First & Then by Emma Mills
Genres: Contemporary (YA), Coming of Age (YA), Romance (YA)
Pages: 272
Goodreads

Devon Tennyson wouldn't change a thing. She's happy watching Friday night games from the bleachers, silently crushing on best friend Cas, and blissfully ignoring the future after high school. But the universe has other plans. It delivers Devon's cousin Foster, an unrepentant social outlier with a surprising talent for football, and the obnoxiously superior and maddeningly attractive star running back, Ezra, right where she doesn't want them first into her P.E. class and then into every other aspect of her life.
Pride and Prejudice meets Friday Night Lights in this contemporary novel about falling in love with the unexpected boy, with a new brother, and with yourself.

The story has a lot going for it: family dynamics, learning to accept those you don’t understand, first crushes & first loves and friendships. The characters go through realistic obstacles from not knowing what you want to do after high school to someone you know dying. It’s a realistic and relatable story; everyone can find at least one thing to connect with within the variety of characters and events that happen to them.

It’s kind of the typical high school love story – girl likes boy, boy likes girl, lots of miscommunication, something tragic or dramatic happens, all is figured out. There are also a lot of Jane Austen references, kind of like a WHAT WOULD JANE DO theme throughout the story. It ends pretty ironically (I don’t want to spoil it). Ultimately, it’s the combination of Mill’s writing and a distinct ensemble of characters that really bring the story to life and make it unique.

There were a couple of storylines that I would’ve loved to read more about. (There may be some spoilers ahead, but just little hints) Like who the heck is the father of Marabelle’s baby? It hints at someone but then completely crushes that theory. Or who did Lindsay actually want to date? That got a bit confusing. Or does Jordan have feelings for Devon? Because, personally, he’s the ideal choice. And who is this mysterious Emir character? It seems like he has a pretty interesting story, he could probably have a whole companion novel to himself.

Mills created a great cast of characters. They are all one-of-a-kind not in just their personalities, but because they don’t all fit into the high school stereotype you’d think they’d be. The popular girl is actually a nice girl who, even when she think she’s been wronged, does the decent thing. The “nerdy” guy isn’t made fun of, he’s accepted by his peers and actually fits in his own way. Even the best friend of the main character isn’t what you’d expect (he’s actually kind of a jerk). And the star player is a lot more brooding and mysterious than the cliché jock (a tad too mysterious and angsty for me, though). There’s even a character that is totally Paris Geller from Gilmore Girls – seriously, just try to tell me it’s not her.

Devon is the main character, she doesn’t really know what she wants to do with her life and doesn’t fit into any sort of clique. Her cousin, Foster (name may not be a coincidence), moves in with her family because his mother has given up rights due to her addiction. She’s confused about her relationship with her best friend, who happens to be a charismatic football player. She really grows throughout the story, figuring out where she belongs, who she wants and how to cope with the unexpected. I enjoyed her wit and quick humor. Her narratives were pretty hilarious at times as well.

“‘…You could’ve run with this. It could’ve been witty and inventive and really captivating. But it reads like you wrote it during a commercial break.’
I took offense to that. I wrote it during at least four commercial breaks.”

That line just got me ? While you don’t get much background information or character development of secondary characters, I think the characters are written well enough to develop the story.

As mentioned above, the writing is smart, full of wit and humor with a touch of seriousness when needed. The characters have lots of one-liners but at the same time can be insightful. The entertaining writing contributed to a steady pacing. The pacing is what you’d expect out of a high school love story. Really, Mills just knew her audience when writing this book.

“Why are you such good friends with him?” I asked, watching Ezra scramble for the key chains.
He shrugged. “Why are you such good friends with Cassidy over there?”… “Why are any of us friends with the people we’re friends with?” Jordan went on. “They’ve got qualities we like – maybe some we see in ourselves. Maybe some we want to see in ourselves.”

Reiterating what I said before, Mills really knew her audience. While the plot is kind of predictable, it does throw a few curveballs your way to keep you engaged. The characters are all entertaining and have their own unique personalities. The love interest was a bit of a disappointment for me, but that is personal preference (refer to my statement about Jordan). There were many times that I laughed and a few heart-wrenching moments. Overall, this is an easy and cute novel to read when you’re just in one of those moods. I devoured this in just a couple of hours!

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Rating Report
Plot
Characters
Writing
World Building
Romance
Overall:	5 / 5