The Future Is Yours has been categorized as science fiction, time travel, and as a techno-thriller—and there are aspects of all of these within this unique story set in California and Washington D.C. The key question in this book relates to seeing what is happening one year in the future. Would you take advantage of such an opportunity? Do you really want to know what the future holds for you?

Former college friends Ben Boyce and Adhi Chaudry answer this question with an overwhelming yes. Forming a startup called The Future, they want to deliver this technology to the world. Ben takes on the management, marketing and financial side and Adhi tackles the technical side. Will they make their dream into a reality where the device can predict everything perfectly? Will there be any downsides or long-term consequences? Would they be social, political, personal, or something else entirely? Can they overcome the technical, scalability, and ethical hazards of such a technology? What types of opposition and opportunities will they encounter?

The reader gains a strong sense of Ben and Adhi’s personalities through their texts and emails. Additionally, Adhi shows significant character growth despite his introversion while Ben seems to stay the extroverted entrepreneur that is out to conquer the world. How will their relationship change?

While I know other books have used similar formats, this is my first reading experience where the entire novel was told through written records such as emails, transcripts, blogs, text messages, incident reports, and letters. In this case, it worked well. Additionally, the reader gains some insight into venture capital and even board of directors’ office politics. Somehow, the format also managed to invoke a strong sense of suspense and tension which I didn’t expect, but made the reading experience pleasurable. I did think some of the swearing used wasn’t necessary to convey the mood and tension and could have been handled differently. Additionally, the use of stereotypes, if it was going to be used for the two main characters, could have been reversed and would have made the story more unique. Themes include friendship, ethics, love, business acumen, predictive accuracy, change, and consequences to actions.

Overall, this was a gripping, original, and steadily-paced book that was entertaining and kept my interest. This novel was definitely thought-provoking. The ending? You’ll have to read it to find out if they are successful or not. Does the world change? What happens to Ben and Adhi?

Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine – Del Rey and Dan Frey provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for February 9, 2021.