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A review by ellenmrozek
Firsts by L.E. Flynn
4.0
I picked up FIRSTS for the super original concept and devoured it in a matter of days because of the execution. Mercedes's story begins as a slightly torrid high school scheme--helping boys lose their virginity so that they'll have the experience they need to give their girlfriends good first times--and becomes this personal, painful look at sexual expectations among teenagers.
Mercedes is the kind of character it would be easy to hate, and I was incredibly frustrated by her a number of times. She's the kind of girl who holds everyone around her at bay because she's afraid that they'll leave her behind or decide that she's not worth their time, and she makes any number of bad decisions as a result. She's also disregarded by her mother, abandoned by her father, and clueless about the intricacies of normal relationships thanks to a terrible past relationship with an older boy, and that combination of experiences is what makes her relatable instead of annoying.
It didn't hurt either that Mercedes had friends and a love interest--Angela, Faye, and Zach--who kept reaching out to her even when she pulled away. I thought Zach was a super sweet, caring yet realistic example of a high school boy, and I appreciated the ways in which Angela managed to dodge the worst of the "religious prude" stereotypes. But Faye was my favorite side character hands down, the kind of girl who has been hurt badly but isn't written as a victim, a girl who's boldly and unashamedly herself even when other people treat her like crap for it. YA needs more girls like Mercedes, girls who have a lot of sex for good or bad reasons, but it needs a hell of a lot more girls like Faye in starring roles. I would LOVE to read a book about her.
The only warning I might apply to FIRSTS is that some of the scenes between Mercedes and various guys she encounters were pretty intense. I won't name names because of spoilers, but I was practically vibrating with the need to reach into the book and punch a certain guy or two in the last fifty pages. I appreciated that neither the story nor its author shied away from the topic of sex as a form of manipulation, but you might want to proceed with caution if you have firsthand experience with that particular issue. Otherwise, I'd totally recommend this to anyone looking for smart, poignant, character-driven contemporary YA.
Mercedes is the kind of character it would be easy to hate, and I was incredibly frustrated by her a number of times. She's the kind of girl who holds everyone around her at bay because she's afraid that they'll leave her behind or decide that she's not worth their time, and she makes any number of bad decisions as a result. She's also disregarded by her mother, abandoned by her father, and clueless about the intricacies of normal relationships thanks to a terrible past relationship with an older boy, and that combination of experiences is what makes her relatable instead of annoying.
It didn't hurt either that Mercedes had friends and a love interest--Angela, Faye, and Zach--who kept reaching out to her even when she pulled away. I thought Zach was a super sweet, caring yet realistic example of a high school boy, and I appreciated the ways in which Angela managed to dodge the worst of the "religious prude" stereotypes. But Faye was my favorite side character hands down, the kind of girl who has been hurt badly but isn't written as a victim, a girl who's boldly and unashamedly herself even when other people treat her like crap for it. YA needs more girls like Mercedes, girls who have a lot of sex for good or bad reasons, but it needs a hell of a lot more girls like Faye in starring roles. I would LOVE to read a book about her.
The only warning I might apply to FIRSTS is that some of the scenes between Mercedes and various guys she encounters were pretty intense. I won't name names because of spoilers, but I was practically vibrating with the need to reach into the book and punch a certain guy or two in the last fifty pages. I appreciated that neither the story nor its author shied away from the topic of sex as a form of manipulation, but you might want to proceed with caution if you have firsthand experience with that particular issue. Otherwise, I'd totally recommend this to anyone looking for smart, poignant, character-driven contemporary YA.