4.0
Firsts and Lasts
By Laura Silverman & Julian Winters &Publisher Description
An exciting fiction YA anthology that celebrates the new experiences and final moments teenagers face on their journey into adulthood from editor Laura Silverman and a cast of spectacular contributors.
From first breakups and romantic vampire encounters to last band performances and the deadly end of a friendship, Firsts and Lasts is an anthology that is just as unpredictable as being a teenager. While each of these stories span different genres and styles, they all perfectly capture the big emotions—confusion, joy, uneasiness, and anticipation—that many teens experience as they grow up.
Whether you are hopelessly in love and not sure how to tell your crush, going through loss and can't fully process it, or just trying to figure out where you belong in the world, this collection of sixteen stories has something for every reader.
Stories written by: Adi Alsaid, Keah Brown, Monica Gomez-Hira, Kika Hatzopoulou, Shaun David Hutchinson, Amanda Joy, Loan Le, Joy McCullough, Yamile Saied Méndez, Anna Meriano, Nina Moreno, Tess Sharpe, Laura Silverman, Rachel Lynn Solomon, Diana Urban, and Julian Winters.
From first breakups and romantic vampire encounters to last band performances and the deadly end of a friendship, Firsts and Lasts is an anthology that is just as unpredictable as being a teenager. While each of these stories span different genres and styles, they all perfectly capture the big emotions—confusion, joy, uneasiness, and anticipation—that many teens experience as they grow up.
Whether you are hopelessly in love and not sure how to tell your crush, going through loss and can't fully process it, or just trying to figure out where you belong in the world, this collection of sixteen stories has something for every reader.
Stories written by: Adi Alsaid, Keah Brown, Monica Gomez-Hira, Kika Hatzopoulou, Shaun David Hutchinson, Amanda Joy, Loan Le, Joy McCullough, Yamile Saied Méndez, Anna Meriano, Nina Moreno, Tess Sharpe, Laura Silverman, Rachel Lynn Solomon, Diana Urban, and Julian Winters.
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4.0
Rebekah
Created about 1 year agoShare
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““Part of the dance, ready to follow wherever it takes me, ready for the ups and downs and the unknowns and the pounding of my heart through it all.”
This was a fun YA short story anthology with a mix of genres focusing on new experiences and final moments in the journey to adulthood.
I didn’t love every story, but there were some really good ones!!
The First Time I Dated a Vampire by Julian Winters
★★★☆☆
Not bad, just a little boring
Explores grief
(CW: death)
The First Day of College by Monica Gomez-Hira
★★★☆☆
The feeling of starting anew
Family heritage
Good, I just wasn’t super invested
The First Kiss by Nina Moreno
★★★☆☆
I liked the witchy vibes
But didn’t really like the romance
The First Time We Buried a Body by Tess Sharpe
★★★★☆
Well written!
Disturbing but fun?
(CW: death; attempted assault)
The First Breakup by Anna Meriano
★★★★☆
Really good!
I liked all the characters
Friendship and possibility
The First Time I Saw the Stars by Shaun David Hutchinson
★★★★★
Amazing!
Aliens & mental health
I’d read a full length novel based on this
I love Shaun David Hutchinson
(CW: depression; self-harm)
The First Crush by Keah Brown
★★☆☆☆
It was just so boring
I didn’t like the writing
The First Job by Yamile Saied Méndez
★★★☆☆
I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing
Kind of boring
The haunted house aspect was cool
The Last Dinosaur by Laura Silverman
★★★★★
Aww cute
Dinosaurs & loneliness
Exploration of grief and moving on
(CW: death)
The Last Purity Ball by Joy McCullough
★★★★☆
I wasn’t sure at first but it grew on me
I feel like churches often get a negative portrayal in fiction, same with this story
In the end I liked the message
The Last Bout by Amanda Joy
★★★★☆
Cool worldbuildng
Gave Avatar the Last Airbender vibes
The whole time I was totally picturing the battle between Zuko and Katara in the Northern Water Tribe
Everything got wrapped up way too perfectly at the end
The Last Days in the Only Place That Ever Felt Like Home by Adi Alsaid
★★★★★
Oh. My. Gosh. I related so hard to this
Like, this was basically my childhood (besides the magical realism)
Living abroad, moving around a lot, going to the US every summer and feeling like you don’t fit in with your cousins anymore, the feeling of never being rooted anywhere, not keeping in touch with your old friends, the feeling of wasting your time in the new place because you miss the old place so much
And Taiwan!!!!
Just wow, so well written
The (Hopefully) Last Demon Summoning by Kika Hatzopoulou
★★★★☆
Wasn’t expecting this to be paranormal so when it said “Sébastien is a half-vampire and Cesar is a were-jaguar” I was so confused
I didn’t like it at first but it grew on me
Friendship!
The Last Goodbye by Loan Le
★★★★☆
Very interesting
Vietnamese culture!
A bit slow but overall good
(CW: death; drug addiction)
The Last Concert by Rachel Lynn Solomon
★★★★★
Sooo cute!!!!
Okay why do want to join a band now?
Well written characters and chemistry
The Last Time I Saw Her Alive by Diana Urban
★★★☆☆
Wait, what?
The plot twist was cool but confused me so much
I hated all the characters
(CW: death)
“The world’s a big and hollow place, isn’t that what you said? It’s up to us to fill it.”
***
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review”
About Laura Silverman
Laura Silverman (she/her) is the author of Girl Out of Water, You Asked for Perfect, Recommended for You, and Those Summer Nights. She is also the editor and contributor of It's a Whole Spiel, Up All Night, and Game On. Girl Out of Water was a Junior Library Guild selection, and You Asked for Perfect was named to best teen fiction lists by YALSA, Chicago Public Library, and the Georgia Center for the Book. Laura has also been a freelance editor for several years.
Other books by Laura Silverman
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