I received an ARC of First Time for Everything, by Henry Fry. I could not finish this book. I did not care for the language at all.

Danny Scudd is a mess. And we all get a front row seat to his life. This book will hit home for anyone who has ever struggled. We need more books that address mental health and approach it this way. The struggles that Danny faces...as a reader, I could relate to each new disaster he encountered. I feel like this is such an important read for the Queer community. It sheds light on so many relevant topics within our community today. And the most important topic touched upon..gay people can do more than f*ck and fight. Danny Scudd is a real, flawed character. He makes mistakes. He can be selfish. He doesn't make the best choices. This is not a coming out story. This is a story about a guy who wakes up and realizes that he hasn't been living his life the way he wanted, the way he envisioned. He struggles with his mental health. He accepted so much less for himself than he deserved in every aspect of his life. He's not living his best life. And even when he decides he wants more--that he wants to change it-- he doesn't know exactly how to go about doing it. That is the one thing I absolutely loved about this book...wanting to change your life and actually changing your life is hard work. It doesn't happen over night. Ignoring it altogether can have detrimental effects. Henry Fry takes us on a journey with Danny. Nothing worth anything in this life is easy.

Danny Scudd is a queer man trying to find his place in the world. He feels somewhat invisible until he realizes his boyfriend may be cheating on him. His life begins to spin as soon as the book starts. Suddenly needing a place to live, Danny is forced to move in with his best friend Jacob, an old friend who happens to be nonbinary and they a HUGE personality. What follows is Danny's journey to finding himself as a queer person: dealing with past problems, work problems, and a deep fear of living as his true self leads him on a bumpy path to being his best self.

The most fulfilling part of this novel that Henry Fry has created is just so much queer culture and references that so many queer people of different ages can relate to. It's like there were constant easter eggs that made me smile each time one popped up.

We have all had a toxic relationships, and Danny is not immune from that. It was interesting to see him navigate through his relationship problems as soon as the book began. The snooty Toobs is someone that we have all come to know in our lives.

The relationship highlight is definitely the one between Danny And Jacob. Jacob is such a fun and real person. An artist just like many of the people I have worked with in my life, I felt like Jacob was my friend, too.

The one criticism I have is that there were SO many characters in the book that there would often be many people gathering and I would get halfway through a chapter and forget where it is taking place and who all of the people are.

I do think this read will be especially good for young LGBTQIA+ people to read because there is so much to relate to that they can learn from when it comes to the journey of Danny,.

I can't wait to purchase a copy of this book with this BEAUTIFUL cover. I am extra excited because it releases on my birthday!

Thank you to Penguin Random House, Net Galley and Henry Fry for free access to an ebook copy of the novel for review purposes.

This review will be posted to my bookstagram at https://www.instagram.com/readwithjd/ during publication week.

It somehow never occurred to me that an ARC could become one of my favorite reads of the year, but here we are.

Danny Scudd is a gay white man with who managed to escape his small town life like he always wanted, land a career in journalism like he always wanted, and even find a long term boyfriend... like he always wanted. But why isn't he happy? I mean, he isn't exactly unhappy but it’s starting to feel like this isn’t really what he wanted at all when a trip to the clinic starts the ball rolling down the hill of misfortune in Danny’s life.

Written from the perspective of our main character, the first chapter pulled me right in. Danny is freaking hilarious and the way he goes through life is so awkward and terribly relatable. I’m in love with and strive to be as cool as his best friend, Jay, an unapologeticly mixed race nonbinary style icon who hails from the same small town that stifled Danny so much.

This is a story of our Danny, who has been hanging out with less than tolerant straight people for so long that he’s never had a chance to develop an identity that wasn’t him shying away from anything that brought attention to himself. With the help of his best friend and his new found family, he starts to try finding himself for better or worse. And while it takes a while to find the proper fit, the journey is 100% worth it.

I’d recommend First Time for Everything to literally anyone, but most specifically this is a great read for adults and young adults that are a fan of humorous contemporary reads with themes of finding yourself, found family, queer characters, diverse side-characters, being gay but not knowing how, and even a passing interest in a certain Ms. Dolly Parton.

Thank you to Netgalley, publisher Ballatine Books, and Author Henry Fry for this ARC. I will be posting this review on Goodreads, Amazon, Instagram, and a link on Twitter on the day of release.