversity, Future Shock is pretty great. Elena is Latina and it's addressed very explicitly, especially in regards to her situation in the foster care system. One of the characters on the time travel mission with Elena did explicitly identify as bisexual which was also pretty great.

Overall, Future Shock was an amazing sci-fi novel with a swoony romance. I highly recommend it for people looking for a thrilling stand-alone novel!

I loved this book, the author did an excellent job of creating scenarios and using dialogue to drive this book. Coupled with a great plot that had plenty of twists and turns this book is a must read for many readers.

This was such an exciting sci-fi story full of twists! I read the whole thing in one sitting.

Elena Martinez has spent most of her life in foster care following a horrifying tragedy. At almost eighteen, she's anxious about what she will do once she ages out of the foster care system and must fend for herself. Despite having an eidetic memory, Elena has a knack for getting into fights and has had trouble finding a job. That is, until a mysterious woman named Lynne comes into her life and offers her a contract for a one-day job at Aether, a large corporation, in exchange for an enormous amount of money. While Elena is suspicious of the mysterious nature of the job, she desperately needs the money and therefore accepts.

Upon arriving at Aether, Elena and four other foster kid recruits are briefed on their mission. Using a time machine, they must go ten years into the future for twenty-four hours to bring back information on new technology. However, something backfires, and the kids are sent not ten years, but thirty years into the future. Despite given warnings about looking up their future selves, they do anyway, only to learn that in the future, four out of five of them are dead. Not only are they dead, but they were all brutally murdered - and their date of death is the day they return to the present. Now, Elena and her friends have one day to stop their impending deaths and learn the truth about Aether Corp once and for all.

I loved this premise. The book is hard to put down, and I'll admit, when we learn *the truth* about the murders, it was something I didn't see coming. The characters were all so nuanced and I liked all five of them. I also really enjoyed the fact that while sci-fi, FUTURE SHOCK goes into real issues facing present day teens, such as the concern for many foster kids of what happens when they age-out, and teen homelessness. I really connected to Elena's character and I loved that she was always eager to defend the underdog.

I will say, I found some of the future stuff a little hard to believe. One of my biggest problems with any time-travel story is that I usually find the "future" culture to be *so* different from our present day, despite only supposedly being a few years away. Thirty years ago was 1986; yes, the technology and style was much different, but overall the culture was very similar to our culture now. For example, I had a hard time buying that thirty years from now, we would no longer use physical money at all and just the act of having cash would be worthy of suspicion; humans have been using some form of physical money for centuries, so it seemed like the lack of physical money was only there as a plot device. Ditto with the fact that cars would be self-driving pods by then (although it's still cool). However, I did enjoy many of the more realistic future aspects, such as the smart-clothes and flexis, and the fact that cigarettes are considered illegal drugs. Those seemed more believable to me! Also, the next Batman remake! (Also, LOL at the library still having the old computer technology due to lack of funding! Now that one I can believe).

One gripe I had was this quote: "Most social workers are dicks, or worse, idiots. They don't give a shit about the kids they're supposed to help or maybe they're just so overworked that they can't actually find time to give a shit." I do understand why a teen in foster care would feel like this, and I can completely vouch for the fact that not all social workers are great and many are overworked. However, as a social worker who has worked with teens, I can say that a lot of teens I met were extremely hesitant, if not outright opposed, to reaching out for help due to (mostly false) stigma about social workers. Most social workers actually DO care about their clients and are overworked because they go above and beyond to help the kids they serve, often working long hours for very little pay. Therefore, it made me quite frustrated to see these stereotypes about social workers perpetuated in a YA book that will be read by a lot of teen readers.

Overall, this was an awesome book that I greatly enjoyed. Highly recommend!

Future Shock is fun, exciting, and diverse! Elena is approaching her eighteenth birthday, which as a foster kid means she'll soon be broke and homeless unless she can find a job. She's having no luck, but then someone from the Aether Corporation asks her to participate in a study. She figures she'll watch some videos, take some surveys, and then get some easy money. Nope. She and four other teens are being sent into the future to bring back information on technology. That is, if their minds survive the trip.

Time Travel is one of my favorite things, and I think Future Shock does it really well. It's definitely a more simple version than I've read previously, but it works. Basically, Aether Corporation created a molecule accelerator. They set it, shove something through, and it goes forward in time. Then they come back when the portal opens a set amount of time later. There is no backwards travel! That would create too many problems and just isn't possible. Maybe that's a cop-out, but it makes perfect sense to me.

Future Shock is super fast-paced and I never got a chance to get bored with it. Elena and the other teens arrive in the future, and things are not at all how they expected it. No one is there to greet them, and things are just generally completely different from the present time. Obviously this means that things aren't exactly on the up and up, and these teens aren't stupid so they try to learn what's going on and what happens to them. It's all very suspenseful and I never guessed at what was coming next!

Future Shock has a few twists and turns, so I don't want to accidentally give those away. Just know that this is a really fun and quick read. Nothing too outrageous happens, and everything felt plausible. The only thing that kind of annoyed me was that there are no chapter breaks. There's a short section set in the present, then most of it is in the future, and then a short section back in the present. Luckily I was able to read it in one sitting anyway.

A interesting take on time travel. When you go to the future can you choose the past. I loved the characters. Each was different and each was very interesting. I did not expect the ending. It added to the pleasure reading the story.

This is an interesting look at the future. Elena is picked by a large corporation to travel with Adam and 3 other teens 10 years into the future to "observe" They are warned they will have 24 hours, not one minute more and under no circumstances should they look for information about themselves. Elena has an eidetic memory and she thinks this is why is was chosen but she is also a fighter and discovers she was picked to guard Adam and make sure he returns. Several twists and turns make this a very engaging adventure and the science fiction aspect of time travel will make this appealing to teens. I'd seriously recommend this to readers from early teens through older adults.

I really enjoyed this. Time travel stories always get me. This was fast paced without feeling rushed.

FAVORITE READ OF 2016!!!

Yes, you read that right. I found the very first book to go on my Favorite Reads of 2016 list!

When I received an email saying this book was available on NetGalley I couldn't request a copy fast enough. I have read (and loved) Elizabeth's Chasing the Dream series, which is very different from Future Shock, so I already know she's an amazing writer. And being a huge fan of the Back to the Future trilogy I was instantly intrigued by the synopsis, and eager to jump into this YA take on time travel.

Honestly, this is probably the first time where I have NOT been able to guess where the story is going, or what the outcome might be. There are just so many twists and turns, and secrets that kept me guessing right up until the very end, and even then I wasn't convinced it was over! Elizabeth did an amazing job with the story building, character development, and flow/pacing. Each detail was just perfectly on point, making this a truly flawless work of art.

I won't bother paraphrasing the blurb because you can read that for yourself to get an idea of what the book is about. But, one thing I will say is to be prepared to fully immerse yourself into this book, because once you start there's no stopping. You will be hooked from the very beginning, and won't be able to tear your eyes away until the last page. Future Shock is without a doubt, the most captivating, action packed, page turner I have ever read! Nothing I say in this review will even come close to doing it justice, so you'll have to just trust me and GO FOR IT!

What does the future hold? What if you could go 10, 15 or 30 years ahead? Would you look up your future self and see how you fared? Elena is chosen to go into the future and bring back tech with 4 other teens, most of them foster kids. What they thought was and easy observe and report mission turns into a deadly game of cloak and dagger. Is someone going to kill them when they get back? Can they change the futures they see?

Book ~ Future Shock by Elizabeth Briggs Completed ~ 12/3/15 STARS ~ 5 of 5 stars PAGES ~ 272 pages

Another time travel book and this one was FANTASTIC!! It's not often that you have a time travel book go into the future as this one did and I really liked that, it was done really well. It had great characters and a great story and it kept me guessing all the way through it. Something goes wrong and they don't end up going where they were expecting to and they find some stuff out that they shouldn't, so they set out to change things. No one knows who is on whose side and the main characters are hiding their own secrets for different reasons.

