Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn Published by St. Martin's Press on 1/5/16
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Dating & Sex
Pages: 320
Source: NetGalley
My content rating: Mature YA (Contains sex and other mature subjects)
My rating:
Seventeen-year-old Mercedes Ayres has an open-door policy when it comes to her bedroom, but only if the guy fulfills a specific criteria: he has to be a virgin. Mercedes lets the boys get their awkward, fumbling first times over with, and all she asks in return is that they give their girlfriends the perfect first time- the kind Mercedes never had herself.
Keeping what goes on in her bedroom a secret has been easy- so far. Her absentee mother isn’t home nearly enough to know about Mercedes’ extracurricular activities, and her uber-religious best friend, Angela, won’t even say the word “sex” until she gets married. But Mercedes doesn’t bank on Angela’s boyfriend finding out about her services and wanting a turn- or on Zach, who likes her for who she is instead of what she can do in bed.
When Mercedes’ perfect system falls apart, she has to find a way to salvage her reputation and figure out where her heart really belongs in the process. Funny, smart, and true-to-life, FIRSTS is a one-of-a-kind young adult novel about growing up.
This book is so incredibly hard to encapsulate in a review because it brings up so many topics of discussion. This is the type of book that just makes me want to go on and on and on about my feelings because they’re so complex. I’ll try not to do that, but I make no promises.
Simply read the synopsis and you’ll probably be able to tell right away why I feel so conflicted about certain aspects of this book. After all, the premise centers around a girl who sleeps with virgins with girlfriends to supposedly prepare them for their first time so that the girls will get the magical first time that Mercedes never had. There are SO many things wrong with this that I can’t even begin to talk about them (yeah, I will, though – in a minute). But, Nicole, you say. You gave this book four stars. How can that be if you so disliked the very premise of the story? Well, I’m so glad you asked. In the end, the reason this book won me over was because it wasn’t really a book about a girl who sleeps with virgins, it’s about an emotionally damaged girl who is trying to gain control over her life (in some pretty unhealthy ways). It’s about her journey toward peace and redemption and the dark and painful road she sometimes takes to get there.
What I enjoyed:
- Sympathetic main character. The only way a book like this could possibly work is if I could actually somehow identify with a main character whose actions I disagreed with wholeheartedly. Flynn managed that miracle. She made me see the whys of Mercedes’ behavior so that I could see past her bad decisions and even her somewhat questionable (conscious) motives. I felt for Mercedes, and I wanted to see her change – I wanted to give her that chance.
- Painful lessons. Like I said, Mercedes’ journey is the most compelling part of this story. See, at the beginning of the book, she believes she understands her motives for doing what she does. She honestly believes she’s helping people – though she certainly realizes it’s in a way most people wouldn’t approve of. She actually doesn’t completely approve of it herself. She suffers from quite a bit of guilt over her actions, and she doubts her own morality because of them – but she can’t seem to stop her pattern and she tells herself she’s ultimately doing something good. Of course, there are about a million holes in Mercedes’ theory about how she’s helping people. (Honestly, I could list about a hundred of them – starting with the simple fact that the guys are cheating and ending with the fact that getting that one minute first time out of the way with Mercedes isn’t suddenly going to make them that much better their second time – she could have easily stuck with the advice portion of her help and left the actual act out of it). But I was okay with that because I didn’t feel like I was supposed to agree with Mercedes pitiful excuses. In the end, she realized that they were simply excuses – simply a way for her to justify getting that modicum of control that she felt like she needed. And Mercedes ended up learning some pretty valuable (if painful) lessons about herself and the results of her actions. She realized she couldn’t hide from her past or make up for it by somehow “fixing” other people’s first times.
- Zach. While most of the guys in this book were no prize, Zach was there to redeem the male species. Not only was he swoonworthy, but he stood behind Mercedes through everything and really wanted to get to know her, even when she pushed him away. I appreciated the fact that Zach was portrayed realistically – when things came out, he didn’t just easily brush it all off, he was justly upset. But he gave her the benefit of the doubt when most other people didn’t and he never wrote Mercedes off completely.
