Past Present Future

• Author: Rachel Lynn Solomon
• Genre: YA Romance
• Publication Date: June 4, 2024
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Series: Rowan & Neil #2

Thank you to YA Books Central and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. You can find my YABC review here.

CONTENT WARNING: underage alcohol use, mention of assault on a minor, depression, anxiety, panic attack (on-page)

When longtime rivals Rowan Roth and Neil McNair confessed their feelings on the last day of senior year, they knew they’d only have a couple of months together before they left for college. Now summer is over, and they’re determined to make their relationship work as they begin school in different states.

In Boston, Rowan is eager to be among other aspiring novelists, learning from a creative writing professor she adores. She’s just not sure why she suddenly can’t seem to find her voice.

In New York, Neil embraces the chaos of the city, clicking with a new friend group more easily than he anticipated. But when his past refuses to leave him alone, he doesn’t know how to handle his rapidly changing mental health—or how to talk about it with the girl he loves.

Over a year of late-night phone calls, weekend visits, and East Coast adventures, Rowan and Neil fall for each other again and again as they grapple with the uncertainty of their new lives. They’ve spent so many years at odds with each other—now that they’re finally on the same team, what does the future hold for them?

Rowan and Neil won over my entire heart in Today Tonight Tomorrow. I loved the idea of two high school overachievers in constant competition being forced to team up only to admit their feelings to each other at the end of their high school career. But what happens after the book ends? Apparently enough of us were asking this question about Rowan and Neil, and this book was delivered from the heavens to us mere, undeserving mortals. Of course I couldn’t respond fast enough to request this book!

The book starts just as summer vacation is ending, and Rowan, Neil, and crew are ready to start a new phase in their life—college. And everything seems to be perfect, with Rowan and Neil each going to their dream schools; the only problem is that Rowan will be in Boston, while Neil will be in Manhattan. 

I loved that the story delves into the many changes that come along with attending college. Both Rowan and Neil experience so many firsts in this book—they’re each living away from home for the first time, and while they are thrilled to be ‘living the dream’ that they have literally been dreaming about, they are also facing the realistic challenge of building new lives in their new homes while also trying to maintain a long-distance relationship.

The chapters alternate between Rowan’s and Neil’s perspectives, and I really found it insightful to see what each of them was going through during the school year. Although their experiences have similarities, there are some major differences, so I want to talk about the characters individually. 

Rowan has some expectations of what college would be like—becoming best friends with her roommate, writing prolifically under the professor she admires, joining clubs, attending Shabbat services, and having all kinds of life-changing experiences. But things don’t exactly work out that way for her at all—her roommate is practically non-existent, she’s got writer’s block, and she doesn’t manage to get to have many of the experiences that she was expecting as part of the ‘typical college experience’. Since writing has always come easily to her, she doesn’t know what is different for her now, other than the fact that she’s happy in love.

Neil is having a totally different experience than Rowan. He and his roommate hit it off and become friends quickly, and he’s really into what he’s studying, loving the city setting, trying out a few clubs, and even attending Shabbat services. But he’s struggling a little, and as his past comes back to haunt him, he goes downhill quickly. It was painful to watch him suffer in silence and try to figure things out on his own, when it was so obvious that it was depression. However, part of what makes depression so insidious and difficult to deal with is the way it gets inside your mind and convinces you that you’re a burden or a bother, and RLS portrays this so beautifully with Neil’s internal and external dialogue.

However, the crux of the story is how the two of these young people deal with all of these challenges both separately and together. It was really cool to watch them grow up as new adults individually, and then be able to grow together. Although Rowan and Neil learned how to manage their own issues in separate locations, they wound up both doing so independently out of fear of burdening the other. Yet somehow, through everything, their relationship stays a priority for them. But they still question if that love and determination is enough to overcome the distance:

“Maybe it’s not about how much we love each other. Maybe it’s about logistics, and the specific pain not getting to spend all the time you want with the person that you love.”

Picking up an RLS book is a given for me. I know that I’m going to love the story, the characters, and I’m guaranteed to see some form of Jewish representation. This book was the same, but the pacing was a little off. The first half of the book was a little slow and it took me a long time to get through it because while I was thrilled to see Rowan and Neil again, the story took a long time to get going. Once I got to the second half of the book, I couldn’t put it down. That was really the only negative for me. I got my promised Jewish representation, which is sprinkled in throughout the story without ever being a central focus. Being Jewish is just a fact of life for both MCs, like so many Jewish people in America. Overall, I really loved this story—it had wonderful mental health representation, exceptional character growth, dialogue that felt so natural, and such a realistic representation of the first year away at college that it gave me such strong nostalgia that I wanted to call my own college roommate from my first year! This is definitely a wonderful read, and I love how Solomon made another scavenger hunt part of this story. If you enjoyed Today Tonight Tomorrow or anything else that RLS has written, learning about what happens after the HEA, reading OwnVoices books, and/or like NA romances, this is the book for you.

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