One of the better time travel books I have read, and I have read a lot. Wish it could have been a series somehow, but it was a perfect stand alone book. Very enjoyable, I highly recommend!

Setting = A Plot = A+
Conflict = A+
Characters = A Theme = A+

Two reviews (mom and daughter) are now live:

The mom says:

What a sweet time-travel tale! Main character Elena is 17, a foster child, "tatted up and Mexican" in her words. (I appreciated that the cover accurately represented her; "whitewashing" of racially diverse characters is too common.). She's refreshingly imperfect: subject to rage, cynical, frustrated about her future, and of only average smarts. (Again, nice contrast to the perfectly brave, warrior heroines that abound these days.). She reluctantly accepts a strange offer, for the college money it pays. And then we're off on a mystery adventure into the future. There's a romance, but one safe for middle schoolers (Elena takes off her shirt and is tempted towards sex, but decides not to; no genitalia are mentioned.). The ending (and identity of the bad guy) aren't obvious, and there's some character growth in the form of family attachments and "doing the right thing." I appreciated the diversity of the other characters, including a bisexual Asian teen and characters with criminal backgrounds who were sympathetic and likeable. I enjoyed this as an adult reader, but I think tweens and teens, especially "alternative" kids smart enough to see the good AND bad in their own selves, will love this layered novel with realistic, just-like-them characters and a fast-moving plot. (In fact, my Tween read this a day before me and LOVED it - she wrote her own review!). Reluctant boy readers also might enjoy the relatable male leads. Definitely worth the read.

I received a free copy from NetGalley, which did not affect the content of my review.

The daughter says:

Very good book, I loved the plot and the surprising twists and turns as well as the moments where my heart jumped up into my throat. I loved the storyline as well. Can't wait for other people to read this incredible book!

Daughte's review is: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1545863722?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

A riveting science fiction novel, Future Shock tinkers with the idea of what would happen if you can travel 30 years into your own future. Elena Martinez has an eidetic memory and has been enlisted by huge company known as Aether Corporation to travel to the future in a top secret mission. With her motley crew, Elena quickly realizes that everything is not as it seems. There is something mysterious going on that might get Elena and her team killed if she doesn't figure it out in 24 hours.
I enjoyed Future Shock. There characters were unique and I got very invested in them pretty quickly. Their personalities were each distinct and interesting. Plot wise, the story was pretty good. It had its shinning moments that left me unable to put the book down. Although, there was also moments that were quite boring. I was pushed to tears towards the end of the novel, but I can't complain. It meant the story was written well enough for it to get me crying and invested. I give Future Shock FOUR OUT OF FIVE STARS!!!

Originally Reviewed At: Mother/Gamer/Writer Rating: 4 out of 5 Controllers Review Source: NetGalley Reviewer: Ariel

Future Shock is the first YA novel from author Elizabeth Briggs. A time travel mystery about a group of foster kids, Future Shock is a fast paced novel that will suck you in and keep you guessing until the very end.

Elena Martinez is a 17-year-old foster kid with plenty of tattoos and an eidetic memory, meaning she has perfect recall. Having been in the foster system since she was about 7 or 8, Elena has never pictured much of a future for herself. She’s trying to find a job so she won’t be completely destitute when she ages out of the foster system, but no one wants to hire a Mexican teenager with too many tattoos. So it came as a surprise to her when a representative from Aether Corporation offers her a lot of money to help with a simple research project. Only when she accepts and signs a contract does she discover she’s being sent ten years into the future.

The beginning is a little slow, but as soon as Aether Corporation gets involved and the plot gets rolling a little, it’s close to impossible to put this book down. Everything is really fast paced and exciting, and the characters are great. Along with Elena we have three other foster kids, Chris, Trent, and Zoe, and teenage scientific genius, Adam. I really enjoyed Elena as a protagonist. She’s a great fighter, but she tends to avoid them unless another person is getting picked on. She’s got her own issues to deal with, mostly the fear that she’s going to turn out exactly like her father, currently in prison. Trent and Chris were really great once Elena got to know them and we got to see that they’re more than just bullies. They’re just kids who were hardened by the foster care system and who want better for themselves, which is understandable. Zoe I had a harder time with. I liked her well enough, but it felt like her personality didn’t really stay consistent throughout the novel. At times she was incredibly shy, often hiding or cowering, and other times she was completely confident. I wouldn’t have such a problem with it if she would have progressively became more confident, but she flip-flopped around throughout the book and it was a little annoying. I wanted to like Adam, but I really spent most of my time wary of him. I didn’t think he was a bad guy necessarily, but I didn’t trust him.

The book is split into three parts: present, past, and present again, but there aren’t really any chapters other than this which was a little difficult for me. Part of the reason I had a hard time putting this book down was because it was so good, which is great, but the other part of it is that there wasn’t ever a really good stopping point. Everything was really action packed and flowed really nice, but I prefer having a good pause moment to kind of take a break and go eat a snack or stretch my legs.

There are plenty of twists and turns throughout the book, which was fantastic. I can’t really say much about them, even the ones that happen early on in the book, without spoiling anything, but I will say they will keep you hooked page after page.

I give Future Shock 4 out of 5 controllers. It was a really great book, and I flew through it, but I wish it had been broken up into a few more parts or chapters.

Elena is financially desperate when she is recruited for Aether Corp's secret project. As a result, her future in on the line, in more ways than one.

At the start of the novel, I loved learning about Elena by being dropped into the middle of Elena's job interview. Seeing her experience discrimination made me sympathetic. Then, after experiencing her eidetic memory in action, I cheered. From the start, this book shows readers the story, rather then telling it to them. Rarely do I find fast-paced books with well-developed characters.

I would recommend Future Shock to YA readers who appreciate sci-fi, mystery, and adventure.

I loved it!! This was an interesting and fun read. The characters were so not the typical and that's what made them frickin awesome. I sincerely enjoyed reading this fast paced time travel story.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have found myself another must read author! Miss Briggs is a talented and captivating writer.
Future Shock has a little bit of everything; suspense, drama, intrigue, and teen romance. I was hooked from the very first page.

I really liked how she wove the characters' past into the storyline instead of devoting chapters just to explain each character. The story flowed effortlessly. As I read, I just wanted to keep going. I wanted to know what happened next. I don't want to say it is a quick read, but it would be easy to complete the story in one sitting because of the easy flow of the storyline.The story never feels forced or tedious.

The drama, intrigue, and suspense naturally blended throughout the story. The idea of time travel is one that is debated everywhere. Could you exist in the same timeline as your future self without causing a paradox? Will changing the past create an alternate timeline? These are all questions that are debated every day, everywhere. This is what Miss Briggs has tackled. Elena and the other four characters each brought their own emotions and baggage to the story. The interplay between the characters added depth to the story line. Elena is a character that you not only feel empathy for but admire for her strength and perseverance. Each character is like Elena, they bring out different emotions as the story progresses. These are not cookie cutter characters!

First and foremost I have to say wow! This book was absolutely brilliant. From the very first page I was totally hooked by this story as it had a unique premise and was brilliantly written. The characters were interesting with unique voices that were well developed and I quickly found myself routing from them all. With numerous twists and turns this book also kept me guessing right up to the big reveal. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for this author in the future!

