This is one of the funniest books I've read and I could not put this book down. It is a wonderfully written, witty, charming coming of age read. Danny is a gay 20 something year old finally figuring out who he is. After leaving a toxic relationship, he is enlightened to be his true self and navigates his purpose in life. Super relatable for anyone who has struggled in life.

Danny Scudd left small-town life for London, and after five years he has a stable career as a journalist, a relationship with pretentious Tobbs, and roommates he likes. Unfortunately, it seems that Tobbs wasn't faithful and Danny's roommates want to kick him out to start a family. This leaves Danny moving in with his best friend Jacob, a nonbinary artist living in an East End commune. Navigating queer life, therapy, work, and relationships, Danny must learn who he actually is after all.

Within the first few chapters, Danny strikes me as the anxious, timid wallflower of romance novels that makes me grind my teeth. His boyfriend and roommates are awful to him, belittling his interests and identity, and making him question how much he actually means to them. He bends over backwards to make them happy, then insists he's happy and loved. Laura is obnoxious and self-centered, as are all her friends, and Danny's interactions with them make me want to pull him away and say "Oh, honey, no," and point him toward better people. While he certainly isn't the flamboyant person that Jacob is, he's loved and appreciated for who he is by them. Jacob pushes Danny into therapy after several panic attacks, and I agree it's sorely needed after the chaos of the first quarter of the book.

Though he's an adult, Danny acts like he's going through a second adolescence. Which probably gives you a big clue about the erratic emotions and behavior he has and the conflicts that develop. He suppressed his true personality for so long, trying to please everyone, that now he's trying hard to be the exact opposite. It goes about as well as you expect. He does work on his behavior; thanks to therapy, he has a grounded sounding board to help him give context to the world around him, helping him to move forward. I wish him well and was glad to see a positive outcome to his struggles.

I feel awful, but I just did not love this. There were a few moments that I thought were funny, but overall I found the dialogue somewhat taxing to read and the characters not as fun and likeable as I think they are meant to appear.

This is a little different than the types of books I normally gravitate too, and I applaud the author's efforts as I am sure this book will be enjoyed by many. Personally, I just did not find as much to connect to and found it tough to finish.

First Time For Everything was a sharp, humorous and important novel. The first chapter goes into A LOT of detail on Danny’s doctor appointment, but the author writes it in such a witty way that you are left wanting to read more about Daniel’s life. I also really enjoyed the dialogue between Danny and his best friend, Jacob. I would love to read more from this author, specifically a book about Jacob and his eccentric commune!! Loved this book.

I hate doing this to an ARC, but I just can't keep reading. Clearly, the protagonist has much to learn and I assume his character grows and develops. But he's so unlikeable and clueless that it's off-putting.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Henry Fry perfectly walks a thin line between flawed or unlikeable main character, while balancing relatability and social commentary. Jacob is a DIVINE being I could read about forever, and they are Danny's best friend. And although this plot promises mishaps in love and self discovery, which it hilariously (and sometimes gut-wrenchingly) delivers, this story also comes down to the relationship between these two friends. I teetered between going to war for Jacob and shipping these two as forever friends. I never disliked our MC Danny though he often made destructive decisions as he dealt with internalized rage suppressed for years. Danny felt so real and his turmoil so understandable that I still rooted for a happy ending. This is a perfect read for the summer that by the end will leave you light hearted and listening to Dolly Parton.

Danny Scudd has always wanted to escape the confinement of his small town and move to London and become a journalist. After 5 years of moving to the city, he convinces himself that he's in a good place until Danny discovers his boyfriend Tobbs has been unfaithful throughout their entire relationship plus his flatmates are kicking him out so that they can start a family. Newly single and homeless, Danny moves in with his best friend from childhood Jacob in their home in East London that is filled with colorful characters. Living in this new environment and being introduced to therapy, Danny slowly emerges from his shell and is on a path of self-discovery which forces him to face the demons of his past that he has fought so hard all his life to subpress.

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This book had me on a whole rollercoaster of emotions 🥲There were moments that me laughing out loud and others where I wanted to throw my kindle at the wall. I will say, I was not a fan of our MC Danny, while I do admire his journey and growth it was hard for me to get past some of the decisions he had made, his growth really does not start to kick in until 80% into the book. There were SO many different characters in the book, I absolutely adored all of Danny's flatmates and the family dynamic they have and how they all support one another. JACOB 👏🏼 in my opinion, the STAR of this book, I was so obsessed with them and their story and their energy throughout this entire book was just giving me LIFE, they are the friend we ALL need in our lives.

I also really loved reading about Danny's journey through therapy and his relationship with his therapist Nina and how through that he was able to come to many realizations about himself, It was such an insightful and raw representation of therapy. There are SO many important topics discussed in this story and overall, I believe is such an important book to read with powerful insight on what those in the LGBTQIA+ community go through. I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. The title is available now for purchase!

Danny's life is unraveling. His roommates are kicking him out, his boyfriend doesn't want the same things as him, his job feels pointless, and his relationship with his best friend is feeling shaky. Danny pretends that everything is fine until it becomes glaringly obvious that he is most definitely not fine. Can Danny get his life back together? How much will he have to change to get there? Who does he really want to be?

I feel like this book could be a great read for a certain audience. It's a good story of struggling to find yourself and how relationships change over time. I didn't relate to much of Danny's life and wanted him to figure things out a little bit sooner, or in a different way. I was empathetic to his struggles, but there wasn't much for me to grab on to that I felt like I could relate to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine Books for the copy of this book.

