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anjaliagarwal01's review
5.0
I loved this book and I really enjoyed the unique personalities every character had! It made it a lot easier to get into the story. I usually do not enjoy books that have excessive details but somehow it worked here. I loved seeing the relationships with Devon (main character) grow throughout the book. For example, Foster and Devon started out barely talking but then you could see how they bonded and didn't mind being actual siblings. Jordan was a side character but I liked his random appearances. Now Cas and Ezra who were other two main characters. I did like Cas and Devon together and how great friends they were. However, I was disappointed with Cas towards the end but I won't say why to avoid spoilers. Ezra was really mysterious and his relationship with Devon definitely did change a lot. This book did have many references to Jane Austen and her books but since I didn't read any of those, I didn't understand the references. Definitely a wonderful and quick read!
So I was thinking about this book just now and I realized that we never found out who the father was of Marabelle's baby! If it was actually mentioned and I somehow didn't see it please let me know!
So I was thinking about this book just now and I realized that we never found out who the father was of Marabelle's baby! If it was actually mentioned and I somehow didn't see it please let me know!
vll295's review
4.0
This book was advertised to me as a Friday Night Lights meets Pride and Prejudice. I haven't seen Friday Night Lights, but I do know it is about football and that was the case here. In this book, the two characters that are at the center of this book are Devon and Ezra. While it seems like Devon does not have any interest in Ezra at first, things start to change over time as Ezra takes an interest in helping Foster (Devon's cousin who lives with them). The book has romance and intrigue. The cover was adorable and I enjoyed reading this book.
More can be found on my blog at: http://hesaidbooksorme.blogspot.com
More can be found on my blog at: http://hesaidbooksorme.blogspot.com
mfumarolo's review
5.0
It's not a perfect work of fiction, but it made me feel the perfect things. A lovely and honest contemporary, the right book at the right time. I already can't wait to reread this one :)
theamyleblanc's review against another edition
3.0
I'm left feeling a bit conflicted by this book. I thought it was going to be about high school football, jane austen-inspired story lines, and the transition into young adulthood (all things I love).
Instead, this is a book that tries to tackle too many things. It comes across incredibly muddied. A lot of the character development is not great or takes too long. Devon isn't the most likeable characters; I didn't really understand why everyone kept telling her she's easy to talk to and that people like her as a person. She never really seems to get interested in anything, never seems to find a path.
I can appreciate what the author tried to do with both Foster's and Ezra's storylines but there were too many loose ends. I don't need everything to be tied up in a nice bow by the end but it can't just be swept aside and ignored, either. The ending was rather anticlimactic, which was disappointing but not all that surprising.
Ezra is far and away the best character in this book. The story would have been way more interesting had it been told from his point of view. I liked that his backstory isn't all sunshine and roses because sometimes life is like that, even for high schoolers. He's the only one who seemed to be real and alive. Everyone else was just a bit flat.
The Austen angle was incredibly confusing! It seemed to be trying to do multiple Austen adaptations in one, which could be cool if executed well. This was not. It was weird and a little off-putting.
I probably wouldn't recommend this book.
Instead, this is a book that tries to tackle too many things. It comes across incredibly muddied. A lot of the character development is not great or takes too long. Devon isn't the most likeable characters; I didn't really understand why everyone kept telling her she's easy to talk to and that people like her as a person. She never really seems to get interested in anything, never seems to find a path.
I can appreciate what the author tried to do with both Foster's and Ezra's storylines but there were too many loose ends. I don't need everything to be tied up in a nice bow by the end but it can't just be swept aside and ignored, either. The ending was rather anticlimactic, which was disappointing but not all that surprising.
Ezra is far and away the best character in this book. The story would have been way more interesting had it been told from his point of view. I liked that his backstory isn't all sunshine and roses because sometimes life is like that, even for high schoolers. He's the only one who seemed to be real and alive. Everyone else was just a bit flat.
The Austen angle was incredibly confusing! It seemed to be trying to do multiple Austen adaptations in one, which could be cool if executed well. This was not. It was weird and a little off-putting.
I probably wouldn't recommend this book.
bookworm097's review
4.0
When I first started this book, I didn't like it all that much. It didn't hold my attention very well (Probably because I was still living in ACOWAR, but whatever). But after buckling down and making myself read for a bit, I found I quite enjoyed it.
It was utterly predictable, as is almost every contemporary novel. So I suppose I can't hold that against it. It is quite short, but in that amount of time, most of the characters showed a good deal of character development, which is one of the high points for this story. Devon is incredibly relatable in her unextrodinary-ness, which was rather enjoyable. I also liked how the dynamic between Devon and Cas was handled, it was pretty realistic for that kind of a situation.
Definitely a cute story and didn't take much time to read, so I'd recommend it to any contemporary lover!