Elizabeth Briggs has created a futuristic world that is fast paced, fascinating and totally believable. Elena Martinez and her fellow time travelers have survived the foster system in 2016, developing talents that will help them survive a city they no longer recognize. The one rule is that they are not allowed to look up any information on themselves. This rule is quickly broken, and what they find out gives them a new purpose for the next 24 hours. I thoroughly enjoyed how a group of foster kids who have survived the system by not counting on anyone but themselves becomes a team, to overcome adversity. Each individual skill set becomes an integral part of the story, and the author does a great job of making unlikeable, tough kids, sympathetic. This was a team that I wanted to see win.

The author did such a good job developing each of the five teenagers characters and attitude. They seemed so real that my mind didn't slow down to question any of the plot. Those details carried the weight of believability, so that when they arrived in the future, I got just as caught up in the advanced technology as they did. The descriptions were natural and native to the story. I didn't stop once and think, this isn't believable at all! That is the sign of a great writer and storyteller.

The romance sub plot was not atypical. A girl from the wrong side of the tracks and the boy who has it all. However, in this book, not everything is as it looks. There are some twists and turns that were cleverly written and an ending that I didn't see coming. This is Elizabeth Briggs first foray into the YA genre, and it was a successful venture. She has written some contemporary romances and actually gives away a free download to one if you sign up for her newsletter. I did, and am looking forward to checking it out!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher Albert Whitman & Co through NetGalley for my honest and unbiased review.

This was a read that exceeded my expectations completely! I loved the cover but I ended up loving the content inside the book so much more. Elena was a strong, diverse and complex heroine but she was joined by other characters who were just as well written as her which is rare in the YA genre. I commend Briggs on her ability to blend what I consider to be Sci-Fi and Thriller into the same book, with a little romance thrown in the mix and still make it a stellar novel to read.

My heart wishes this were a series because I definitely want to read more of these characters. Thank you Albert Whitman & Company for the ARC and Elizabeth Briggs for what I'm sure will become one of my new favorite books.

Fascinating. That's one word I would use to describe this book. Amazing also fits as well. Once started, this is a book you would have trouble putting down. I think I stayed up all night reading because of how exciting this book ultimately ended up being.

Elena Martinez is seventeen and in the foster care system. She's close to aging out of the system and has no idea how she is going to live in a couple of months. When a famous corporation approaches her and asks her to join a special study in return for enough money to send her to college and set her up in her new life, she jumps at the chance. it's super top secret, will only involve a 24 hour period, and three of the four others involved are also in the foster care system. Each of the teens has a talent. Elena has an eidetic memory, meaning she never forgets anything. There's an artist and a genius as well in the group. Their job? Go forward ten years into the future and bring back some of the new technology. Future? The teens are immediately pretty much scared out of their wits, but they all need the money, so it happens. Once in the future, nothing happens the way it should. Of course.

This ended up being a mystery of pretty epic proportions when it comes to each of the teens. Suffice it to say that things in the future are really different, and nothing they thought it would be. This book is guaranteed to have the reader on the edge of their seat throughout the read. When you put five older teens together in a horrible situation, in a completely different world, it made for an exciting time and a wild ride.

This was my first read by Briggs, but if this read is any indication of her talent, this author's work needs to go on my must read list. Well written, the characters practically jump off the pages, Elena and the genius, Adam, in particular. That said, all of the teens were well realized by the author. I thought the premise was completely unique and the pacing well done. The author's vision of the future was extremely intriguing as well. There's even a possible romance happening.

I would recommend this to older young adults to adults-older due to some graphic violence. It also has a lot to say about the problems within the foster care system. I loved the whole thing and have nothing bad to say about any of it. This was truly one of the best books I have read lately. Highly recommended!

Such a great read I could not put it down. That is also saying something as most of the time I seem to have an allergic reaction to Young Adult but with the element of a dash of Sci-fi or maybe fantasy has made the book one of the first YA books that I have enjoyed in a while.
I’m going to try and not ruin it with spoilers so forgive me if I am vague or if I give anything away. Now ever since I have seen ‘Back to the Future’ I love the concept of time travel. I also had a thing for Michael J. Fox in the film. So I jump at the chance when there is one to read a book about time travel. Elena Martinez is about to ease out of the foster care system at the age of seventeen she is looking for a job but no one seems to want to employ her. She has an eidetic memory. She is strong and silent. Has a slight okay major temper but is loyal to a fault but not that trusting although her limits are tested here. A once in a lifetime opportunity arises and with the amount of money that is being offered she can’t say no although she has a gut feeling that something is off. But a day of research at the tech company Aether doesn’t seem too bad for that much money she can’t say no.
While at Aether Corporation she is not the only one that has been recruited. There are four others who have signed up. Chris, Trent & Zoe who are also in foster care and Adam who isn’t in foster care but has his reasons for doing it. There is some romance between Adam and Elena and you can feel the chemistry between them. There was always some doubt to why Adam was doing it but it wasn’t what it seems. There are so many twists and turns to the story that I didn’t case right up until the end when Elena guessed as well who it was only then did it click. There were two things where I was disappointed, I can’t and I won’t say what but it adds to the story.
There are rules that they have to stick to in regards to Project Chronos but landing thirty years in the future and not ten then yes I would break the rules as well. I received a copy in exchange for a honest review but let me be honest I wouldn’t have bought this book under normal circumstances for the price of over 8 € that is pretty steep, I’m usually willing to spend 6 € on a book and even that is pushing it.

Pitch Wars love! I don't read a lot of sci-fi because it's just a hard genre for me to get, but I totally loved this. it has amazing writing--unsurprising since Elizabeth has mentored some amazing writers. Every word has a purpose. Every scene drives the story forward and keeps you turning the pages. So happy I got to read this.

I had the chance to meet Elizabeth Briggs at ALA Midwinter and let me tell you that she is so sweet. I have not had the chance to read any of her works before this one and let me tell you that I am now inclined to check out her other works. This is her first young adult novel and I thought she did it justice.

The novel follows Elena Martinez and four other teens as they are recruited for a mission to go into the future to observe and bring back information. However, when going into the future they realize there is much more information that was kept hidden and after breaking the rule of looking into their fates, Elena and her teens must find a way to solve the mystery and they only have 24 hours to do so.
Elena has the ability to remember details to the exact measure and there are not enough reasons why I wish I could have this ability…especially being in grad school and everything. She is a female heroine who has gone through stuff that allows her to push through tough situations.

However, I felt that every character had some sort of issue they had to resolve and being in the future only motivated them to work towards a better future. Every teen had a secret and the fact that they were all dealing with their issues in their own way made them feel more realistic.

There was some romance in the book and the fact that it was not overpowering was a relief for me. I just have this feeling that there has to be all this excessive romance in books and it has to be rushed but the idea of some settle is something to be appreciated as well.

The idea of time travel was interesting in this novel and I have read only a handful of books on the idea of time travel and it was decent in the sense that for someone who is not educated in the more specific aspects of science there was not much terminology that had me stopping to think about it which was a bonus for me.

Overall this was a good read that I recommend to those looking for a science fiction read that will keep you hooked till the end. I hope Elizabeth decides to write another book for the young adult audience because I will want to check it out.

I give this book 4 souls!

Elena, along with four other teens gets offered a chance of a lifetime: go 10 years into the future, bring back some tech, get set for life. Well, when an offer sounds too good to be true it probably is. They ended up 30 years into the future. There they find that some of them aren’t going to make it. Can they change their destiny or is it set in stone?

Elena is an interesting main character. She comes from a dysfunctional home environment- daddy kills momma and is in jail. She has an eidetic memory, which makes forgetting things impossible. She always defends the underdog. She is extremely logical when faced with the illogical situation they are in. She has to figure out who their killer is before they strike. Instead of balling up in the fetal position and crying, she goes on the offense- which is a heck of a thing to see.