- Friendships. I loved that this book showed strong friendships. Mercedes had two strong friendships in the book (not including Zach). At first, her friendship with Angela seemed very surface (since Mercedes was lying to her a lot), but in the end the bond between them won out. I loved that Mercedes supported Angela’s decision not to have sex until marriage – the book supported everyone’s freedom to choose for themselves when sex was right without judging them for it. Faye’s character was a bit flamboyant and hard to read at first, but she turned out to be Mercedes’ biggest supporter. It was nice to see friends who stuck it out through thick and thin.
The negatives:
- The guys. We could see the whys of Mercedes’ actions, but I had no such sympathies for the guys in this book. After all, they were the ones who were cheating on their girlfriends, and they didn’t have messed up pasts guiding their actions. I kept wondering how there were SO many guys who were willing to “practice” with Mercedes. And what sort of benefits were they really expecting from this one time thing? Um, I don’t think teenage boys make that much progress in one … er … session. Then there were some guys in the book who turned out to be downright terrible. I won’t tell more about that at this point – ’nuff said.
- Horrible parents. What is it with YA and terrible parents? Mercedes’ mom is a special brand of horrible – one of those moms who encourages negative behavior and tries to be cool. Ugh!
In the end, I thought this book dealt with difficult issues in a realistic and ultimately positive manner. I applaud Flynn for taking the risk and convincing us to sympathize with Mercedes. I challenge you to give her a chance even if you’re not so sure about the concept behind the book. I give it 4/5 stars.
***Disclosure: I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
About the Author
Laurie Elizabeth Flynn writes contemporary fiction for young adults. Her debut, FIRSTS, will be published by Thomas Dunne Books/St Martin’s Press in 2016.
Laurie went to school for Journalism, where the most important thing she learned was that she would rather write made-up stories than report the news. She also worked as a model, a job that took her overseas to Tokyo, Athens, and Paris.
Laurie now lives in London, Ontario with her husband Steve, who is very understanding when she would rather spend time with the people in her head. Laurie can mostly be found writing happily at her desk, with the world’s most spoiled Chihuahua on her lap. Laurie drinks way too much coffee, snorts when she laughs, and times herself when she does crossword puzzles.
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24 responses to “Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn – Review”
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Admittedly, I don’t read many contemporaries, but for some reason this one appeals to me^^ The premise kind of reminds me of the movie Easy A just a bit and I loved that movie. I can definitely see how it moves past just a girl sleeping with a bunch of different guys and I’m glad that the book does take that route! I do believe I’ll check this one out 🙂 Thanks Nicole!
I think Cait over at Paper Fury actually compared it to Easy A (though she didn’t like it as much – she couldn’t get over not liking Mercedes’ actions, which I can totally understand).
See, the reason why I have not plans of picking up this book is that I don’t think I could ever understand a young person who can treat sex so callously. I know I’m not giving this book a fair chance, but I just can’t.
It’s funny because I think that if I had read this book a couple of years ago – or maybe even a year ago – I wouldn’t have been able to get past the premise. I actually DO have issues with books where teens treat sex like something just to do. The thing that got me past that in this one is the fact that we can see that Mercedes wants to treat sex like it’s no big deal, but she ultimately learns that she can’t – and she sees the true effects of her actions – nothing’s glossed over or made out to be okay. But I can definitely respect that some people just won’t be able to get past that aspect of the book.
This isn’t something I would normally read, but it’s been getting so many great reviews. I guess I’m just going to have to try it, eh? 😉 Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous review! <3
You definitely have to know what you’re in for when you read it, but I think if you approach it with an open mind and open eyes, you’ll be able to enjoy it.
It seems like people are really liking this one. I am interested in reading it now and seeing how it is all pulled off. I like reading about difficult topics so this should be good for me. But UGH to crappy YA parents!!!! Great review!
Yep, if you can handle the kind of messy morals and Mercedes’ messed up reasoning for them, I think this is a great book!
I REALLY struggled with this book. I’m glad that the author decided to tackle sex positivity and double standards so well, but I was never really able to get behind Mercedes.
I’m with you on the guys and the shitty parents. I wish YA would move away from the latter trend to be honest!
I’m glad that you enjoyed this one overall despite it not being your typical kind of book, Nicole!
Lovely review! 🙂
I can totally respect that there are people who just won’t like this book. I’m actually a little bit surprised that I wasn’t one of them. But somehow Flynn managed to get me on Mercedes’ side – even when her thinking was so illogical and her morals were messed up. The fact that she learned to stop fooling herself by the end and admit to herself that her motives weren’t what she thought they were made it work for me.
