Review: Future Threat

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Future Threat by Elizabeth Briggs
Published by Aw Teen on March 1st 2017
Pages: 272
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
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Six months ago Aether Corporation sent Elena, Adam, and three other recruits on a trip to the future where they brought back secret information--but not everyone made it back to the present alive. Now Elena's dealing with her survivor's guilt and trying to make her relationship with Adam work. All she knows for sure is that she's done with time travel and Aether Corporation.
But Aether's not done with her--or Adam, or fellow survivor Chris. The travelers on Aether's latest mission to the future have gone missing, and Elena and her friends are drafted into the rescue effort. They arrive in a future that's amazingly advanced, thanks to Aether Corporation's reverse-engineered technology. The mission has deadly consequences, though, and they return to the future to try to alter the course of events.
But the future is different yet again. Now every trip through time reveals new complications, and more lives lost--or never born. Elena and Adam must risk everything--including their relationship--to save their friends.
The second book in the New York Times bestselling Future Shock trilogy.

Briggs has done it again in the exciting second installment of the Future Shock series! Although not quite as good as Future Shock, Future Threat is a thrilling ride with plenty of twists and intriguing mystery to keep a reader guessing. Also, Briggs seems to have a talent for writing novels that are enthralling – you can read the entire novel without realizing you’ve been reading for hours!

We return to the life of Elena a few months following the events covered in Future Shock. Aether Corp has promised to leave the ill-fated team of misfit teenagers alone and Elena struggles with PTSD. Meanwhile, the rest of the surviving crew are well on their way towards creating a better life for themselves using the Aether Corporation pay-off and are relieved to be done with time travel forever. Unfortunately, it seems Aether needs Elena and her friends’ help once again on a dangerous mission to save another team pushed into time travel like Elena’s crew. Elena and Adam struggle to fix the future once more in Future Threat by sleuthing out who is betraying Aether Corporation and destroying the future of the world.

Strong, bad ass characters? Check. Beautiful and creative futures? Check. Sweet and flawed romance? Check. Danger, intrigue and a murder mystery? Definitely. What else could a YA novel about time travel and corporate greed need?!

Elena Michaels is just as bad ass as the first novel in this series, but more broken. Her experiences in the future and her stand off with Lynne has left her with nightmares and extreme trust issues that have spilled over into her relationship with Adam. Meanwhile, Adam struggles to support Elena regardless of how much she pushes him away. Adam’s understanding and support are undeniably sweet and develop a relationship worth mentioning in YA literature: it’s a healthy relationship strategy and one that makes Adam’s love for Elena all the more realistic. I loved the Elena/Adam struggle mostly because while Elena is so damaged from her childhood and most recent events, Adam is patiently waiting for Elena to heal. However, I am a bit concerned that Adam will become Elena’s door mat because he does allow her to push him away in times when he needs her the most.

The time travel in this novel is just as interesting as the last with worlds very different and yet similar to today’s. I doubt the world will change this much in twenty years, but it still stokes my curiosity of what kinds of worlds Briggs will come up with in Future Lost. Extreme recession, Golden Age of technology, apocalyptic world, genetic warfare..it will be interesting to see what happens with the secrets revealed at the end of Future Threat. Readers are in for a treat.

Readers should must read the first installment of this series before venturing into Future Threat. The story will make sense to new readers, but the depth of the characters, their emotional turmoil and the effects of the events of Future Threat will be lost on readers without the first book. The Future Shock series is worth the read from beginning to end!

This novel will appeal to readers who enjoy time travel novels, mysteries set in futuristic worlds, murder mysteries and novels that center around relationship drama. I would recommend this to readers who have had difficult upbringings since the character still maintains her edge and legitimacy throughout Future Threat and also recommend this to lovers of YA science fiction.

Future Lost is going to be awesome and people should not miss out on this series!