Tags
Bullying, Friendship, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, YA Fiction
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Books For Young Children for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Release Date: July 25th, 2017
448 Pages
Synopsis: It started for pranks, fun, and forever memories. A secret society–for the four of us. The rules: Never lie. Never tell. Love each other. We made the pledge and danced under the blood moon on the meteorite in the orchard. In the spot we found the dead girl five years earlier. And discovered the ancient drawings way before that.
Nothing could break us apart–I thought. But then, others wanted in. Our seaside town had secrets. History.
We wanted revenge.
We broke the rules. We lived. We told. We loved each other too much, not enough, and in ways we weren’t supposed to. Our invention ratcheted out of control.
What started as a secret society, ended as justice. Revenge. Death. Rebellion.
Despite a promising beginning, First We Were IV wound up being a frustrating read for several reasons.
First, it felt as though I was reading two separate books simultaneously. One was a creepy and compelling tale about four teens trying to solve a girl’s murder that occurred when they were children. This was what I liked the most. But then there was another side which was your stereotypical YA story where a group of teens feel like the entire world is against them and decide that they’re much better than anyone else around them. To prove their superiority, they they form a secret society to strike out against the town and their classmates. Oh! And while they’re performing random acts of vandalism and violence, they’re also falling in and out of love with each other at a rate that made my head spin.
The other issue I had was with the characters themselves. There was only one of the foursome that I actually liked, Harry, who is the on-again, off-again boyfriend of Izzy, who primarily tells the story. The others, including Izzy, are immature, bland and uninteresting at best, self-centered and arrogant at worst. Izzy, Harry, Viv, and Graham, have all been subjected to bullying which should have had me emphasizing with them, but because of their attitudes and actions, completely turned me off instead. And as for the adults, well, they all pretty much fit into the stereotypical roles that unfortunately you find in a lot of YA fiction. There’s the lazy and ineffectual police; the clueless parents and school officials; the elderly, nosy neighbor; the abusive father, etc. The way adults are often portrayed in YA literature is a particular pet peeve of mine, so I was extremely aggravated. After over 400 extremely long pages, the ending finally came, only to leave me feeling even more frustrated and unsatisfied.
In my humble opinion, if the author had focused more on the murder mystery and Izzy and her friends trying to get justice for this girl that the rest of their town had purposely forgotten, this would have been a great book. But instead, it spins off into too many different directions including much too much high school drama. Simply cutting some of this soap opera would have made this a tighter and more controlled story.
I have to be honest and say that there are far more positive than negative reviews for this, so please go check them out before making up your mind as to whether you’re going to read this or not. As for me, this is the third book I’ve read by Alexandra Sirowy, and I had many of the same issues with all of them. It might just be that her writing style isn’t for me.
*Krysti, over at http://yaandwine.com absolutely loved this if you’d like to check out another opinion. And she’s having a giveaway!*
raistlin0903 said:
Hmm, actually pretty disappointed by this. When I read the beginning of your post, and the premise for this novel, it really sounded awesome. But, I guess it really wasn’t. Shame really, but well, your review for it was definitely an enjoyable read.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
I thought it sounded really good too Michel. And there were moments, mainly centered around the mystery of who murdered this girl, but it was overshadowed by all the drama and angst.😒
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Sophie @ Blame Chocolate said:
Oh I’m sorry you didn’t like this one, Kim! I had high hopes for it based on other bloggers’ reviews… 😕
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thanks Sophie. I know a lot of readers liked this, including Krysti over at YA and Wine, so please don’t let me deter you if you’re interested in it.💁🏻
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Sophie @ Blame Chocolate said:
I’ll definitely try it! 😉
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ravenblake99 said:
I haven’t read this yet but I’ve seen mixed reviews on it. I’m sorry this turned out to be a disappointment for you but the premise does sound intriguing.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thanks Raven. There are plenty of reviewers who enjoyed it. I think this author’s writing just isn’t for me.