It was utterly predictable, as is almost every contemporary novel. So I suppose I can't hold that against it. It is quite short, but in that amount of time, most of the characters showed a good deal of character development, which is one of the high points for this story. Devon is incredibly relatable in her unextrodinary-ness, which was rather enjoyable. I also liked how the dynamic between Devon and Cas was handled, it was pretty realistic for that kind of a situation.
Definitely a cute story and didn't take much time to read, so I'd recommend it to any contemporary lover!
girlinthepages's review
2.0
I'll be the first to admit I haven't read Pride & Prejudice (For shame! I know, I know, I am an English major anomaly) and have only seen a handful of Friday Night Lights episodes (the rest of my family was obsessed and binge watched it on Netflix last year). However, I was still very intrigued by this book because 1. The cover is gorgeous and 2) It is pitched as a combination of two very different things. Sadly, this book really didn't live up to the rave reviews I had seen from many other bloggers, and I found many of the characters to be rather boring to read about (especially the main character). BUT I will say that one thing this novel captured very, very well is the portrayal of teenage rejection and heartbreak when that one person you've been crushing on forever admits that they know, and even worse, that they don't return your feelings. Devon and Cass' relationship was such a classic, realistic depiction of this high school phenomenon and I felt myself cringing and feeling for Devon's unrequited feelings for him. This book also featured a great platonic friendship between Devon and Jordan, without any underlying romantic tension.
Overall: If you're not a huge fan of Pride & Prejudice to pick up the references, the novel doesn't really offer a lot to set it apart from other contemporaries. There were some interesting family dynamics (such as Foster and Devon) and a wide range of male/female high school relationships, but I honestly wasn't really charmed by Ezra or Devon as main characters, so I wasn't really that invested in their love story.
Overall: If you're not a huge fan of Pride & Prejudice to pick up the references, the novel doesn't really offer a lot to set it apart from other contemporaries. There were some interesting family dynamics (such as Foster and Devon) and a wide range of male/female high school relationships, but I honestly wasn't really charmed by Ezra or Devon as main characters, so I wasn't really that invested in their love story.
lindsey_kerrigan's review
3.0
3.5 stars. Although I did enjoy it I had some trouble getting into the story because it took a while to get started. Also, there just wasn't a lot to the book, I loved all the parts with Foster and all the parts with Ezra but I feel like the book could have been expanded and could have made a much larger impact. I wasn't a huge fan of the generic small town football story, I haven't read many in the past but it just isn't my favorite narrative and this book didn't change that opinion. Many of the characters also seemed kind of one sided. Cas and Lindsay were great but I didn't really understand their significance to the story cause the argument with Cas was barely even resolved in the end, it was basically brushed over; and Lindsay was a great character but there wasn't any conflict there at all, it was just a misinterpretation. Like I said before, I feel like there were just two many sides to the story between the football guys, Foster, gym class, Jane Austen, the freshman English class, college club, and the school newspaper I feel like nothing clicked because all these sides were crammed into such a small book. And I'm not saying everything needs to be fixed but I had trouble figuring out what the main storyline was. I understand that Foster was basically the center of the story and I did enjoy that but if Ezra was the side storyline why didn't we get more screen time with him, we really only had like 3 or 4 meaningful scenes with him before the climax and they were short interactions. Also, just to add on, I don't understand how characters like Emir or the English teacher that brought her to Reeding added to the story. I guess it's trying to show that she's finally understanding that people often have more distress in their lives than what you see on the surface, but I've seen that done much better in other books before. I really wanted to enjoy this book, and I really liked Devon as a main character and the few times we saw Ezra, but I had a hard time being sold on this book. The only part that I felt really made an impact were the parts with Foster, watching their relationship as siblings grow and seeing how he changed her as a person.
thewinterizzy's review
5.0
I'm biased, because I've been waiting a long time for this book and I love Emma, however this book was exactly what I had hoped it would be and I really enjoyed it. As far as debut novels go, I'd say this one is nothing to be embarrassed about. I thought it was a great contemporary read; a good, heartwarming growing-up story.
_camk_'s review
2.0
First & Then was exactly what Goodreads two stars mean - it was okay.
I found the plot quite boring and struggled to find anything special about any of the characters - no one stood out, even with Foster being eccentric and Ezra being brooding and socially awkward. Even with tragic backstories, the characters lacked a depth.
I found the plot quite boring and struggled to find anything special about any of the characters - no one stood out, even with Foster being eccentric and Ezra being brooding and socially awkward. Even with tragic backstories, the characters lacked a depth.
h0pesheart's review
3.0
Quite underwhelming to be honest. I’m disappointed that I didn’t receive the same authenticity and raw emotion I felt while reading another of Emma Mills’ books.