Reviews

First & Then by Emma Mills

absolutealexandria's review

5.0

Pride and Prejudice plus football? I was hooked. The characters and situations are much more realistic than some YA I've read, and I actually laughed out loud a few times. Our main girl is believable and you really root for her. A must for P&P fans. I'm glad I found it.

lienata's review

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

4.75

the_horror_maven's review

4.0

This book was a good high school novel! I loved how the characters developed. Even though I am not into football at all, it was interesting seeing how this book revolved around high school football and around an up and coming high school football player who you wanted to root for. All of the characters, in my opinion, were likable and it was lovely to see how all of theme evolved. The writing in this book was very well done, especially for a first time author. I got this book from my Uppercase box subscription and I thought it was a good pick!

jackiehorne's review

3.0

Xmas present from my significant other, due to rec on John Green's blog. Not really a retelling of Pride & Prejudice, as some have billed it, more a nod in P&P's direction (and lots of direct references to JA and her novels by our first-person narrator, Devon, a senior in high school). This book opens with Devon meeting with a college counselor, and thinking about how "staunchly average" she is. By book's end, readers, along with Devon, are supposed to recognize that Devon has her strong points (being friendly and easy to talk to), although I wasn't quite convinced that this was in fact true, since we don't often SEE her doing this very much. Thus, I couldn't get very excited about Devon as a character, to tell the truth.

The characters around Devon are far more interesting. There's Foster, the slightly goofy frosh cousin who has come to live with Devon's family after his father's death and his mother's fall into drug addiction. There's Cas, Devon's long-time best friend and the boy she's been secretly crushing on for ages. And there's Ezra, apparently arrogant football star, who befriends Foster when it turns out that Foster is unexpectedly proficient at kicking a football. If you've read your P&P, you won't be surprised at who Devon ends up with on the romantic front. What happens to finally wean her from her own "Mr. Wickham" was painfully spot-on, showing adolescent friendship/relationships when one friend's feelings veer towards romance while the other's don't. The most moving relationship here, though, is between Devon and Foster, although why Foster regards Devon as his "role model" is never quite clear (see thought in paragraph above re Devon's character).

There's also a quirky/strange set of tertiary characters, characters who felt as if they were being included here as set-ups for future sequels.

books4susie's review

5.0

I had a difficult time stopping this audio book. Couldn't wait to see how Devin and the people in her life grew. Definite recommend.

zonira's review

3.0

I didn't love this as much as I wanted to. Devon was seriously judgemental, especially with the terrible nickname she gave the freshman girls. At least she had a little character development towards the end.

Marabelle's whole pregnancy storyline made me deeply uncomfortable. No backstory or explanation, and then trying to introduce a romance with Foster? Uhn uhn

Also, what was even the point of the Amir character?

Lastly, the romance, imagine dragging it for that long only to give such a lacklustre ending. Not good enough

alannar2422's review

5.0

Good short read, it had a lot in it and I really liked it.(He read 2 books for her from her favorite author !!) That's dedication !

wwwgretareads's review

3.0

“on that note, keep up the good work, editor. i enjoy the op-ed pieces, and also when you print the cafeteria menu.”

laviedecoco's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.5

lala783's review

5.0

There are a lot of things to be said about this book. First of all, AMAZING. Second of all, the characters and their interactions in this world is what really sold it for me. Devon, the narrator, goes through so much development and rich exploration, which is something I really enjoyed reading. I'll admit at first I was a little apprehensive of Devon because her negativity reminded me of some awful abomination I was in high school, but she develops so much throughout this book, especially through her interactions with Foster. Foster, along with all the other characters in this book, are really fleshed out and feel like real people, not just high school caricatures which was refreshing. It made me actually think positively on high school. Although this is PEAK ROMANCE, this book also has such strong familial themes that hit close to home. I enjoyed all the Pride & Prejudice and Jane Austen references, especially the PLOT TWISTS throughout this book reminiscent of her books. Overall, this book made me actually care about football and broke my heart (and repaired it :') ). Great read, would recommend to anyone with a heart. Also, don't know if the author will ever read this, BUT I feel like there's some real potential for a sequel for the gang to go to college. Perhaps, a sequel in the point of view of Lindsay (because I loved her!!) would be something worth exploring! Just a thought! But :)