Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - First Down

Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

First Down by Grace Reilly

21 reviews

kb33's review

Go to review page

lighthearted medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Cute, quick, light read, and I love how hard James fell for Bex.

Content Warnings

vj_thompson's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My. Flipping. Heart. ❤️

Literally obsessed with this book, the writing, and the characters 🥹 I binge this book in one day. Personally, I think this was better than Icebreaker by Hannah Grace which is a college sports romance. First Down is a perfect mix of spice, drama, and fake dating romance!

Content Warnings

dkgreads's review

Go to review page

funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Cute, quick sports romance. Fairly low angst, moderate steam. Will definitely be reading the rest of the series!

Content Warnings

sarahball47's review

Go to review page

emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

emmysforeverbooked's review

Go to review page

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I was so close to rating this 4 stars but then I remembered the McKee vs Alabama game and took my rating down 💀

This book was a super fun read! My first sports romance ever and I'm very glad I started out with this one. I love the fake dating aspect especially because that's my favorite trope EVER so I was immediately excited to read this when I saw it had that trope. I definitely think I would've read this a lot faster if I hadn't been in a reading slump.

Content Warnings

northernsweetie's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted fast-paced

4.25

Content Warnings

laurenvoice's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

First Down had so much potential but, in the end, it lacked something. There were quite a few inconsistencies within the storyline and with the characters; too many to ignore. However, James was too cute; he was such a cinnamon roll; he saved this book!

First Down was too fast-paced; there were too many time jumps within the story, and it missed any story building. The relationship progression between James and Bex happened too quickly; they barely "fake dated" and practically dived headfirst into a relationship that neither of them felt ready for; they should have set boundaries and slowed the fake dating storyline to build tension.

Also, there was no proper build-up with the Darryl storyline; the story seemed to have skipped all the times he harassed and stalked Bex on campus and at her place of work. And the Sara storyline felt too forced and didn't quite have the impact on the story that it should have done. It was a missed opportunity not to build up the tension with the Darryl storyline, as the showdown between James and Darryl would have felt more impactful and less childish.

After finishing, First Down, I felt unsatisfied, which is a shame as I enjoyed reading this book as a lighthearted read. However, the ending felt too cheesy the way it wrapped up. We never saw why Bex's mum ended up doing a big U-turn with her personality and life; her gift to Bex at the end felt too out of character. The ending felt unfinished. But maybe these will be tied up in future books; however, I doubt the unanswered questions will get the answers.

Nonetheless, First Down was a fun read and has set up the rest of the Beyond the Play series well. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

Content Warnings