So I got to thinking this morning, “What would be a good way to start this week?” My answer, “A first blog post.” But what should it be? Something lighthearted, a child’s book, inspirational? Oh wait! It’s Valentine’s week! So instantly I thought of this book. First Love is the newest romance published by James Patterson (one of my favorite authors by the way!). If you’ve never read a James Patterson romance book before, I suggest that you go do that ASAP! One of my favorites is Sundays at Tiffany’s, but this one if good too!
First Love by James Patterson, Emily Raymond Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on December 30, 2013
Length: 340 pages
Reviewing eBook from Amazon
Rating:
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An extraordinary portrait of true love that will move anyone who has a first love story of their own. Axi Moore is a "good girl": She studies hard, stays out of the spotlight, and doesn't tell anyone how all she really wants is to run away from it all. The only person she can tell is her best friend, Robinson--who she also happens to be madly in love with.
When Axi spontaneously invites Robinson to come with her on an impulsive cross-country road trip, she breaks the rules for the first time in her life. But the adventure quickly turns from carefree to out of control after the teens find themselves on the run from the police. And when Robinson suddenly collapses, Axi has to face the truth that this trip might be his last.
A remarkably moving tale very personal to James Patterson's own past, FIRST LOVE is testament to the power of first love--and how it can change the rest of your life.
He was my light, my heart, my beautiful scalawag. And I was his GG. -Axi
Oh my goodness! This book was heartbreaking to read! It had so many ups and downs that by the end I didn’t know if I should be happy or sobbing!!!!
First Love by James Patterson is a coming-of-age story about Alexandra (or Axi) Moore and her best friend Robinson running away on a cross country adventure, but it is also a story about falling in love for the first time. The story starts with Axi nervous because she is going to ask Robinson to run away with her. She just had this overwhelming urge to leave their small town of Klamuth Falls. After he agrees, they decide on a morning to leave, and here’s what she says:
I was going to miss this apartment, this town, this life, like an ex-con misses his jail cell, which is to say: Not. At. All.
Leaving Klamuth in their dust, (figuratively and literally as they just stole a Harley Davidson!!!), their adventures begin.
At first, I thought this was going to be a wonderful story about first love and first heartbreak, but this dedication by James Patterson at the beginning of the book left me apprehensive.
In the fall of 2010, I turned in the outline for First Love to my editor, but the story actually began many years before. I was in love with a woman named Jane Blanchard. One morning we were out for a walk in New York City. Seemingly out of nowhere, Jane suffered a violent seizure. She was sick with cancer for nearly two years after that, then died at a young age. Far too young. Janie, I miss your smile. I hope it lives on in this book, this love story that reminds me of our time together (though I don’t remember stealing any cars). -J.P.
I mean, really?! It reminds him of their time together…..again, very apprehensive moving forward. Then at about 40% into the book, you find out why!!! I felt like I was reading The Fault in Our Stars all over again! Sorry had a minor rant! So where was I? Oh yeah, make sure you have tissues handy when you reach that part of the book.
I felt Patterson did a good job describing the feelings of being in love for the first time: the fear, the newness, how everything is just magical. Axi and Robinson both are very relatable characters and for me I could’ve applied them to myself or any number of people I knew growing up. Axi is the good girl, she gets good grades, never steps a toe out of line. Robinson is described as the bad boy, dropped out of high school, gives a rough kind of vibe at first anyways. Isn’t there always more to the bad boy?
I also loved their adventure across our country, starting in the Redwood forest and ending up in Asheville, NC. They saw it all! Though I have to admit, I wasn’t happy with them stealing cars to get from place to place. Couldn’t they have just rode the bus? Or better yet, one of them owned a car? But that was just me, I guess I’m a good girl too! If you like romance, coming-of-age stories then you will enjoy this book! If you’ve read it, what do you think?
About James Patterson
For his prodigious imagination and championship of literacy in America, James Patterson was awarded the 2019 National Humanities Medal, and he has also received the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community from the National Book Foundation. He holds the Guinness World Record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers, including Confessions of a Murder Suspect and the Maximum Ride and Witch & Wizard series, and his books have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide.
A tireless champion of the power of books and reading, Patterson created a children’s book imprint, JIMMY Patterson, whose mission is simple: “We want every kid who finishes a JIMMY book to say, ‘PLEASE GIVE ME ANOTHER BOOK.’” He has donated more than three million books to students and soldiers and funds over four hundred Teacher and Writer Education Scholarships at twenty-one colleges and universities. He also supports 40,000 school libraries and has donated millions of dollars to independent bookstores. Patterson invests proceeds from the sales of JIMMY Patterson Books in pro-reading initiatives.
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