When We Collided By: Emery Lord Review

Confession: I decided to borrow this book from the library and read it because of the author's Twitter account. LOL! I wanted to read the book anyway, but her twitter account made me bump it up and read it now. I'm glad I did! I saw on someone's TTT post a while back that Emery Lord is a good one to follow on Twitter. So I followed her and I just love her hilarious and relatable tweets.  Then I figured well if she writes this well on Twitter then surely her book is good, right? Well I absolutely LOVED it and it's all thanks to Twitter. How cool is that? I think more authors need to remember that Twitter can be such a great promotional tool! (Instead of getting involved in book blogger drama... but this post isn't about that.) 

#AuthorsUseTwitterWisely

When We Collided is the first book by Emery Lord I've read and I'm still trying to get my emotions in check. Are all her books this way?? If they are then I need to read more of them. When I first started reading this one I kept thinking, "Oh this is such a cute summer romance novel." Then BAM! Emotions. I started noticing a few things about Vivi pretty early on and then I knew where the story was headed.  I was not prepared for how accurately mental illness was depicted though. Many kudos to Emery Lord for doing her research! 

#TooManyFeels

I really fell in love with Vivi and Jonah. I rooted for them to be together and I wanted so badly for both of them to be in a good place at the end of the book. I don't always root for a happy ending, but this time I really did. I don't mean that I wanted them to end up together either. I just wanted both Vivi and Jonah to be healed and happy at the end of the book regardless of the relationship. The romance (Do we even call this a romance?) was so well done, but there is much more to this story. The romance is only a small part of it. When We Collided is cute, messy, fun, and thought provoking. This book is really like a mixed bag of emotions.

#ViviAndJonah

I also loved all of Jonah's siblings! I can't recall reading a book where a main character had so many siblings. Plus they were actually IN the book, not just background people, and each sibling had their own distinct personality. Probably the only character I disliked was Jonah's mom, but I'm sure you're supposed to dislike her some. She had her own healing to do. 

#SIBLINGS!

Overall When We Collided was more emotional and meaningful than I expected it would be. I love emotional books! Everything was worded so perfectly and really hit me in the feels. I love these characters and I was so invested in what would happen to them. Also, I just can't get over how accurate the depiction of mental illness is. I think that takes some major talent! 

#Meaningful

I recommend When We Collided to fans of emotional YA contemporary novels. Even though this is a deep read it's still a perfect one to read for summer!

#SummerReading

Firsts By: Laurie Elizabeth Flynn ARC Review

3.5 Stars

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Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read and review an ebook copy of Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn. 

Firsts is about a seventeen year old girl named Mercedes who has sex with a lot of virgins who have girlfriends. Mercedes has sex with the guys and teaches them how they can make it special with their girlfriends. Her religious best friend Angela has no idea, and her mother isn't exactly parent of the year. When Angela's boyfriend wants a turn to give Mercedes his first time things go south and Mercy has to try and save her reputation. 

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading Firsts. At first I was irritated a little bit because Mercedes is an idiot. It was obvious that Mercedes had some issues related to sex (DUH) and that there would be a story about a guy that would come out later. Which was true and it did come out later in the novel. I just don't understand why Mercy was so STUPID. I think the author did a wonderful job of explaining how and why she ended up having sex with all of these guys. I just didn't like that Mercedes was so stupid and had sex with so MANY guys. 

There is quite a lot I did like about Firsts. It's unique and the subject matter grabs your attention right away. It's hilarious and it's a wonderful coming of age story. I enjoyed seeing Mercy's growth throughout the novel and by the end I think she FINALLY matured. I loved the dynamics between her and Zach (her Wednesday sex buddy and the only one that isn't a virgin with a girlfriend.) I also LOVED FAYE!! I think we could all use a friend like her. 

Obviously this book is a pretty controversial book. It's controversial, but all of the sexual content is written very well and it was handled nicely.  Also, there isn't a lot of preachy abstinence talk. Thank goodness! The ending is a bit of a cheesefest, but it's definitely satisfying. 

Overall I think there is a lot to like and to discuss in Firsts. It wasn't my favorite novel, but definitely worth a read. I recommend this for anyone looking for a bold, unique, controversial, and humorous coming of age YA story. 

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