Oof. Addicting, intense, and unlike any YA book I've read before.

Mercedes believes she is helping couples to have the first time she never had, by teaching guys how to satisfy their ladies (by sleeping with them) and then helping them to plan the perfect night for their "first time". Sure, this storyline is provocative (this arrangement is kept a secret from the girlfriends) but the author raises so many important points about sex -- girls who want to stay virgins, girls who happily want to have sex with their significant others, the pressure of THE FIRST TIME, and girls who had no choice and got stripped of their virginity. I loved all the layers here, and think this book would have been invaluable to me when I was in high school -- especially because there was no candid discussion about sex in this capacity at school, at home, or amongst my friends.

I was very interested in Mercedes' stunted relationship with her mom (could have used more here) and captivated by her new friend Faye. (They had some killer chemistry too.) And, of course, Zach was pretty much everything Mercedes had no idea she needed. She really did have people in her corner and it took forgiving herself to embrace all the good around her. Flynn also gives readers a strong, imperfect female friendship that I haven't seen much in YA and I was really happy to read here. There was compromise, misunderstanding, but there was also a loyalty and commitment that Angela and Mercedes felt to one another.

Lots to discuss and unpack in this book; looking forward to reading more from Flynn in the future.