First & Then by Emma Mills

Oh, my heart. This modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice is one of the cutest stories I have read in a long time. There's a sweet romance, but also some wonderful friendships and family stuff and the main characters are just unbelievably lovely. I'm running out of adjectives. The cover is also stunning (aha! Found another adjective!). Read this book. I loved it so much that I don't have words.

Yes, everyone was right, I should've read this ages ago. It was so cute and fluffy. I worried at first - I disliked Devon a bit more than I anticipated to start out and I wasn't quite sure where some of the side characters were going to go and if the book would lean more on the "not like the other girls" idea, but it surprised me as I went along and really reigned itself in and gave Devon a little more depth; I would've liked more growth from her, but it was still good to see. The romance was really sweet, though I would've liked a bit more on the end of that. But I really loved the resolutions for the side characters, so that helped balance out some of the negatives for me.

This was a quick and easy contemporary, young adult fiction title. It's also a contemporary retelling of Pride and Prejudice, so if that's your cup of tea, you'll most likely breeze right through this fun title!

I was looking for something feel-good to read one Friday night - and was mightily impressed with my decision to pick up this book. The perfect tonic when you're in search of something sweet, but not overly fluffy. I loved the slow-burn relationship between Ezra and Devon. I enjoyed the development of the sibling relationship between Devon and her cousin Foster who comes to live with them, and the way Ezra takes him under his wing. While Devon was not the most likeable character initially - she's incredibly judgemental, especially with regards to the way she treated other girls (referring to the pretty younger ones as 'prosti-tots'), I liked how she came to realise that these young women have been nothing but nice to her - they are not her competition, but friendly (and friends) in their own right. She learns to break out of her self-imposed isolation, and let other people into her world. Finally, the secondary characters were scene-stealing, superb in their own right

3.5 stars

This is a fun one. The pitch of <i>Pride and Prejudice</i> meets <i>Friday Night Lights</i> feels accurate, and while there's definitely a cute, clean romance, there's also enough substance to give <i>First & Then</i> a little more meat on its bones than something like a Kasie West book.

I've had this on my Kindle for ages, but my recent craving for rom-coms has led me to fly through 7 in a row, with <i> First & Then</i> the latest. I had high hopes, since the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, and honestly, the book both met and feel a little short of my expectations.

First, Emma Mills does have a great writing voice. Her dialogue is excellent (almost Kasie West level), and there were moments where I literally laughed out loud. I also think Devon's voice feels very authentic. Another positive for me were the characters, especially the secondary ones. Emma Mills fills <i>First & Then</i> with a cast that feels remarkably round, despite the brevity of the book. She also touches on some weightier topics like drunk driving, teen suicide, and bullying, without letting any of them take over the narrative.

My one quibble with character was Devon. A first-person, present-tense narrator can be a tough sell. We're inside this person's head for so long, if they're mildly irritating, it's going to grate on our nerves. As per the <i>Pride and Prejudice</i> model, Devon can be quite judgmental. But honestly, that didn't bother me, since (1) everyone on the planet can be judgmental and (2) it's part of her character development. My issue instead was a more personal one, in that I found Devon 100% unrelatable. Her big problem is that she's lazy and "doesn't give a shit" about anything - getting into college, pursuing relationships, having hobbies. While this too is part of her development, having a driven personality, I just couldn't connect to this aspect at all.

Another aspect that didn't work as well for me was surprisingly the romance. While Devon and Ezra were definitely cute, I never felt that emotional tug and connection. It felt like Devon went from disliking him to having feelings for him in a second. My less-than-stellar reaction to the romance might be an unfortunate side effect of having read <i>To All the Boys I've Loved Before</i> so recently, which has one of my all-time favorite ships. In any case, <i>First & Then</i> just didn't bring the cuteness level for me in that department.

Where it made up for the romance was in Devon's relationship to Foster, however. At first, I couldn't stand how she thought about him (see: part of her judgey-ness), but by the end, I was getting a little teared up when they connected so strongly. This was the part of the book that will bring me back to Emma Mills's next book. Where the romance felt lacking in emotional depth and complexity, Devon's relationship with Foster had it in spades.

Overall, a solid debut! I'll definitely be checking out more Emma Mills books!

I didn't finish this book but I did read about 40% of the book. I couldn't connect with the characters so I gave up. Sorry.