My rating: 4/5 stars
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Adventure

“It’s not always about those huge moments. It’s the tiny details, the ones that remind you the other person is caring about you, even when you’re not the best at caring for yourself.”

Past, Present, Future

After transitioning from enemies to lovers in their senior year of high school, Rowan and Neil are ready to begin the ‘lovers’ part of their relationship. But their romantic bliss is about to be tested as they start their lives as college students. With Rowan in Boston and Neil off to New York; can young love really conquer all?

I loved ‘Past, Present, Future’ for so many reasons but the main one being, it satisfied that ‘need’ to know what comes after ‘happy ever after’. So many of the Young Adult (YA) romances I read end with our protagonists going off to college – we have no idea how they fare, we  just have to hope they make it; that their love is strong enough to survive the new adult years, the long distance, the new friends, the change in hobbies and interests, the rediscovery of oneself…

In ‘Past, Present, Future’ we see our protagonists go through so much change. Rowan who has always loved writing now finds herself struggling in a creative writing class; and Neil’s life-long passion for linguistics is suddenly trumped by an interest in psychology. On top of all this, he’s navigating an estranged relationship with his dad. 

Rowan and Neil think they’ve got it figured out: daily late night phone calls, weekly facetimes.. It works for a while but it starts to feel like it’s not enough. When you’re miles apart how much do you communicate and how much do you keep to yourself? How do you remain positive even when it’s hard? & how can it feel so hard when there’s no one else you’d rather be with?

Rachel Lynn Solomon navigates all these emotions perfectly through these characters. Rowan and Neil are absolutely loveable and had me rooting for them the whole time. Seeing them unravel, communicate, break down, lost and  confused tugged at my heart but following their emotional journey was such an enjoyable read! 

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