Adam is the cute love interest of the story. The only one to survive, one can’t help but wonder if he is evil. Yet, there is something so idealistic about him that you hope he didn’t do it. I even started to cheer him on. The chemistry between these two is a slow burn. It starts off with Adam attracted to Elena, and her pushing him away. There is something endearing about him, and in his steadfast belief that they can change the future.

Future Shock is a book that will entertain you. I didn’t realize who the killer was until the end and those are the best kind of mysteries. There is a big part of that is hoping for some of the tech that is mentioned in the future to become our reality.

My Rating 4 out of 5 stars

Favorite Quote The future is no longer a threat but a promise of things to come.

Other People Zoe- artistic Trent- ninja thief Chris- mechanic

Future Shock was a lot of fun with a twist at the end that I did not see coming. And I'm usually not easily surprised by twists, most are too obvious. Not this one. No. I would never have guessed it is was that person.

This book sucked me easily in, because the writing was so easy and - for the loss of a better word - alive.

Another thing that sucked me in was Elena's POV. I loved Elena's POV. She was a good person, trying to help everyone. Don't think she didn't had her flaws. She did. But they made her human and likeable. Because aren't we all annoyed by perfect heroines?

The other kids were just as likeable.

I would recommend this book if you are into sci-fi and fantasy with a touch of romance, but be prepared to have your brain blown with all the time travel talk. And I mean that in a good way. Future Shock will make you think.

And the moment when the title starts to make sense. Best feeling in the world.

Future Shock was a very original time travel, young adult novel.

Elena, a teen with extraordinary skills, is hired by a technological corporation to be sent into the future with a team of other young adults. They are each picked for their unique skills. But the corporation is keeping secrets that has Elena extremely concerned but the money is too good to turn down.

They are told not to check into their future or ask questions about this experiment but the travelers soon discover only one of their team survives to the future and one is accused of killing the rest as well as themselves.

Plots, machinations and betrayal face the time traveling team. They must unravel their future before they return to the past or they will end up murdered. They don't know who they can trust and who is out to get them.

Awesome premise but the storytelling is a little slow going, Future Shock really had that imaginative potential to blow me away. Unfortunately, the pace ended up putting it in between the like it and really like it for me. 3.5 stars

I received this ARC copy of Future Shock from Albert Whitman & Company - AW Teen in exchange for a honest review. This book is set for publication April 1, 2016.

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Written by: Elizabeth Briggs Hardcover: 272 pages Publisher: AW Teen Publication Date: April 1, 2016 Language: English ISBN-10: 0807526827 ISBN-13: 978-0807526828 Genre: YA | SCIFI

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Future-Shock-El...

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/futur...

MY THOUGHTS I admit that I have a soft spot for books with time travel. Sure, they're a bit confusing at times, but they are so fascinating. This one wasn't, thankfully, as confusing as previous time travel books I've read and I enjoyed reading it!

Elena Martinez has bounced from foster home to foster home and as she is approaching the age of 18, she'll be kicked out and left on her own. When she's offered an opportunity by a powerful tech company, she can't resist. Not when it means that she can actually have a future. Turns out that she'll get to actually see the future. She, along with a few other teens, will travel to the future, record their findings on the tech there, and return. Sounds easy. Except something goes wrong when they travel to the future. Except the teens can't help but look into what they're own futures are, and what they find out will horrify them.

I had absolutely no clue what this book was about when I picked it up. I make it a rule not to read the synopsis of a book right before reading the book, in case of spoilers. I thought there would be time travel involved, due to the title, but I didn't know for sure. So I was really excited when that bomb dropped! I love time travel in books, especially when folks travel into the future! This book was no different! I thought the time travel was interesting and it was done well. It wasn't a confusing mess like some time travel books. There were some times when I had to tilt my head, but time travel is a strange thing, there's always going to be a little confusion.

The book has strong sci-fi elements, but there's also a lot of mystery. I don't want to say the hows and the whys, as they're spoilers, but there's a lot of mystery elements in this book. It kept me on the edge and it kept me guessing, all throughout the book.

As for characters, I can't say I love any of the characters, but I did like them. Elena is a great MC, but she didn't really strike a chord. She kind of seemed like your average YA MC, except Mexican and with tattoos. I liked all of the supporting characters. I mainly liked how different the teens were and how they interacting with each other.

As for romance, it didn't wow me, but it also didn't distract from the major plot, so that's good. You could tell right away who the love interest was going to be, though that's the case with most YA, and it just felt it an added romance. *shrug*

IN CONCLUSION Overall, I enjoyed this book. Again, I love time travel books, so this one was right up my alley. I loved the sci-fi elements and the mystery. There were some things, like characters and romance, that I was just okay with, but overall I think this is a great sci-fi standalone!

Elena, is a foster kid with an incredible memory. Every detail she can remember. One fateful day a knock comes at the door with an offer she can't refuse. With only days left, before getting kicked out of her home. She signs on the dotted line.

This is a thrilling, heart racing, and intense ride. Five teens sent to the future, trying to find information. For a company, that may not be telling the whole truth But they only have 24 hrs to fix anything that happens in the past. But can it be fixed?

Briggs takes you to another world. She doesn't miss a beat and your on this crazy ride with all five of them. They were taken for their strengths but I don't think they could of imagined what was going to happen. I was on he edge of my seat from the beginning. I had to know what was going to happen and their lives were really hanging on the truth.

The mystery involved in this story, is truly fantastic. I never guessed the end while reading. I feel that's really important. I wish I knew what's going to happen next!

Briggs is an excellent story teller. She weaves a concept and brings it to life. I knew when I saw this book, that I had to read it. I'm glad I was given the opportunity to do so. It was different, unique and what I think the YA world needs.

Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!

Synopsis: Elena Martinez is a foster child who is aging out of the system in just a few months. She's seen what happens to kids in her situation, without direction, support, or funds, they end up on the street, perpetuating the cycle of bad decisions and parent-less kids. Determined that her life is going to go a different direction, beginning with college, Elena's job hunting like mad. To her advantage: her eidetic memory, excellent grades, and ability to focus and work hard. Against her, her sleeve of tattoos and her Latina-ness, in the face of largely white and apparently prejudiced potential bosses. Interview after interview, and so far, Elena's out of luck. She can't afford to be out of luck, so when a stranger comes to her foster home from the Aether Corporation, a high-profile tech firm in the city, and offers her the chance to make a ridiculous amount of money just to "participate in a short research project," she knows it's too good to be true - but she signs on anyway. The money will pay for college - she's got to take a chance.

The research project turns out to be a chance to travel to the future for twenty-four hours - and simply to pick up information. Easy enough, except that Elena's not the only one chosen, and some of the rest of the team are real pieces of work -- a couple of aggressive, hardcore punks like she's run a group homes before, a quiet, punky girl who looks like she might be afraid of her own shadow, and a kid who looks like he got lost on the way to a GQ shoot. What's weird is that every single kid but one on the team, except for Mr. GQ is... a foster kid. Is that because they're expendable? And, why are there only kids, anyway? What happens if something goes really wrong in the future? How are they supposed to cope? And, why does Aether Corporation make such a big point of reminding them not to check out their own futures? Could it really give them some kind of a stroke?

With twenty-four hours on the clock and a strong desire to secure her future - and get back to her past in one piece - Elena is watching everything, and everyone. And, when the inevitable happens, all she can do is throw herself behind the belief that the present is still waiting to happen -- and gamble everything that somehow they can change the future.