Danny Scudd has been dumped by his boyfriend, is getting kicked out of his house and struggling to find himself. This story is a funny look at a 20 something gay man, as he navigates his way through the world. I'm sure this book is completely relatable to LGBTQ youth looking to fit in. I however was not the target audience, so I feel like some of the topics were a little lost on me.

Thank You NetGalley for the free e-galley

A book that involves a gay man who loves Dolly Parton... sign me up! I loved this coming of age story about Danny.

This was my first book by Henry Fry, as this was a debut. I will definitely be reading more of his books!

⭐️ This book was pretty unbearable, mostly because the main character was awful, whiny, and completely oblivious.

4.5 stars

I truly loved this book and its protagonist, Danny Scudd, a gay man who is living the life he always dreamed of when he escaped from his homophobic and racist hometown. He is the journalist he always wanted to be, he has a boyfriend, and he has a steady place to live with hometown friends and it's all going swell. Except it suddenly all falls apart and he has to move into a commune with his flamboyant nonbinary best friend Jacob where he ends up on a journey of self-discovery and healing. Plenty of things happen in the weeks following his breakup and homelessness, including weekly sessions with an amazing therapist that was incredibly eye-opening for me as well. As a debut novel, this was a truly amazing story that wormed its way into your heart. This book was full of wonderful side characters, and I found myself laughing and crying throughout the book. I absolutely recommend this book for everyone, but especially those who like humorous contemporary fiction, and are a fan of well-developed characters. I was not always familiar with terms, phrases, or ideas that may have been British slang or LGBTQIA terms, and perhaps I would have gotten even more out of it had I been. But it didn't matter in the slightest because I loved this book anyway. The pacing was perfect, the humor in all the right places, and while the ending is not happily ever after, it's close enough and you know that Danny and his friends are going to be okay.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A charming, heartwarming story of a gay male, finding his way in the world.
The dialogue is absolutely hilarious, with so many cultural references thrown in - I had to look up some of them, which made it even more funny!
The writing is so witty and it was fun to read little snippets at a time, sometimes the narrative got a little over the top, but it came back down to earth during the scenes with the therapist and his parents, which was wonderful.
And it was so completely satisfying the way he grew as a person at the end.

PS. I am going to re-watch "Grey Gardens" now...

First Time for Everything by Henry Fry tells the story of Daniel who is finding his identity as a guy man and growing up. It took a minute to get going, minus opening with literal balls, and was an easy (yet difficult) read about life, trauma, and acceptance, of yourself most of all.

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.
"First Time for Everything" is an honest queer coming-of-age novel. We follow Danny Scudd and his series of unfortunate events he calls his life. First Danny finds out his partner has been unfaithful, thanks to a little visit to the clinic, and then he learns he's being kicked out of his apartment. Just when he thinks he life is going down hill, he moves in with his best friend, Jacob. What ensues is a story of love, self-discovery and exploration.

Interesting read about a young gay man, who must figure out his relationships after he finds out that he has been in a less than honest one. A journey of self discovery, some humor and lots of soul searching. A very different story for me but I enjoyed it.

This story is told from 27-year-old Danny’s point of view, revealing his pain and confusion trying to navigate relationships and his angst about being gay. I didn’t enjoy the first third of this book, where Danny acted like a doormat and was dishonest with himself and everyone around him. Once Danny starts to become more self-aware and learn about boundaries, the book becomes more palatable.

The cast of characters is ethnically diverse with lots of LGBTQ representation. Some of the characters seemed a bit too much like caricatures, but some were developed with more nuance. I didn’t experience many laugh out loud moments, but the banter was often amusing.

This is a story about young people in London, and I found some of the British slang and cultural references unfamiliar and confusing. Otherwise, this was a fairly satisfying coming of age story. Note that the story includes sex and substance abuse, as well as frequent swearing.

Thanks to Ballantine Books for providing me with an ARC through NetGalley, which I volunteered to review.

This book was a delightful journey and a remarkable debut and I'm rounding up to 5 stars.

The opening of the book is a bit . . . uncomfortable but I quickly fell into the story. I found the writing to be sharp and witty.

A great combo of subtle and not-so-subtle jokes, and a mix of over-the-top and earnest characters made this a funny and endearing read that felt just the right amount of theatrical.

There are times when Danny is unbearably frustrating - particularly at the beginning it feels like he has surrounded himself with only shitty people (except Jacob - who is awesome!) and making questionable choices. But in retrospect, it's clear why this is part of his story arc.

Ultimately, this story was about growth, self-love and discovery, community and friendship. There was a lot of examination and recognition of the struggle of growing up different and the way that affects you later in life. And also about how most of the time, everyone has their own shit that they are projecting on to you.

What stood out the most for me was the beautiful reverance for queerness and queer community:

"The massive task of our lives as queer people is to unpack the parts of ourselves that are truly us and the parts we've created to protect ourselves," Gin says to the mirror, with sudden sagelike wisdom. They turn around and smile at me. "Read that in a tweet once."

The author's dedication shows up at the end and was just right:
"For everyone else who's late to the party. Let's make up for lost time."

I will happily read whatever he puts out next.

Content warnings: homophobia, misgendering, sexual harrassment, slurs on page, racism, xenophobia.

This has lots of ratings already. So I'll simply recommend it to fiction fans. It certainly has lots of colorful characters.

Thanks very much for the free review copy!

Highly recommend!! My first book to read by this author but definitely not my last!! Uniquely and beautifully written, this story and its characters stay with you long after you finish the book.