The Outset to Know past Abigail Johnson

The First to Know by Abigail Johnson

The First to Know past Abigail Johnson

From the author of If I Ready You comes a brand new story most trust, family unit, heartbreak, and new beginnings. The First to Know centers around 17-year-old Dana Fields, a inferior in high school with a passion for softball. With her dad doubling as her coach and the constant pressure to live up to her all-star sister'southward legacy, Dana wants nothing more than than to delight her father. He grew up in foster homes and never knew his parents, so Dana decides to surprise him with a Dna test in the hopes of discovering some distant relatives for his altogether. What she finds, withal, flips her world upside downward. Instead of a long lost great-uncle, Dana discovers she has a one-half blood brother her age — living, breathing proof of her father's infidelity. When she sees the opportunity to get to know her new plant blood brother through his cousin Chase, she jumps at it.

Just the further she digs, the more she realizes that the truth has the power to destroy her family, and the farther she falls into the web of her own lies. Before long, Dana must figure out how to heal the breach in her life, without losing anybody she loves along the way.

When I start started this book, I actually wasn't expecting to similar it very much. The premise drew me in initially, just inside the offset couple chapters I was already dreading the residue of the volume. Information technology showed all the warning signs of existence just another cliche teen fiction novel, and I braced myself for the inevitable dull haul to the end. To my immense delight, I didn't feel this way for long. I ended upwards finishing the book in 2 days, and I honestly enjoyed every moment of information technology. All the same, practise not let the cover fool you — this story is non a fluffy ane. Yes, there is a healthy dose of teenage romance but that is not the main focus, and even that relationship had its darker parts.

This volume gave my heart a thorough beating, then showered information technology with warm fuzzy feelings for a moment simply to take hold of it and start pummeling information technology once again. Johnson managed to make me laugh and cry all within a single page, and I applaud her for it.

Hands downwards my favorite role of the story was Dana herself. Admittedly, I can exist very picky when it comes to narrators, only I absolutely adored Dana. She was a wonderfully, wholly real and flawed grapheme who showed a maturity that young adult female leads then rarely possess.

Johnson showed impressive graphic symbol development in Dana. She was very realistically portrayed as a girl put into an impossible state of affairs and had to make many mistakes in social club to find her way out.

Every bit for her love interest Chase, I was a little skeptical about their insta-beloved. On one paw, I appreciated that they skipped the usual "does he like me, does he not" vocal and trip the light fantastic and just got direct to the point. Information technology was really refreshing to run across two characters but patently put out there what they wanted without a ho-hum guessing game. On the other hand, I really detest relationships that move too fast with zero evolution. Once again, however, Johnson surprised me with how much I loved their human relationship. It was cute, it was sweet, and it felt very existent. Plus, I'm more than a fiddling in love with Chase because he was kind of perfect.

The storyline was adequately drama-packed, simply non to the betoken where information technology was overdone. From the more small family unit drama, similar her need to live up to her father'south expectations, to the more than serious issue of her dad's secret matter, all of information technology was very existent and emotionally charged. I could honestly relate to Dana's need to get to know her brother, and idea that how she handled it — though faulty — was very mature. She genuinely wanted to avert hurting anyone, and wanted to go all her facts straight earlier spilling to anyone else, even if it meant hurting herself forth the way. She was able to grasp the gravity of her situation and sympathize merely how horrible it was for her, simply never permit herself drown in cocky pity. The honey she had for her family unit despite their many faults was palpable.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised past this volume and will definitely exist on the sentry for anything else Abigail Johnson has in store. The story is perfect for any teen looking for love, just that doesn't mean information technology's for the faint of heart. Readers should be set up for laughter, tears, anger, and fearfulness, but I doubt they'll find themselves disappointed.

Katie Thompson is a 2017-2018 member of the Teenreads.com Teen Board. This is her second review for Teenreads.com.