A review by hannahleelovestoread
First Love: Essays on Friendship by Lilly Dancyger

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

First Love: Essays on Friendship by Lilly Dancyger is a seemingly unfiltered look at — and ode to — the author’s experience with the dynamics of female friendship throughout childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. Drawing on parallels to both cultural references such as the riot grrrl movement and personally definitive events like the untimely death of her father, Dancyger examines girlhood friendships built on foundations of cocaine use, a love of Sylvia Plath and Janis Joplin, and a sort of depressive folie à deux. 
I enjoyed every essay in this piece immensely, finding myself at turns in fits of laughter and overcome with tears. Even when the experiences described were not part of my personal history, the descriptions of friendship and camaraderie, of conflict and growing apart were utterly relatable. Dancyger has a striking and irresistible way of describing unsavory behaviors and situations using the loveliest of language, and her cultural knowledge and allusions are effortlessly fascinating. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to any and every girl or woman. All opinions expressed here are my own. Thanks to The Dial Press at Random House and to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. 
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