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Carrie said:
Nice review Kim! You know unfortunately I agree with you completely. I suppose you’re right and maybe this author just isn’t for me either.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
It does seem like we had the same issues Carrie. I don’t think I’ll be trying anything else by her.😔
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Carrie said:
I would say that then knowing me the cover/description will catch my eye again before I realize I said I wouldn’t. LOL
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
It would probably be the same case with me Carrie.😁
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KrystiYAandWine said:
Oh, I’m so sorry to hear you didn’t like this one. I loved this one, but that’s the great thing about books. They all mean something different to each of us. 🙂
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
I saw that you loved this Krysti, and I’m so glad. I think I’m in the minority here.
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KrystiYAandWine said:
I think it’s really funny that we both posted about it on the same day too. 🙂
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
*Fist Bump!*😊
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Oh! And I wanted to tell you (but I still can’t post on your blog. Grr.), that I love the way you presented this with the revenge theme. There’s been many books centered around revenge that I’ve loved, but the very first one I remember reading was The Man In the Iron Mask. I loved that book when I was a teen!😊
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KrystiYAandWine said:
Thank you! I can’t take credit for the revenge them though! That was all Alexandra and her wonderful guest post idea! Thank goodness for authors and their brilliant ideas. 🙂 I loved what she did with this one too. The Count of Monte Cristo is another oldie but goodie that is revenge themed that I loved!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
You can count on any of Dumas’ novels having a great revenge filled plot!💁🏻
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KrystiYAandWine said:
Exactly! Oh, I miss reading classics. I’m hoping to get to a point where I can do at least one a month again.
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beetleypete said:
Looks like a ‘dud’, Kim. I’m happy to take your word for its shortcomings.
Best wishes, Pete.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Well, for me it was anyway Pete.😒
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Birdie said:
I gave it 4 stars, because I do think it’ll stick with me. But I was also very frustrated with many aspects of it. For instance, how were there no repercussions in the end? Not for anyone! Not for the adults, or the kids.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
That was so aggravating!😡
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Birdie said:
It totally went against the whole point of the book! Very aggravating.
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theorangutanlibrarian said:
ah it’s a shame it’s in two parts! Oh gosh I really don’t like the useless adults in YA- it’s usually just infuriating. It’s a shame there was so much soap opera drama in this one.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
It’s supposed to be one story, but to me it read like two, which was my main problem. I think if she had just stuck to the murder mystery it would have been so much better.
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theorangutanlibrarian said:
That’s such a pain!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
😒
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The Shameful Narcissist said:
Darn it. I just added this this week. The “ancient drawings,” “blood moon,” and “meteorite” piqued my interest, so I expected this to be about four terms finding something off and having that connect to the murder. It sounds like I’d just he annoyed though.
At least I got to read an excellent and informative review!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thanks Adrienne. Before making up your mind whether to read it or not, check out Krysti’s review, because she absolutely loved it.
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The Shameful Narcissist said:
I will, but just from what you said, it seems like I’d probably declare it DNF.
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alexraphael said:
A very fair review by the sound of it.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thanks Alex.💁🏻
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Lashaan (Bookidote) said:
Ah snap, sounds like mess. Stereotypical elements of YA would’ve made me cringe too. Sorry to hear that it fell flat, while it had potential. Thank you for such an honest review, Kim. 😉
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thanks Lashaan. Yeah, it just didn’t work for me, but Krysti absolutely loved it and we usually have similar tastes in books, so if you haven’t already, you might want to check out her review.😊
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vinnieh said:
Sorry to hear it fell flat.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
They can’t all be stellar Vinnie. C’est la vie.💁🏻
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vinnieh said:
I wholeheartedly agree. I’m enjoying catching up with your blog.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Happily I read The Marriage Pact and The Last Magician (I don’t think you’ve seen that review), which more than made up for my disappointment.💁🏻
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vinnieh said:
There’s a silver lining to most things out there.
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