Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events, First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea; and Teaser Tuesdays hosted by The Purple Booker.
Today’s featured book is The Futures, by Anna Pitoniak, is a dazzling debut novel about love and betrayal, in which a young couple moves to New York City in search of success-only to learn that the lives they dream of may come with dangerous strings attached.
Intro: (Prologue – Julia)
It was a story that made sense. An old story, but one that felt truer for it. Young love goes stale and slackens. You change, and you shed what you no longer need. It’s just part of growing up.
I thought I had understood. It seemed so simple at the time.
We moved in on a humid morning in June. Our suitcases bumped and scuffed the walls as we climbed three flights of stairs, the rest of the boxes and furniture waiting unguarded in the foyer. The locks were clunky and finicky, resistant on the first few attempts. Sunlight streamed through the smudged windows, and the floorboards creaked beneath our weight. The apartment looked smaller than it had before, on the day we signed our lease. “I’m going down for some boxes,” Evan said, holding the door open with one foot. “You coming?”
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Teaser: I was silent. I waited for him to look up at me, but he wouldn’t. He kept his palms pressed up against his eyes, like a child willing a monster to disappear. After a minute, he said it again. “Julia. What should I do?”
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Synopsis: Julia and Evan fall in love as undergraduates at Yale. For Evan, a scholarship student from a rural Canadian town, Yale is a whole new world, and Julia–blond, beautiful, and rich–fits perfectly into the future he’s envisioned for himself. After graduation, and on the eve of the great financial meltdown of 2008, they move together to New York City, where Evan lands a job at a hedge fund. But Julia, whose privileged upbringing grants her an easy but wholly unsatisfying job with a nonprofit, feels increasingly shut out of Evan’s secretive world.
With the market crashing and banks failing, Evan becomes involved in a high-stakes deal at work–a deal that, despite the assurances of his Machiavellian boss, begins to seem more than slightly suspicious. Meanwhile, Julia reconnects with someone from her past who offers a glimpse of a different kind of live. As the economy craters, and as Evan and Julia spin into their separate orbits, they each find that they are capable of much more–good and bad–than they’d ever imagined.
Rich in suspense and insight, Anna Pitoniak’s gripping debut reveals the fragile yet enduring nature of our connections: to one another and to ourselves. THE FUTURES is a glittering story of a couple coming of age, and a searing portrait of what it’s like to be young and full of hope in New York City, a place that so often seems determined to break us down–but ultimately may be the very thing that saves us.
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What do you think? Do the excerpts make you want to keep reading?
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The beginning is unusual in that it seems to give away the ending. Since it also seems the ending is sad, I will probably skip this one.
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Thanks for stopping by, Margot, and I hope to enjoy this one, especially because of the NY scene and the financial meltdowns.
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This isn’t a world I often come across in my reading but I am intrigued to find out what happens to this couple despite the sad opening.
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Thanks, Cleo, I was drawn in for the same reasons. I also love the “financial meltdown” aspects. Glad you could stop by.
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Yes, I want to know more – even though it sounds a sad story.
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Thanks, Margaret, and it does sound sad. I hope there will be a little happiness along the way, but who knows? Thanks for visiting.
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Very unusual beginning! Thanks for sharing, Laurel! Hope you enjoy it
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Thanks, Swati, I am curious about the couple, too, and wonder what will happen to them.
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I like the sound of it and have heard good things about this book. I’m drawn in to the beginning and would keep going to see what happened. Hope you enjoy it!
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Thanks, Kay, the opening also piques my interest. I was captured by the blurb…and the good things I’ve heard about it.
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i just started this one as well a Vine selection:) enjoy
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Thanks, Diane, I started another book last night (Idaho), but it hasn’t grabbed me yet, so I’ll probably skip on over to this one. Thanks for visiting…and for hosting.
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Not my usual style but it sounds intriguing. The teaser on my adult blog is from A Twist of the Knife by Becky Masterman. Happy reading!
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Thanks, Kathy, this book is different from my usual, too; thought I would take a wee break from thrillers (for a minute-and-a-half, at least, lol).
Enjoy your pick!
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I think I would continue reading. This story is certainly relevant in today’s world.
My teaser fort his week: https://collinesblog.com/2017/03/14/between-sisters-by-cathy-kelly/
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I agree, Colline, and I needed a break from my usual genres. Thanks for stopping by.
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Looking forward to reading this one too. Love that introduction — can feel the young couple’s hopes and dreams — and I wonder what awaits them as the story unfolds.
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Oh, so do I, Catherine…starting this one now. I had picked up Idaho last night, but for some reason, I’m not feeling it.
Enjoy your week!
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Intriguing teaser! I would definitely keep reading. I hope you are enjoying it and happy reading! Here’s my teaser of Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner.
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Thanks, Yvo, and I’m definitely enjoying it. I hadn’t planned to start it today, but the opening lines tempted me into it.
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Sounds like it might be similar to one I read about yesterday called The Marriage Pact. I’m not sure if I’d read it or not. Maybe. Here’s my link for today: http://wp.me/p4DMf0-1vT
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I just got The Marriage Pact, but haven’t started reading it. Thanks for stopping by, Ms. M.
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I’ll be interested to learn if you find the themes similar.
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Ooh, interesting! I’ve not heard of this novel before, hope you enjoy it. Thanks for visiting my post earlier! https://ahouseofbooks.wordpress.com/2017/03/14/teaser-tuesday-14-march-2017/
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Thanks, House of Books…I am enjoying it!
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This sounds like something taken from the news. I keep waiting for it to happen again. I can’t imagine a newly married young couple handling things wisely in this situation. Yep. I’d keep reading.
My TT from Jurassic Island
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I’m loving it, Laura…I hadn’t planned to start it today, but I couldn’t resist.
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This isn’t at all what I thought it would be from the snippets. I’m not sure it is a fit for me, but I didn’t think some of the books I loved were fits for me, so… I hope you enjoy it.
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I’m enjoying it so far, Kathy. Thanks for stopping by.
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I like the intro of this and am interested to see how it turns out.
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I am enjoying it, Emma…thanks for stopping by.
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I find myself on the fence with this book. Not sure, until I learned it was a debut book. How did I not know that?
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Hmm, I guess I didn’t know that, either, Nise, but I’m enjoying it.
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It’s hard for me to say because it’s not my type of story–I generally avoid anything too serious or sad (basically too much like real life)–yet I am intrigued by the part of the synopsis that hints that they do something bad. I am glad you are enjoying it.
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I wasn’t sure I would like it, Jen, but the 2008 meltdown, and its effect on young people in NY, those just starting out….I couldn’t resist.
Thanks for stopping by.
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