First There Was Forever

Starred review from February 23, 2015
Lima and Hailey have been best friends since they were kids, but high school has changed Hailey. As the girls begin their sophomore year, Hailey has just lost her virginity to a near-stranger, has started hanging out with a group of partying mean girls, and is obsessed with hooking up with her longtime crush Nate. Lima feels abandoned by Hailey and is left to nurse her hurt and dismay about their changing friendship. Then Lima starts spending time with Nate and strong feelings grow between them—much to Lima’s horror and shame. Romano’s debut swims with emotion, and Lima’s introspective narration will draw readers into her exhilarations and anxieties, as well as her lush Malibu environs. The beauty of first love and the guilt of betraying one’s best friend register as palpable aches Lima carries with her in everything she does. Fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han won’t want to miss this sensitive exploration of romantic and platonic relationships in flux, and young women coming into their own. Ages 14–up. Agent: Logan Garrison, Gernert Company.

January 15, 2015
The best of friends chart new territory during their sophomore year.Hailey and Lima have always been two peas in a pod, but the times they are a-changing. After Hailey loses her virginity to an anonymous beach bum over summer break, she's got nothing on her mind but school hottie Nate and hanging with the cool kids. Lima finds herself increasingly left behind, hanging with the so-called "dangerous" crowd to fill Hailey's absence. Complications grow even larger once it's made clear Nate's got a thing for Lima and couldn't care less for Hailey. Some of the drama may be contrived, but the novel's heart is in the right place: beating hard and fast as the author examines the implosion of a long-term friendship. The emotional jump from middle school to high school is handled expertly here, creating a strong platonic love story between the two girls. Less interesting are some of the tertiary characters: The cool kids and alternative kids are both drawn pretty thinly, but that's almost beside the point. The two groups are used as provocative bits of narrative tissue, needling both of the protagonists and eliciting emotional, intellectual and sexual awakenings. By novel's end, both young teens are closer to the women they will eventually become. Whether or not their friendship endures is up to readers to decide. An emotionally rich coming-of-age love story. (Fiction. 14-16)

COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-Sophomore year should be the best yet for lifelong Malibu friends Lima and Hailey, but new friends and old crushes work together to make their relationship more complicated than either of the girls could have imagined. Obsessed with her long time crush, Nate, but feeling little support from Lima, Hailey begins to leave Lima behind in search of more worldly ways to spend her weekends. Left on her own, Lima also branches out on the friendship scene, finding herself spending time with two fabulously mysterious upperclassmen, as well as with Hailey's obsession, Nate. As the year progresses, the chasm between the two girls only grows larger, fueled by several emotional exchanges that cut both teens to the quick; however, the death nell of their relationship comes in Lima's decision to hide her newfound feelings for Nate from her forever friend. Romano presents a story of adolescents growing up against the backdrop of a picture perfect California that may seem the stuff of dreams to many readers. It is unfortunate that the permissive parenting and gratuitous underage drinking in the plot take a more prominent role in a narrative that addresses "the first time" with such sensitivity and grace. An additional purchase.-Colleen S. Banick, Westport Public Schools, CT

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2015
Grades 9-12 If there's one thing every BFF knows, it's that you don't go after your best friend's crush, but that's exactly what happens in Romano's debut. High-school sophomore Lima is the reserved and thoughtful counterpart to her more adventurous friend, Hailey, who has long staked her claim on their hottie classmate Josh. But while Hailey is behaving more like a frenemy than a friend, constantly ditching Lima for parties with her other friends, Lima keeps running into Josh. Soon she's not just running into him but seeking him out, making out, and falling for him, all the while keeping Hailey in the dark. Romano succeeds in capturing the awkwardness of first romantic encounters and in navigating the growing gray areas in life that emerge with age. Though many of Hailey's bad behaviors are swept under the rug by the novel's end, readers will nevertheless enjoy this escapist romance in glittery SoCal. Hand this one to fans of Jenny Han and Morgan Matson.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2015
Rule-follower Lima and headed-for-trouble best friend Hailey drift apart during tenth grade in beachy Malibu. Obsessed with longtime crush Nate, Hailey abandons Lima to pursue him, but Nate has feelings for Lima--and vice versa. Guilty secrets pile up as romance slowly blossoms. Pacing drags, but accessible prose builds to a satisfying (if predictable) ending in this Summer I Turned Pretty read-alike.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)