Observations: This novel is grippy! Though some readers may find the pacing uneven, the gradual - and despairing - beginning of the novel and then the faster, creepier quicker pacing works for me. The characterization is quick and dirty at first, then deepens, and the reader gets a chance to know the protagonist a little, and she held my attention to a surprising degree. I really like that Elena Martinez is a GATE kid - and she's Latina. Her home situation is bad, she has tattoos and a violent history, but hey: she's in the gifted program at school and can make the grades. (Some of the other members are the team skewed, for me, a little closer to type than character - The Thug, the follower, the hipster - but the characterization does deepen somewhat.) The author pegs the ragged edges of the main character immediately. You see that Elena gets her back up easily, but you also see that she has a big, soft heart beneath all of the fronting. Readers will empathize with her tenuous situation - knowing that once she's eighteen, she's out the door of her overcrowded foster home is a very real, relatable fear, and author does her justice here.

The mystery aspect of the novel, as Elena tries to unravel a pretty basic "Whodunnit" is surprisingly frustrating - but not in a negative way, but in a way that is essentially realistic. Elena runs out of clues, out of neat tricks, and literally out of time, which means that the team has to cobble together a kind of "um, maybe this'll work" scenario, then pop back into their timestream. I was really surprised by that - the frayed, no-consensus, disorganized retreat is really atypical to a mystery narrative. And yet, it was very realistic that Elena had to just... live her life, to find out what really happened. That she wasn't able to control everything was also terribly realistic.

Conclusion: An intriguing beginning for apparently a series, this mostly quick-paced mystery novel has a touch of romance, some genially mad scientists, those driverless cars we're just now seeing (no flying ones, however) and a lot of promise that the future is much, much more disturbing and cooler than we may have previously imagined.

I received my copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. And, after April 1, you can find FUTURE SHOCK by Elizabeth Briggs at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

Future Shock by Elizabeth Briggs is a fast paced fun read with a lot of twists and turns. A big corporation takes advantage of desperate gifted young people by sending them on an experimental time travel mission with real consequences. Our heroine is a smart young Latina who will keep you rooting for her even when things look the darkest. I liked each of the kids and a few of the “adults”. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.

Elena will be eighteen in two months. She’s about to age out of the system and will be forced to leave her foster parents’ house. With no job, and the prospects looking rather bleak, it’s not surprising that when the Aether Corporation approaches her to help with an experiment, she’s all in. Added to that is the fact that they’re going to be paying her more money than one person needs in a lifetime and the minor hesitations she feels just go away.

Turns out, the Aether Corporation will be sending Elena and four others ten years into the future. All they have to do is record what the world looks like and bring back any technologies they can for study. Seems pretty easy right?

Well, red flags are flying when the group ends up 30 years into the future instead. Okay, maybe it’s a slight error with the equipment. But when it comes to light that most of the group is killed a day after returning from the mission, everything else is abandoned in order to find out what the trigger is in the future that dooms them in the past.

There’s this lovely little nod to Blade Runner (the movie and not the book it’s based upon). I was super giddy when this somewhat subtle thing was introduced because if you are familiar with the movie at all, there is so much conjecture that surrounds it and its imagery, the possibilities are endless. So, naturally, I was expecting this same thing from Future Shock. Unfortunately, on this front it’s more superficial. I wish Elizabeth Briggs would have utilized some of the more prevalent theories to add a bit of a punch to the story because, for the most part, I figured out where things were going before the characters did.

I liked what was done with the setting though. Elena and the others go far enough into the future where things are definitely being done differently, but not so far that it seems out of reach. Meaning, the events in the story could very well come to pass in the real world, which I think makes for a more ominous read that fits with the mystery of looking into the future often presents.

I’ll say I wasn’t too impressed with the instant attraction between Elena and fellow recruit Adam. The majority of events take place within a 24-hour period and already within that time, Elena speaks, to paraphrase, of how she can’t imagine going on without Adam, etc, etc. I would rather see the acknowledgement of attraction, but not get so deep with it so quickly. I think there is a better job done with the fast friendships that the five recruits develop due to the position they find themselves in. These five strangers come to rely on one another, regardless of any hang-ups or motivational suspicions, in order to ensure their survival. I loved the group interactions, and the varying skills each person brings to the table to help said group, more than I did the individual.

Overall, Future Shock was an enjoyable read. Because of the ticking clock time frame I read this one extremely quick. Even though I was less than surprised by many of the revelations, I still liked seeing how all the pieces fit together in the end.

Future Shock is one of the better YA time travel books I've read. A lot of time I struggle with the explanation of the time travel. Here, I thought it was interesting and easy to understand. At the center of this book is our protagonist, Elena, a smart, brave and strong young woman who has had to face a shit ton of messes in her life. She genuinely wanted to make her life better and was ready to go to lengths to fix her situation. Despite that though, I didn't think Elena was that memorable. I feel like in a couple of weeks I would have forgotten all about her, which doesn't mean she's a bad character, just that nothing makes her stand out from other YA sci fi books. The secondary cast of the other kids chosen by the Aether Corporation to travel into the future made for an entertaining crew, who initially were very wary of each other but grew to trust each other as the story progressed and banded together to save themselves from the future they saw. The story itself was entertaining, but I'll admit it was predictable and I was able to foresee quite a few twists. There's a bit of a romance and it's sweet, but once again nothing spectacular. While overall, this wasn't the greatest book it was entertaining and I recommend it for those who enjoy time travel books.

Elena has big plans for when she gets out of the foster system--she just doesn't have any money to accomplish them. When she's recruited for a secret mission she's a little suspicious, but they're offering such a big payday that she can't NOT take it. The mission isn't all that it seems however and Elena will find herself doubting everything that she ever thought was possible.

This book had a really interesting premise. It sounded like we were going to follow a group of kids who each have a special ability to the future and we kind of did, but it's a whole lot less X-Men and a lot more angsty teenagers questioning their identity. Sure each of the teens have an ability, but I was actually thinking they'd have like...powers. Not so. Elena has an eidetic memory which is basically the coolest ability of the group. Basically she can remember everything she's ever seen or heard. Then there's a guy who's good with electronics, one who is a really good cook, one who is just super smart in general, and then a girl who is an amazing artist. So...basically just normal stuff that makes the book a little less exciting than I thought it was going to be.

I had a really hard time getting into it myself. I didn't really feel like the plot was driving the story forward--I didn't find myself caring all that much how it ended. Usually when there's like a time limit or a sense that time's running out, that drives the story forward, but for some reason that didn't happen for me in this case. I saw a physical copy of this book at Barnes & Noble and noticed that the chapter headings all had a time stamp--my ARC copy didn't have that, but it may help make the story feel more urgent. I'm not really sure. The characters were fine. Sometimes Elena would annoy me, but I could still handle it. I liked how different each of the characters were from each other. They all had very distinct personalities and it was nice to be following such a tough female protagonist.

The setting was interesting...I don't want to give anything away but there were interesting descriptions and I feel like the world was adequately described if a little unbelievable to me. Overall, I thought this book was just okay. There were some things that were kind of confusing and the whole Adam and Elena relationship just felt weird and forced to me. The ending doesn't exactly seem believable to me but...whatever.

Overall Rating: 3 Language: Moderate Violence: Heavy Smoking/Drinking: Moderate Sexual Content: Moderate

What would you do if you could go in the future? Would you find out about yourself? Even if it could damage your present? That’s a hard one; I don’t know what I would do!

Elena is in the foster care system. She cares about others but she feels like a freak because she has an eidetic memory (in other words she doesn’t forget anything). She knows she will be kicked to the curb soon as she is approaching 18 years old. She has no money and wants to make something of herself. She has lots of tattoos.

So, she is seriously considering an offer she just got to go ten years into the future and bring back data. She will only be gone for 12 minutes in present but it will be 24 hours in the future. She will make money that will set her for life if she does it. She is very wary. They also tell her not to go looking into her own future. It would cause future shock, which is they could come back brain damaged and may not remember her trip into the future. She meets one other teenager and 3 boys also assigned to go with her. All but one boy are kids from foster care or homeless. The one boy who isn’t is smart. His name is Adam and he meets Elena they find instant attraction. Which is so unlike Elena, she doesn’t go for the nerdy type, but sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants?

