Review: First & Then by Emma Mills

 First and Then by Emma Mills

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.

Publishes in US: October 13th 2015 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Genre: ya contemp
Source: MacMillan via eARC from NetGalley
Disclaimer: I received this book as an ARC (advanced review copy). I am not paid for this review, and my opinions in this review are mine, and are not effected by the book being free.
Series? no

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    I wanted to read First and Then because I liked the premise of Devon, watching and crushing from the sidelines, and happy until life throws unexpected people into her life. 

   From the start I liked her friendship with Cas. They go well together, and support each other. But the other characters like her cousin Foster, and even another girl are really some strange sorts. They seem young, or naive, or something. Maybe I am just not remembering the degrees of social awkwardness in this form. But they all served to show us something about Devon, and help her to learn things about herself through the interactions with them. 

   She is a pretty ordinary character and I liked that. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her life and she was easy to relate to. She is smart though, and has a quick wit, and that def added some humor. She likes Jane Austen a lot, and she does this thing where she tries to imagine how she would write about the things Devon is going through in her life, and its a neat touch. 

    As I got to know the characters though their idiosyncrasies made more sense. I learned much more about foster and how much he really cares about Devon and the rest of the family. He is considerate and thoughtful, he makes a lot of jokes which is what at first made me think he was immature.

    The romance was interesting and took awhile to develop. I was all for them especially after he began to open up and share more about himself.

   I liked her growth and that she realized that she wanted more for her life, that college was worth it, and even though she didn't have concrete answers, things were on a different track.

   The ending wrapped things up well, and it gave me closure and hope for the characters and what their future might look like. 

Bottom Line: Well written and paced with enjoyable characters.

My question to you, my lovely readers:
Are you a crush from the sidelines type or speak up?