Recommended in John Green’s Book Giving Guide for the Holidays 2015Devon Tennyson wouldn’t change a thing. She’s happy silently crushing on best friend Cas, and blissfully ignoring the future after high school. But the universe has other plans. It delivers Devon’s cousin Foster, an unrepentant social outlier with a surprising talent, and the obnoxiously superior and maddeningly attractive jock, … maddeningly attractive jock, Ezra, right where she doesn’t want them–first into her P.E. class and then into every other aspect of her life.
With wit, heart, and humor to spare, First & Then is a contemporary novel about falling in love–with the unexpected boy, with a new brother, and with yourself.
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Emma Mills’s This Adventure Ends blew my mind and then I absolutely loved this novel so she’s now one of my top YA faves!
The synopsis called it FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS meets PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and I don’t like either of those things but I still was COMPLETELY captivated. The characters will pull you in and touch your heart — from the average high school senior nervous about her college applications to her nerdy younger cousin to her handsome best friend.
Loved loved loved it! A great contemporary teen read.
This is an adorable – if predictable – teen romance. I was hoping for perhaps a little more depth or unexpected twists based on everything I’d read about Emma Mills, but despite the rather expected storyline, this book ended up being a fun, quick way to pass a plane ride with just enough Jane Austen allusions to keep me smiling!
It was hard to enjoy this book because I didn’t like the main character Devon. She had no ambitions, didn’t try to do anything with herself, was super judgmental, and treated everyone like crap. She never really improved personality wise until the very end when people treat her nicely and she’s shocked by it. I really didn’t like how she treated her cousin Foster at first because he was so nice to her and was the sweetest and best character of the book. After a while she finally decides she wants to be his bodyguard to protect him, but I really think it’s because Ezra took an interest in him.
There are some parts I were ok. Nothing I can really say that stood out to me or a favorite moment. Devon ruined a lot of moments. Not even the awkward relationship between her and Ezra was enough to make me truly like this book.
To say I love this book is an understatement. I truly believe that Emma Mills has great talent in writing YA Contemporary. I binge read this book in a day because I couldn’t put it down. Devon is a great protagonist and liked her character development evident with Foster. Plus, Ezra was amazing that I wanted more. An epilogue would’ve killed me! Oh, and I appreciated all of the Jane Austen references and mentions.
Okay, I have just found a new favorite author. No joke. After reading this book I just sat there for a long time contemplating everything that I read. You see, contemporary books are not really my thing. To be honest, I probably never would have considered reading this book if I hadn’t decided to branch out and take on a reading challenge. Needless to say, I am glad that I did. This book is fantastic!
This book is about football. I guess I shouldn’t say it quite like that though, because although there is football in the book, a lot of football, the book is more about the characters and their relationships than football. So football is an important part of the book, but the story focuses on the relationships.
This book has a lot of Jane Austen references, but even if you haven’t read Jane Austen books you will not be confused. As the synopsis states, this book is like Pride and Prejudice meets Friday Night Lights.
What I liked
The absolute best thing about this book is the character development. The characters are incredible and just flat out very well written. They have so much depth. The relationships that the characters have and how they explore them is magnificent.
When you are reading this book you just step right into this world. You step into the characters’ shoes and become the characters. You feel what they feel and you think as they think. The writing is just phenomenal. The dialogues are not awkward. The characters speak to one another realistically.
The pacing in this book is perfect. Nothing seems rushed and nothing happens too slowly. Just perfect.
I liked how this book subtly touched upon some tough issues. Drunk driving, teenage drinking, and drug/alcohol abuse. More than one character has been impacted by these issues and it has made them who they are. These tough issues made the book that much more realistic.
This book is so relate-able!
This book gave me so many feels! OMG.
What I didn’t like
The ending seemed a little abrupt in my opinion. I would have loved an epilogue or something more to show how things progressed after the last dramatic scenes.
Not so much a pride and prejudice spin off. But still a fun high school romance book.
There were a few characters/events that could have been developed a little better, but this was full of football and Jane Austen, so I loved it.
I saw somewhere that this book was considered a pride and prejudice retelling. I realized that it kind of was after I finished the book. I love this novel so much and couldn’t put it down. A great re-read that never gets boring. It is equally endearing and romantic.