When they get to the future, they find themselves 30 years into the future and not 10 as they were told. The scientists they were told who would meet them doesn’t because the building is deserted and the machine is gone. So they go off and from there its action packed and a mental game. They need to find themselves in the future or Lynne the one who found them the job. But finding themselves proves to be easier. They don’t know if now will they change the future or will they have future shock when they return. But the real question as the 24 hours ticks on is – Will they even live to see themselves get back to their present?

This is a seriously intense mind game. Who would you trust and what would you do to keep yourself alive? Then when you find out that you all of the group of kids will meet an untimely death back in your present, you will do whatever it takes to fix it so it doesn’t happen and find out whatever it takes and do whatever it takes for things to be right. Including not trusting and not sharing everything you find out with the others in your group. Because, everyone has an ulterior motive! Gah! My mind is having a hard time fathoming what it would be like! It is something that you have to read yourself to get into it. Oh and hang on to the rollercoaster ride because there are no seat belts!

Future Shock, by author Elizabeth Briggs, is a young adult, science fiction, time travel story that features 17-year old Elena Martinez. Elena is a Mexican-American teenager who has been in and out of foster care since her father was sent to prison for a horrific crime. When readers first meet Elena, we get to know that she is a person who is very smart, in fact, she has a eidetic memory that perhaps causes more problems that helps.

Perhaps it is because she doesn't want to stick out any more than she does because of her skin color and her tattoos. Elena knows she needs a job, and quickly because she turns Eighteen in a few months and be released from the system to be on her own. After a surprise visit from Lynne Marshall, who works for one of the largest tech companies in the world in Aether Corporation, Elena is given the opportunity to make a difference and make more money than she can imagine.

Four others are chosen to go along with Elena: Adam O'Neill, Chris Duncan, Trent Walsh, and Zoe Chang. 3 of the 4 are outcasts and fellow foster care kids who have their own issues and problems. 1 is a genius with a bright future ahead of him. A future that sees him doing remarkable things. These kids are chosen to travel into the future TEN years to take notes on future technology and bring back anything they can get their hands on.

There were each chosen for specific skill sets. They are each given backpacks filled with supplies, and are told not to attempt to look up their future selves for fear of returning with Future Shock. Elena, because of her eidetic memories, is expected to remember everything that she sees when she comes back. The kids are expected to spend 24 hours in the future before returning to the present. In that time, only 12 minutes will have actually passed by.

There is also a huge catch however. When the kids arrive in the future, 30 years has actually passed, not ten! But, after discovering that only one of them will survive the next few days, Elena and her crew have little if any control over what happens next. Who can Elena trust, and will she be able to make it back to the present where her future is cloudy and not set?

Let's talk about the diversity in this book, shall we? First, I am A-Okay with Elena being a Latina lead character who is both intelligent, a bit high strung, but protective of others, and one who isn't afraid to back up her looks with her actions. Zoe is also unique in that she has a girlfriend, but she considers herself to be bisexual. Again, totally not complaining.

Future Shock is filled with twists and turns and a major mystery that remains clouded until the last moment. I love books that explore time travel, especially when they talk about the Grandfather Paradox, or even the Butterfly Effect of doing something to upset the space-time continuum. With the way this story wraps up, you would think the author intended for this to be a standalone novel.

However, further research, IE exploring authors web page, clearly indicates that there will be a second novel to be released September 1, 2016. Who it will feature, is beyond even my guessing. I'm not sure what a second book would cover since most of all angles and mysteries are pretty much covered by the time you turn the last page. I guess we shall see if this book does well enough for a second installment.

I love this story! Intriguing, captivating, and leaves you turning pages for more!

Albert Whitman & Company and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Future Shock, in exchange for an honest review.

Elena Martinez is a foster kid who is set to age out of the system. When her eidetic memory gets her noticed by the Aether Corporation, one of the biggest tech companies in the world, Elena receives the opportunity of a lifetime. Alone with a large payment for services rendered, Project Chronos gives her a glimpse at what she thought was impossible. With four other teenagers along for the ride, will they be able to get past their differences and work towards a common goal?

Future Shock is a fast paced science fiction thriller with an interesting plot and well developed characters. The writing style has an ease about it, making the book very readable. As the reader can glean from the title, the main premise behind this novel is time travel. Although the subject matter is not new, the author is able to breathe life into the story and give it an original twist. Elena is my favorite character, as her tough exterior is just a shell for a person wanting to be loved and to find her place in the world. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future and recommend Future Shock to readers who enjoy YA science fiction.

Future Shock by Elizabeth Briggs.
YA & UP Teen time travel 4.5 stars Loved It. Excellent writing. Buckle up because it starts off and doesn’t let up. Four teens selected because of their special talents (or maybe because they are foster kids) will travel into the future to obtain information the Aether Corporation needs. Each is paid money that will help them achieve a goal they have. The only instructions they are given is not to look into their futures. Instead of ten years in the future the are sent thirty years and the adventure really begins but doesn't end when when they travel back in time. Kept on the edge of your seat to find out what happens next. Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26722944-future-shock

This novel is definitely fast paced, which is always a plus for me for sci-fi. My galley formatting was a bit off so it didn’t have the correct chapter breaks but I found myself not wanting to stop (and since I didn’t have the chapter breaks to stop me I kind of just binged most of the novel in a single sitting). Right away we are thrown into the time travel aspect, which I didn’t have a problem with and the science makes sense! Then again if time travel were real and someone tried to explain it to me, I know I wouldn’t understand so I accept any explanation that half way makes sense (don’t worry this one makes total sense!!) My only small compliant here is that none of the characters got any kind of training. Personally if I was about to time travel I would want some kind of training. I wasn’t expecting much but they time traveled almost right after they found out it existed.

One thing I have always loved about Elizabeth’s novels is her characters and they definitely did not disappoint! Our main character is Elena and she is smart, kickass and fierce. She is originally recruited because of her eidetic memory but quickly proves she is also useful for her incredible street smarts and quick thinking on her feet. We have a colorful cast of side characters that each bring their own talents to the table. Right away I expected each character to fit into the mold that they were recruited for but each one proves their skill set useful in more than one situation.

The story kept flowing and was fast paced. Once again I loved Elizabeth’s storytelling. There were a few plot twists here and there that really kept me question HOW WILL THIS END? Overall I really enjoyed this one and highly reccomend to anyone who enjoys a fast paced, action packed story. I cannot wait to read more YA from Elizabeth!!

A great story with some unlikely heroes that risk nothing to save everything. An awesome book, would definitely recommend to any fellow readers!

Future Shock by Elizabeth Briggs is a young adult book with adventure and science fiction elements. Elena Martinez has hidden her eidetic memory all her life. When powerful tech giant Aether Corporation selects her for a top-secret project, she can't say no. All she has to do is participate in a trip to the future to bring back data, and she'll be set for life. Elena joins a team of four other teens with special skills, including Adam, a science prodigy with his own reason for being there. But when the time travelers arrive in the future, something goes wrong and they break the only rule they were given: do not look into their own fates. Now they have twenty-four hours to get back to the present and find a way to stop a seemingly inevitable future from unfolding. With time running out and deadly secrets uncovered, Elena must use her eidetic memory, street smarts, and a growing trust in Adam to save her new friends and herself.

