REVIEW: Future Imperfect by K. Ryer Breese

Title: Future Imperfect
Author: K. Ryer Breese
Format: ARC, 310 pages
Genre: Paranormal YA
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers
Published: April 26, 2011 by St. Martin’s Griffin

Ade Patience can see the future and it's destroying his life. When the seventeen-year-old Mantlo High School student knocks himself unconscious, he can see days and decades into his own future. Ade's the best of Denver's "divination" underground and eager to join the heralded Mantlo Diviners, a group of similarly enabled teens. Yet, unlike the Diviners, Ade Patience doesn't see the future out of curiosity or good will; Ade gives himself concussions because he's addicted to the high, the Buzz, he gets when he breaks the laws of physics. And while there have been visions he's wanted to change, Ade knows the Rule: You can't change the future, no matter how hard you try.

His memory is failing, his grades are in a death spiral, and both Ade's best friend and his shrink are begging him to stop before he kills himself. Ade knows he needs to straighten-out. Luckily, the stunning Vauxhall Rodolfo has just transferred to Mantlo and, as Ade has seen her in a vision two years previously, they're going to fall in love. It's just the motivation Ade needs to kick his habit. Only things are a bit more complicated. Vauxhall has an addiction of her own, and, after a a vision in which he sees Vauxhall's close friend, Jimmy, drown while he looks on seemingly too wasted to move, Ade realizes that he must break the one rule he's been told he can't.

The pair must overcome their addictions and embrace their love for each other in order to do the impossible: change the future.

Why I Read this Book: The premise for Future Imperfect caught my attention. Ade possesses an interesting supernatural power of seeing the future when knocked unconscious. Things are pretty crazy for Ade because he purposely gets himself knocked out, by any means necessary, to get the high he feels when he’s unconscious and on a future-glimpsing trip.

What I Liked: This book had an interesting premise but the book went downhill once I learned what Vauxhall needed to do in order to use her own unique supernatural power.

What I Didn’t Like: One major issue I had with the book was Vauxhall’s character and her supernatural power. I was disturbed by it. I can’t explain any further without SPOILERS so I’m going to leave that decision up to you. Consider yourself warned.

*** Vauxhall also has a unique supernatural power: she can see someone’s past when she has sex with them. That’s right, the girl Ade has been in love with for the past 2 years sleeps with guys so she can see their pasts and ‘help them’, thus giving her a high. And I should mention that these are high school aged characters, so they’re 17-18 years old. WTF?!! Then later on, right after Ade has sex with her, Ade whores out his so-called girlfriend to find out what Jimi could possibly be up to! ***

I wasn’t feeling the connection between Ade and Vauxhall. He originally saw her 2 years ago in one of his glimpses into his future and has been in love with her ever since. Even when he finally ‘meets’ her in the present time, I didn’t feeling any kind of chemistry between them. Vauxhall is so out there (again, it has to do with her supernatural power) that I don’t understand why Ade would still want to be with her. I found Ade to be pretty pathetic for staying in love with Vauxhall.

The written conversations between Ade and the different ‘specialists’ he contacted were one-sided. The reader only gets to read the letters Ade writes, non of the responses (even though you can tell in Ade’s follow up letters that he got one). You can sort of get an idea of what the specialists had to say about Ade’s inquiries but it felt incomplete and I don’t feel the letters were substantial to the story.

Overall Impression: Future Imperfect was not a book for me. I’m actually quite surprised that I finished reading it but there was a part of me, albeit a small part, that wanted to know how a particular part was going to play out between Ade and Jimi. I was so completely disgusted with Vauxhall’s character and her supernatural power that it ruined any chance of me liking this book.

The Book Vixen’s Rating: