I love the diversity and variety of themes in these! There’s aliens, dinosaurs, murder, paranormal, and some sweet family stories as well. A great mix of short stories that left me with a huge smile on my face. 💕

A fun read. A few stories I would've like to read more. I skipped a couple because I just couldn't get into them. I appreciate the diversity of authors and characters/stories.

The trigger warnings were safe and one story the last purity ball was definetly triggering. The stories were well thought off, and show the quirks of growing up but also the problems society has

I really loved reading these. I liked the idea behind firsts and lasts and it kept me engaged. The stories were cute and I found myself wishing some didn’t end. I had several favorites but I would definitely suggest others check it out as it was a fun ride. It had several of my favorite authors but I also came across several others that I wasn’t aware of. Now I have some new authors to check out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the arc.

This was a fun YA short story anthology with a mix of genres focusing on new experiences and final moments on the journey to adulthood.
I didn’t love all the stories, but there were some really good ones!!

The First Time I Dated a Vampire by Julian Winters
★★★☆☆
Not bad, just a little boring
Explores grief
(CW: death)

The First Day of College by Monica Gomez-Hira
★★★☆☆
The feeling of starting anew
Family heritage
Good, I just wasn’t super invested

The First Kiss by Nina Moreno
★★★☆☆
I liked the witchy vibes
But didn’t really like the romance

The First Time We Buried a Body by Tess Sharpe
★★★★☆
Well written!
Disturbing but fun?
(CW: death; attempted assault)

The First Breakup by Anna Meriano
★★★★☆
Really good!
I liked all the characters
Friendship and possibility

The First Time I Saw the Stars by Shaun David Hutchinson
★★★★★
Amazing!
Aliens & mental health
I’d read a full length novel based on this
I love Shaun David Hutchinson
(CW: depression; self-harm)

The First Crush by Keah Brown
★★☆☆☆
It was just so boring
I didn’t like the writing

The First Job by Yamile Saied Méndez
★★★☆☆
I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing
Kind of boring
The haunted house aspect was cool

The Last Dinosaur by Laura Silverman
★★★★★
Aww cute
Dinosaurs & loneliness
Exploration of grief and moving on
(CW: death)

The Last Purity Ball by Joy McCullough
★★★★☆
I wasn’t sure at first but it grew on me
I feel like churches often get a negative portrayal in fiction, same with this story
In the end I liked the message

The Last Bout by Amanda Joy
★★★★☆
Cool worldbuildng
Gave Avatar the Last Airbender vibes
The whole time I was totally picturing the battle between Zuko and Katara in the Northern Water Tribe
Everything got wrapped up way too perfectly at the end

The Last Days in the Only Place That Ever Felt Like Home by Adi Alsaid
★★★★★
Oh. My. Gosh. I related so hard to this
Like, this was basically my childhood (besides the magical realism)
Living abroad, moving around a lot, going to the US every summer and feeling like you don’t fit in with your cousins anymore, the feeling of never being rooted anywhere, not keeping in touch with your old friends, the feeling of wasting your time in the new place because you miss the old place so much
And Taiwan!!!!
Just wow, so well written

The (Hopefully) Last Demon Summoning by Kika Hatzopoulou
★★★★☆
Wasn’t expecting this to be paranormal so when it said “Sébastien is a half-vampire and Cesar is a were-jaguar” I was so confused
I didn’t like it at first but it grew on me
Friendship!

The Last Goodbye by Loan Le
★★★★☆
Very interesting
Vietnamese culture!
A bit slow but overall good
(CW: death; drug addiction)

The Last Concert by Rachel Lynn Solomon
★★★★★
Sooo cute!!!!
Okay why do want to join a band now?
Well written characters and chemistry

The Last Time I Saw Her Alive by Diana Urban
★★★☆☆
Wait, what?
The plot twist was cool but confused me so much
I hated all the characters
(CW: death)

I have always been a fan of YA short story anthologies such as Marissa Meyer’s Serendipity. This was a great addition to my collection. Thanks for letting me be an ARC reader! 5 out of 5.

The one thing I can always count on with these short story anthologies is the collection of diverse characters and love stories. It's always so nice to see how each author dives into the story they've chosen to include. But I think after trying to read so many different anthologies, I've come to the conclusion that maybe short story collections aren't really my thing. I always end up like the authors I'm familiar with more than the rest of the stories, and even though they're quick I feel I get stuck on some. The idea of firsts and lasts was really cute and I think that was done well. This collection just wasn't my favorite. Thank you to Penguin teen and Netgalley for the ARC.

PLEASE this was so cute!! This had my attention because Adi Alsaid is one of my favorite authors of all time and y'all are sleeping on him and you should not be. His story was my favorite, but I'm biased. I just love how he puts words together. He's brilliant. He makes me feel things. But that does not mean I didn't enjoy any of the other stores in this anthology! I loved Julian Winters', of course, Amanda Joy's, Tess Sharpe's, and Diana Urban's as well, and I love how they all captured the teen experience. They really did make me feel like I was fifteen again with all those emotions trapped inside. Anthologies usually aren't my thing, but this one absolutely was.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.