Future Shock is a great book with vibrant characters. I like the fact that the characters are all so different, and yet share common issues. The majority of major players come from the foster care system but even Adam, the only one not in the system, has issues of his own. It was also nice to see a variety of races and background issues for each of the characters, and they all felt very real and organic rather than forced. Elena and the crew all have trust issues (who can blame them), but they doubt themselves as well as each other. Their mission seems simple, find technology and information in the future that can earn Aether Corporation big money. However, there are secrets and lies that throw everything off and make everyone even more distrustful. I like the serious character development we see with Elena and the murder mystery component of the story, as well as the fact that the romance aspect did not take over the other aspects of the story. It was a real page turner, and I was very much engaged with the characters through the entire book.

Future Shock is a book with a great premise and execution. I enjoyed the read greatly and will be looking for more from the author, hopefully to continue the story.

Elena is about to turn 18 and once that happens she will be kicked out of the foster system and be on her own. Elena is desperate to get a job but nobody will hire her because of her outward appearance and tattoos. When she is offered a chance to make a large sum of money for one day of testing by the Aether Corporation, she is suspicious but willing to check it out. Elena finds herself and a few other teenage foster kids waiting to take part in an experiment unlike anything they could have predicted.

I have read Brigg’s New Adult series Chasing the Dream and absolutely loved them so I was excited to get my hands on another book by her but in a completely different genre. Well, I was not let down. The author created such detailed characters that I feel as if I know them and like them. Not only does she have realistic characters, but she creates unique plots to keep me engaged. I enjoyed this book and would love another journey with these people as well as to this future, but the book wrapped up so nicely I am a little surprised that this is the first in a series, so I am not sure what to expect next.

This was a very different type of story from what I have read from the author before, but it was still really well done. The story was full of mystery with subtle clues laid out so that the reader can try to fit the pieces together before it is too late for the characters. The world building that the author did was interesting also, where she made the base of her future our current world and then created new layers of technology to create something new from something old. My favorite invention of hers was the face overlay/computer thing, which acted like a very smart smart-phone but was worn on the person and could be altered to reflect the wearer’s personality. I found it to be very cool as well as terrifying to think of. Cars were operated by a computer system and items were purchased based on hand prints in a system, things that could potentially be true in the future. Oh and yeah, a cure for cancer exists, but not without a potentially deadly side effect. It was a believable future world that I could see being a possible outcome and I like that it was not so over the top as to be crazy.

Elena was really complex, with a mix of toughness and street smarts, mixed with her caring for the underdog, and her eidetic memory that never lets her forget. The book kinda sorta makes Elena, the main character, into a potential bad guy and I was surprise by that. I rooted for her and wanted things to be fixed, but so many clues were set into play to point back at her. I liked the way the plot developed and caused Elena to doubt herself and what was really happening. Side note, I enjoyed Adam and his plucky charm and odd quirks.

Overall this was an interesting ride through the future and I am glad I got the chance to read it. I am a fan of the author and can’t wait for more from her, regardless of the genre.

I received his title from the publisher in return for my honest review.
For more reviews visit my blog at http://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/

Future Shock is a young adult novel but with the cover and main character, I felt like this was more of an adult urban fantasy novel. The story itself deals with some pretty heavy issues but it can be read by young adults and adults. It kind of reminded me of early young adult Christopher Pike mystery/thrillers.

Elena Martinez is worried about her future. She is a foster child and in a few short months she will be eighteen and forced out of the system. She has a plan but she can’t do it if no one will hire her. She doesn’t want to be another statistic. She wants to help other children like her from being lost in the system. At the beginning ofFuture Shock, she is trying to get a job but because of her looks, i.e. her tattoos, no one will hire her. Although she would have made a kick ass waitress.

Elena has an eidetic memory which she seems ashamed of, instead of wowed by her gifts. (I wish I could remember everything, especially all the books that I read.) She tries to hide her gifts because they seem to single her out and give her unwanted attention. She believes that she has been doing a good job until the day the Aether Corporation offers her a one day job that will have her set for life. It is a job that is too good to be true and would pay enough to allow her to go to college and be the social worker that she wants to be.

Aether Corporation has hired a group of teenagers with certain “skills” to go into the future for them. They want these kids to retrieve, in other words “steal”, technology and information from the future that would benefit the company. The kids would only be gone for a matter of 12 minutes in the present but would be stuck in the future for 24 hours. Aether Corporation doesn’t say much about anything, and I mean ANYTHING, they are basically just given backpacks and told to document whatever technology that they can. The only thing Aether actually tells them, is that they are warned against finding themselves or information into what happens to them in the future. One thing I’ve learned, don’t tell someone not to do something, because that is exactly what they are going to do.

Once in the future, Elena and the gang do try to do as they were tasked but then too many issues kept arising on their scouting mission so they decide to look into their past. When it is discovered that all of them, except one, die within 24 hours after leaving the future, the group go on a mission to find out how to stop their deaths and why they were killed in such a short period of time.

I really liked Elena. She has spunk and fire. She is also very fierce and hostile, some may say she’s got some anger issues because she is always on the attack and always wanting to punch something. Elena only trusts herself and she does try to stick to that on the mission, even though Adam has slowly been dissolving the walls that she protects herself with. Elena is also fighting herself, she thinks that she is destined to do bad and be a bad person. She doesn’t want to be that person. I love how the cover shows off Elena’s tattoos as they are described in the story. I was a bit frustrated with Elena’s decision making after she gets out of the future but overall, I really liked her as a character. The story was told entirely through her first person narrative so you don’t know the motives of the other characters.

This was another story that I was annoyed by how little was revealed, especially by Aether when they have kids going into the future. I was expecting someone to take Elena aside and say “Hey, I need you to do this…. While you are in the future.” But that didn’t happen. When it was revealed that all but one die, I really wanted to know why and how. I had all these theories in my head. I wasn’t surprised that some things I thought were right on while others differed but in the end I was really pleased with the ending.

Future Shock was an intense, fast paced read for me. (I did find out afterwards that I got an ebook ARC that was missing chapter breaks and the countdown timer while Elena was in the future. I honestly didn’t even notice. I was so sucked into the story.) I really recommend Future Shock for fans of urban fantasy type stories.

Fast paced and thrilling adventure. I really enjoyed reading this one and look forward to more from the author.

This is a YA sci-fi story about five teenagers sent to the future, for the profit of a giant company.

I loved the first half of this book and liked the second.

Told from the perspective of Elena the first part describes her helplessness and anger about her circumstances and I felt for her. The accident of birth left her in a nearly hopleless situation and she now has the chance for a better future.

The book was a fast read, it is well written. I liked, that all the secondary characters had their own storylines and weren't just there to prop the heroine's up.

To me, the final chapters with the resolution of the main story line fell a bit flat. Everything was resolved fast and with seemingly little impact on the heroine.

I would absolutely recommend the book to teenagers and will keep an eye out for Briggs next work.

Elena, a foster kid who fell through the cracks long ago, is contacted by a giant corporation by the name of Aether Corp with a job opportunity that could change her life for the better. Instead of following in her father's footsteps and ending up in prison, she could go to college and have a real future. All she has to do is sign a non-disclosure notice, walk through a portal that will send her ten years into the future and return with data related to some super secret research for a tidy sum of cash. Sounds easy! Except Elena and her new team mates Zoe, Chris, Adam and Trent sense there is more to the situation than the scientists are telling them. Too late Elena learns that the truth is darker and more dangerous than she ever expected.

Elena's team is warned to not check in on themselves in the future, but when things go wrong and the team end up sent thirty years into the future they turn to their older selves for help. Their foray into the world to find their "future selves" leads to an exploration of a world that has changed in ways the team never expected. I absolutely loved Future Shock's technology that not only plays on Google Glasses, but also develops a new economic system based on fingerprints and virtual credits. Even cars have been altered to a new form that is both exciting and believable. I felt like Briggs researched not only current technologies but their expected trajectory towards new, innovative reincarnations which the science fiction nerd in me couldn't help purring over.

