I did not finish this book. This story wasn’t for me and so it’s unfair for me to give a full review.

A love story about a young couple during the financial crises in New York. I love New York so really enjoyed the setting of this book.
However, I struggled to identify with the characters and didn't find myself caring too much about them. I think the fact they bemoan their life when many more have it much worse made it hard for me to relate to them.
Well written, but just not for me.

The story is fine, the writing is fine, but I felt that Julia was so self-indulgent it was hard to really care about her. Evan was a slightly more interesting character, and I did find the financial background quite interesting. However, by the time it came to the ending I really didn't care enough about the conclusion to warrant any extra stars, sadly.

Original and an interesting read.
The story line runs on two different pow2 however. It adds to the story. The characters are well written and are relatable in some ways. All together an interesting read.

This is story of Julia and Evan. Just graduated and in love, they move to New York to start their life together and follow the shared future they have dreamed about. But the course of true love never did run smooth; the expectations and aspirations we have often don't match those of our partner or opportunities don't present themselves in the way we thought. This is a love story but it's not always a happy story.

I found The Futures by Anna Pitoniak an okay book to read. I loved the setting as it was set in New York which was great but that was it. I found this book very predictable but not exciting at all
College sweet hearts Evan and Julia move to New York and they drift apart.
Evan throws himself into his job and Julia reconnects with someone from her past, they both find they're capable of betrayal.

Thanks to Netgalley and Lee Boudreaux Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book.

What’s it about?

This is the story of Evan and Julia, college sweethearts who move to New York post-graduation to start their adult life together. Yet the course of true love never did run smooth, and life starts getting in the way.

My thoughts

The tagline for this novel is “a New York love story” but that is only half true. Yes, it is a love story, between Evan and Julia, and between both of them and New York, but it’s also a coming of age story. Indeed, the word “bildungsroman” repeatedly sprang to mind*.

In terms of the story, I’ll admit that when I started the book, I wasn’t convinced by the prologue. The introduction is meant to pull you into the story, but I found it did the opposite. I felt like I had all I wanted from the book in those first paragraphs, and I didn’t really feel like investing more. But I’m very glad I did.

The thing I loved most about this book was the sense of place. Pitoniak has this incredible gift for conveying location in a few words. The noting of how the light plays off Manhattan windows, the sticky dust of summer in the city, the East River rippling like velvet; these all tied the action so securely to the city that it is a character in its own right. It is clear that Pitoniak has an deep affection for the city that runs beneath her words like a heartbeat.

I also identified with the graduate malaise experienced by the characters in the story. The sense that you are rudderless, that you don’t know which road you should be travelling, comes across so strongly that I wondered if the author was drawing on personal experience. Although I imagine that the terrible decisions that they make are particular to them!

Would I recommend it?

Yes, for sure. It’s very refreshing. Read if you’re a fan of Liza Klaussman, or have ever not known what to do with your life, or actually just love New York City.

*Possibly the first time I’ve used that word since I graduated from my expensive English Literature degree 5 years ago. How about that cost per use, eh?

A fantastic novel offering that little something different, I thought this book cleverly delved into the realism of modern life and the troubles faced upon on the transition to adulthood. The characters take on lives of their own and I was completely and utterly absorbed in finding out what their fate would be. I can’t recommend this book highly enough as a work of contemporary fiction, even if there is a melancholy edge that means you won’t necessarily be left with a happy ending.

*Full review available on the blog*

Quite interesting and full of suspense. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

This is a strong and confident debut novel that sets Pitoniak out as a writer to watch.

She creates a pitch perfect scene of a couple getting to grips with adult life and relationships, and explores the complexities facing this generation.

It's a warm and realistic story that I really enjoyed.

Good. Enjoyed how it showed the how many people negotiate their way through the transition period from University to work whilst trying to keep true to theirselves through the relationship of Julia and Evan.

The futures tells the story of two young people who meet fall in love and then suddenly have to work out what next! They are different people with different backgrounds and adding in one of them working for a hedge fund in the financial crisis it is a rivoting read!

The Story of a couple losing their way during the global financial Crash. Evan works in finance and Julia has yet to work out what she wants to do with herself. She is totally self obsessed and cannot work out that Evan is needing her support in a difficult time. Instead she Imagines he is pushing her aside and uses that for justification to have an affair with a real snake in the grass. We get the story from both sides so it can be quite repetative, especially when Julia keeps going over and over the same stuff. I ended up liking Evan and wanting to shake Julia as the most self-absorbed, selfish, boring little girl.

I liked some aspects of this novel. The setting was solid and convincing. The relationships and the way they rose and fell were plausible. The pacing was well handled. But I wasn't convinced by the ending - spoiler alert - it seemed a bit pat for the couple to get back together again. Other readers may differ.

The Futures felt like a classic love story that needed to be enjoyed, not rushed,. Alowing the details to sink in. Because thats where the real story was.
The story is about a young couple who graduate and follow their dreams while struggling with the everyday life often throws at you.
Julia comes from a privileged background, whilst Evan does not, The story is more real world than fantasy which means sometimes you know whats coming next, but its a brilliant honest book about how people are.

The Futures is a stunning debut novel set in the landscape of early 21st century New York. Julia and Evan, fall in love as Yale undergraduates despite coming from different backgrounds. Evan, a Canadian ice hockey player on scholarship to Yale, his ticket out of his small town whilst Julia comes from a privileged, private school heritage. On graduation, Evan finds work as a junior analyst at a hedge fund whilst Julia via her parents social connections becomes an assistant in a boring non profit. Evan becomes embroiled in a suspicious deal at work and Julia, bored with her humdrum job reconnects with a former friend from Yale. Set against the background of the financial crisis of 2008 this is a beautiful coming of age novel, stylishly written and authentic.

The Futures is a thought provoking coming of age novel in which a young disparate couple meet at Yale and start a life together in New York. This is the story of their futures during one of the most challenging times in modern history.
It is beautifully written and thoroughly enjoyable and I cannot recommend it enough; definitely a book to savour not devour!

I liked the premise of this: set in New York it follows Julia and and Evan as they leave college, unsure of themselves and uncertain of their future and what they want to do, set against the financial crisis of 2008. Evan gets a job with a hedge-fund, which eats away his time while Julia is stuck in a dead-end job, and it's about the unraveling of their relationship, as the couple drift apart. It's a quiet and tender story, with beautiful observations and a great sense of location. However, for me personally, I found the characters weren't emotionally engaging. Overall it was an okay read.

Although set largely in New York at the time of the 2008 financial crisis, The Futures is very much about people not events. Julia is beautiful, privileged and has just graduated from Yale, but she lacks direction. Her partner, Evan, is a Canadian hockey player from a much less exalted background, who has also just left Yale, but has landed himself a well-paid job at a hedge fund. The novel charts their relationship as they work out how to fit into the world beyond education and discover what it is to be an adult. This ought to be fairly a universal theme. However, I struggled to identify with the characters and the challenges they faced. This was disappointing as the book is certainly well-written and carefully paced, but, ultimately, I didn’t have enough in common with Julia and Evan for their lives to really matter to me.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Two great main characters and I loved the way that each chapter was written in one of their voices although sometimes you could scream when it changed from one to the other and thus stopped the story at a fantastic point that you wanted to know more about that person/that situation. Again, with the style it was written in, I liked how you got for most chapters the same story but seen through two different pairs of eyes. Highly worth a read!