Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
If I could make every high school boy in the world read this book, I would. They could learn a lot about how to treat a girl!
Laurie Elizabeth Flynn created something so special with Mercedes’ story. She was a character I both loved and loved to cringe for–a girl with incredible strength who was dealing with confusion and mixed signals and at times, really bad boys. Even dangerous boys!
And Zach! I completely fell in love with this character. He was a guy in every sense of the word, yet he truly cared for Mercedes and had a good heart. I think that’s important to show in YA literature: yes, sex is awesome, but you can be sexual and be a good person/boyfriend/girlfriend at the same time.
Ugh, now let me talk about the slut shaming! I felt so terrible for Mercedes and the mean way her classmates treated her. On one hand, she “deserved” it–she knowingly slept with other girls’ boyfriends!–but the way they treated her rather than ditching the assholes they were dating really rang true. This is so common among girls and women, and so, so heartbreaking. I hope this book opens the door for a lot of discussion among girls on shaming one another.
I am so excited to see what Flynn comes up with for her next book. Loved this book! A million stars!
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.