Briggs created a world that not only Elena found disorienting and familiar, but the reader has similar reactions to the descriptions of creative futuristic technologies.
Future Shock is a fantastic mix of time travel adventure, murder mystery and suspense. I especially loved that each character was extremely well developed and individualistic regardless of their role's longevity in relation to Elena's story. I also found myself being surprised by a few plot twists that answered some pressing questions and yet somehow created new ones. In the end, Briggs offers up satisfying answers and closure to a novel that holds many twists and turns without becoming a befuddled mess.

Personally, I loved reading a novel about a character who was believable. Often in young adult novels or literature in general, I end up becoming frustrated with characters that are from difficult backgrounds and are portrayed as weak or their motivations are not organic with their experiences. Elena is what I would describe as a wonderful example of a strong female character with a difficult background who is realistic. I cannot count the number of times that characters like this end up looking to "adults" for help or being extremely trusting after being abused and mistreated by society - an aspect of many novels that does very little to realistically portray a small segment of society adequately. I felt Briggs did this wonderfully.

I suppose keeping in line with the critique of how Briggs handled societal issues, I want to quickly point out that Briggs also created a character that will appease to the proponents of the YA Diversity movement and yet keeps away from the racial elements. Elena is a young girl who holds a Mexican heritage and a difficult background who struggles to fit into a largely white and conservative world, yet she does not judge others by the color of their skin, nor does she focus on her differences obsessively. I adored that although Briggs attempted to fit Elena into the diversity trend, she also did it skillfully without ruining the novel with racial slurs and negativity. Instead, Elena is developed as a character like any other with slight differences in her appearance, experiences and background that help to develop her as a stronger and more cultured individual rather than an obvious attempt to cash in on the diversity movement.

When I saw that I was accepted to receive an ARC copy of Future Shock I was overjoyed. I figured this novel would be amaze-balls from the summary and it turns out I was right. Future Shock is a novel that I easily devoured in one sitting and I am genuinely looking forward to the next book to this series.

This novel will appeal to readers who enjoy books about time travel, diversity YA, strong female leads with dark histories, romance that boosts the plot rather than becomes the plot and large does of a suspense. I would definitely recommend this to fans of darker literature since this novel deals with corruption and death. Future Shock is a coming of age story in a science fiction-time travel wrapper.

This is undoubtedly one if the best Young Adult Sci-Fi I have ever read. Elena Martinez is a character I can never grow tired of loving, She is fiesty, snarky, smart and funny. She made this book such a wonderful read. There are many other things that make this book a great read such as its impeccable characters, the time travel aspect (which amuses me to no end) and a wonderfully rich plot that never ceases to entertain. This is one series that should be followed because it has a way of not letting you go. I am quite eager for the second book next year.

I absolutely loved this book.. I was hooked from the start. The way She writes just kept me in suspense the whole time. I read this book in 4 hours!. I don't think I have ever read a book that quickly I did NOT want to put it down. I could picture everything perfectly in my head from how she described it. I would recommend this to anybody who loves this genre. I cannot wait to see what else she comes up with!

Future Shock begins with Elena Martinez desperately trying to find a job. She's about to turn 18 and age out of the foster care system. Her luck turns around when the Aether Corporation comes knocking on her door to recruit her for a research project due to her eidetic memory. After taking the offer, Elena and the four other teenage recruits (Adam, Chris, Trent, and Zoe) find out what their mission is: travel to the future and retrieve information for Aether. However, once they enter the future, they realize they have traveled 30 years into the future instead of the planned 10 years. Even more, they realize Adam is the only one of their group still alive in the future, and now they must find out why they are all dead and try to change their fate.

Time travel books seem to be hit or miss for me. I love the concept of them, but for some reason I can't wrap my mind around them and usually think up some kind of plot hole. I'm glad to report that Briggs executed the time travel aspect well. The world building was great and the new technology advancements were pretty cool.

The mystery was well-written. Elena is able to figure out the end results since she is in the future, but she must work backwards and piece together what actually happened in order to save their lives. The mystery was twisty and did have turns, though I was able to figure some of it out before the main characters did.

I loved the diversity of the cast. Elena and Adam were the most developed characters, but I still enjoyed the whole group. I didn't ever feel like any of the teenage recruits were forgotten or ignored in any scenes, which can be hard to pull off with a group of five.

Overall, I did enjoy Future Shock and I'm excited to see where Elizabeth Briggs will go with the sequel, Future Threat.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Future Shock has a lot to like. It’s entertaining, solidly written, and features compelling characters. The main character, Elena Martinez, is a tough 17-year-old foster kid who's willing to come to the defense of those weaker than herself. Because of her abusive family history, Elena fears her own predisposition toward violence. She wants to be kind but doesn't always know how to, as in how she awkwardly, lightly pats a distressed person's arm. Cute.

The story has a good premise. Three street-savvy foster kids, each with a special skills (Elena has an eidetic memory), and a non-foster kid with a “good haircut” and a genius mind for science are promised great riches if they participate in a crazy experiment that might send them ten years into the future. Then there's the "ticking bomb" of their needing to be back in exactly 24 hours if they ever want to return to their own time.

That's the good part.

Here’s what didn’t work quite as well. #1, poorly motivated character decisions that conveniently set up plot conflict. First, the band of time travelers (or are they? am trying not to give away spoilers here) are suspicious. Then they’re too trusting. They’re given a mission by the company who arranges the time travel experiment, which the teens accept pretty much without question. Once the mission is set in motion, the kids pretty quickly deviate with their own, seemingly random objectives. That’s when the thread of the story gets a bit lost. Also, a lot of things come too easily for the teens, at least in the first half of the book.

Ultimately, Future Shock is a mystery. The sci-fi/time travel element is integral to the mystery, but don’t expect a story brimming with elaborate world-building.

My favorite aspect of Future Shock is the characters. I got pretty invested in them, especially Elena and Adam. And surprise, surprise, the love interest works.

Overall rating: 3.75/5 stars

This is a fast moving story. Its a lovely, sad, but couragous story with a good ending. Its a mystery but also has some futureistic stuff too😊😊

Having a read a great deal of YA fiction and being a sci-fi fan myself, I liked the premise and complexity of this title. The protagonist seems real and not a cliché trainwreck that can occur in this genre. I also enjoyed that the reader got a good ending, but not a perfect one.

Elena has been able to keep her ability to remember everything a secret for as long as she could. In and out of foster homes and struggling to survive, her secret comes out, and the mysterious Aether Corporation has recruited her for a special mission.

Elena, along with a group of other teens with special skills are being sent ten years into the future. When they get there, however, things go wrong as they are sent even further than they were supposed to. Adam, a science prodigy Elena finds herself drawn to, seems to have his own reasons for visiting the future.

Elena soon discovers a terrifying truth; she and the others are doomed, and according to the newspapers, Elena is the killer. Determined to stop this from happening, Elena will have to figure out who to trust in order to stop the murders and save her own life.

So much fun! Loved this read.

Time travel? Check! Thriller? Check! Romance? Check! Coming of Age? Check! Cross-genre? Check!

So we have a tale that leaps across boundries with insouciance providing glimpses into potential futures through the eyes of a heavily tattooed, latina foster child on the edge of breaking out of the overburdened social "welfare" system. She has memories of mother-love overlapped with the horrors of what put her into the system (oh, no, not telling--read for yourself!) made inescapable by her eidetic memory. Fast-paced, complex (but never to the point of confusion) and surprising, this book was hard to put down.

This is the first of a series and certainly stands well on its own, but I suspect that if you are like me you will be reaching out for the next volume as soon as you finish this one.

I got my copy from Netgalley where one selects what one wants to read and voluntarily review. As a fan of time travel, the description intrigued me; the book totally hooked me!