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A review by midnightscholar
Firsts by L.E. Flynn
3.0
I finished it so that is a huge accomplishment (for the book not me) because these days I've been bogged down by bad tropes and even worse writing.
Firsts was good. I read through it in about 6/8 hours and took in all itms glory and horrid moments (horrid in a good way). But for me, if fell just short of being profound and instead became a well written (though sometimes repetitive) book about a girl who has too much sex
I wanted this to explore the murkiness of female sexuality and society standards and the trials of trying to liberate oneself from self hate vs learned shame. But the story takes a turn for a weird place
Issues:
Plot line: in the beginning And middle I'd often feel like I was floating with no direction. I didn't mind so much as Mercy was kind of "floating" herself but in the early middle I wanted to feel a little more direction even if that was a one way road to hell. I didn't get that until I was in the dead center of the book going into the last half. (~ 120-150 pages in).
Not a huge issue and I wouldn't dock stars for it as it worked for the story the majority of the time.
Missing parent syndrome: I get it, it was well contrived but still contrived.
The conflict:
Can we also mention the sex tape shown to the entire school? That's also illegal as it's child pornography and exposing a minor to sexual acts. I think people forget the law about these kinds of things, which is natural because most people do until it happens for real...
Overall It was good. I enjoyed it. Would I pick up another Flynn? Eh, the plot line will need to be extremely interesting for me to do so.
Firsts was good. I read through it in about 6/8 hours and took in all itms glory and horrid moments (horrid in a good way). But for me, if fell just short of being profound and instead became a well written (though sometimes repetitive) book about a girl who has too much sex
Spoiler
because their is a hole in her heart.I wanted this to explore the murkiness of female sexuality and society standards and the trials of trying to liberate oneself from self hate vs learned shame. But the story takes a turn for a weird place
Spoiler
Faye and Zach sex tape leading to Mercedes feeling a little better about sharing the explicit spotlight?Issues:
Plot line: in the beginning And middle I'd often feel like I was floating with no direction. I didn't mind so much as Mercy was kind of "floating" herself but in the early middle I wanted to feel a little more direction even if that was a one way road to hell. I didn't get that until I was in the dead center of the book going into the last half. (~ 120-150 pages in).
Not a huge issue and I wouldn't dock stars for it as it worked for the story the majority of the time.
Missing parent syndrome: I get it, it was well contrived but still contrived.
Spoiler
I was waiting for Mercy and Kim to come to a head and either take a turn for the worse or be like an explosion with the a fallout that calls for rebuilding. Neither happenedThe conflict:
Spoiler
the video of her and other kids having sex being leaked. Honestly, this is where shows like Degrassi get it right. Her school would have gotten involved and Mercedes, 17, would have been the victim of a child pornography case.Can we also mention the sex tape shown to the entire school? That's also illegal as it's child pornography and exposing a minor to sexual acts. I think people forget the law about these kinds of things, which is natural because most people do until it happens for real...
Overall It was good. I enjoyed it. Would I pick up another Flynn? Eh, the plot line will need to be extremely interesting for me to do so.