First There Was Forever
-
- £4.99
-
- £4.99
Publisher Description
Perfect for fans of Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty and Huntley Fitzpatrick’s My Life Next Door, Juliana Romano's expressive debut is an absorbing and bittersweet story about first love, first loss, and the friends that carry us through it all.
Lima and Hailey have always been best friends: Lima shy and sensitive, Hailey funny and free-spirited. But Hailey abandons Lima to party with the popular kids and pursue Nate, her disinterested crush. As their friendship falters, Lima and Nate begin spending more time together. And before Lima knows what she’s feeling, she and Nate do something irreversible. Something that would hurt Hailey....if she knew it happened.
Lima thinks she’s saving her friendship by lying, but she’s only buying time. As the secrets stack up, Lima is forced to make a choice: between her best friend forever, and the boy who wasn’t meant to be hers.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lima and Hailey have been best friends since they were kids, but high school has changed Hailey. As the girls begin their sophomore year, Hailey has just lost her virginity to a near-stranger, has started hanging out with a group of partying mean girls, and is obsessed with hooking up with her longtime crush Nate. Lima feels abandoned by Hailey and is left to nurse her hurt and dismay about their changing friendship. Then Lima starts spending time with Nate and strong feelings grow between them much to Lima's horror and shame. Romano's debut swims with emotion, and Lima's introspective narration will draw readers into her exhilarations and anxieties, as well as her lush Malibu environs. The beauty of first love and the guilt of betraying one's best friend register as palpable aches Lima carries with her in everything she does. Fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han won't want to miss this sensitive exploration of romantic and platonic relationships in flux, and young women coming into their own. Ages 14 up.