I haven’t added this one to my TBR because I’m just not sure what I think of the premise of the book. I think you wrote a very balanced review, which I always appreciate. I’m still not sure on this one…..
It’s not going to be for everyone, that’s for sure. Honestly, I didn’t know that it would be for me. But, in the end, Flynn worked it all out in a way that felt positive to me, and I appreciated the ultimate message of the book.
I’m so happy to read your review on this book, because I am so conflicted whether I’d be able to pick Firsts up or not. The synopsis made my teenage inner self cringe and my adult self want to shake her but through your review now I understand what we’re supposed to get from the story. So thank you! But I still don’t think I could read this story, or maybe I can…..I don’t know lol!
Yep – that about sums up my feelings of the synopsis too. And some people simply won’t be able to get past the messed up premise, but Flynn made it work for me because of the ultimate message of the book.
When I first read the premise for this book, I hated the idea of it and I almost didn’t request the ARC. But after hearing a couple of good reviews, I bit the bullet and I am so glad I did. I thought it was handled so well. Even though I disagreed with just about all of her choices, I still kind of understood what was driving Mercedes and why she was doing what she was doing. One of my favorite parts was also the friendship between Mercedes and Angela. Since Angela was super religious and had VERY different feelings about sex from Mercedes, I was afraid the author would write Angela as a “prude” or super judgmental. But the author didn’t do that at all. I loved that Mercedes was very protective of Angela’s decision to wait until marriage and she hated the thought of someone pressuring her before she was ready. I am so glad that I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would.
Yes – so often Christian characters are written as being prudish and judgmental, and I appreciated that Angela wasn’t. She did sometimes question Mercedes’ actions, but not in a hateful or unreasonably judgmental way.
This is such an interesting review. I actually like the sound of this book a lot. I think a lot of the time the story that is told in YA is of the inexperienced girl falling in love for the first time – which is fine, but it’s not the only experience that teenagers have. I also think it’s important to read books where you don’t agree with everything that the protagonist does. I think challenging yourself in your reading is a really good thing.
Thanks for the great review. I’ve read bits of pieces about this book, but nothing this interesting or in depth.
Yes, I think that reading POV’s that don’t match your own can help you in life – to be more understanding of others’ perspectives and opinions.
This is one of those books that I can almost see myself reading just to find out for myself. I personally hate the premise and argued it the entire time a friend was reading it for review. Afterwards, she ended up giving it an unfavorable review. Your review makes it sound more appealing, but it is the lousy parent troupe that gets me, along with the all too often heavy subject matter that is never resolved in a real and meaningful way. I loved reading your review.
Yes, the entire time I read the book, I found myself arguing with Mercedes – but I was okay with it because Mercedes kind of realized that her thinking was flawed, and she eventually came to her senses.
I’ve read several good reviews for Firsts, Nicole, and after reading yours I’m convinced I need to pick up this book! The subject matter is difficult but it seems as though Flynn did it well. I don’t like that Mercedes’ mom was so awful…really, why can’t there be good parents in YA? But I’m guessing it was necessary for character development?? In any case, learning the painful lessons, having good friendships, and I guess, in a way, Zach, all show me that Mercedes did some intense emotional growing over the course of the story and that’s something I really enjoy seeing. Thanks for a great review and a nudge to go ahead and pick up Firsts. 🙂
Yes – the bad mom was a big factor in Mercedes’ life and actually propelled a lot of her negative behaviors. I get frustrated with these types of parents in YA, but I do know that bad parents are really out there, and sometimes they’re necessary for the story.
Hmm. I was gonna skip over this one but a blogger whose opinion I really trust said I should try it, so I guess I will be reading it. The issue with what Mercedes does could definitely raise some controversial debates, but I am glad that there is more to the story than just that. It may sound bad to say I like the sound of her emotional distress, but it was cause me to relate to her character and hopefully over the course of the book she can learn from those life lessons and find who she is for the future as well.
I am looking forward to at LEAST giving this one a try. There is something about this book that has felt special from the moment I heard about it. So, I definitely want to try. But the subject matter is not one that I am usually comfortable with, so we shall see!