This is a lot of fun! It's very silly and lighthearted on the surface, but underneath there's a heartfelt story about queer friendship and learning how to listen to your own voice and find your people. I found it quite funny but surprisingly moving as well. And I love books that feature therapy!

“First Time for Everything” by Henry Fry
As a microbiologist, this first line had me intrigued! It’s not every day that this topic is the first thing you learn about a character. The story opens and we meet Danny Scudd at the doctor’s office. Danny’s bad day keeps getting worse, and we journey through a low time with him. Along the way, we meet a bunch of individuals - my favorite being Jacob. Omg, I love them! I started out adoring Danny (and Jacob). As with any journey, Danny arrived at his ‘ugly phase,’ and I didn’t really like Danny a lot during this phase. But he continued to grow, and I loved to see where Danny landed.
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This book has drama, friendship, LGBTQIA+ representation, the use of pronouns, a splash of history, romance, heartbreak, boggy balls, Dolly Parton, plants, and finding oneself. There may be times when you don’t like Danny, but don’t give up on him!
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My only critique is do people really talk to Laura?! I’d turn my hearing aids right off!
Perfect for diverse readers!

What a stellar debut! I've seen other reviews saying that it reminded people of Bridget Jones Diary and I totally see why. It was a queer, fun and full of heart while also providing a closer look at self discovery. I was glad for all the hours I've spent watching Love Island because it did help me with all the British slang lol. I would definitely recommend this book!

This book is REALLY funny. It’s got an incredible voice and narration, and  the main character, Danny, is phenomenal — and also his life is falling apart. The cast of accompanying characters is fantastic, funny, and incredible. The only bad thing about this book is that it’s set in London and it’s British, but for that, I could envision this cast of characters as my own friends. Five stars.

This book is definitely a stretch for my brain. I'm in my upper 60's from the middle of the US of A and the slang and UK references went over my head. Once I was able to get through that, I enjoyed reading about our main character Danny and how he "makes" it through life.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for this advanced readers copy. This book released for publication on May 10, 2022.

This debut is fresh and funny and a bit like a gay version of Bridget Jones’ Diary. The narrator, Danny Scudd, is realizing that the pieces of his life aren’t fitting the way he hoped. He is a gay man, but he has spent his time being invisible and doing his best to fit in. His straight friends are evicting him because they’re having a baby, things with his boyfriend are rocky, and he’s miserable at work. While Danny wasn’t always a likable character he was very relatable. The work he does during this book on himself (therapy on top speed) is impressive and he does become by the end a person I liked. The writing was excellent and I loved the characters. Also huge points for representation - not only with a wide variety of queer folx but with race and intersectionality.

Although, I did enjoy this story I think it was more set out for a different demographic than me. This was a heartwarming story about a gay man in his 20s and how his life has been. It was a great story but I think those who are going through the same situations would enjoy this one better.

Super great LGBTQ+ read about a man who is trying to come to terms with his own reality. Very relatable read, but it was hard to keep up with all the characters.

I admit to bursting out laughing, also to being a little frustrated from time to time, but that is nothing compared with how Danny Scudd feels on any given day, at any hour, minute. He is an emotional mess trying to deal with his life and all its complications, many of which are self imposed. But oh, what a story, what a life. Written by a LGBT - rights activist, Henry Fry smacks you in the face with so much you need to know and understand about the issues members of the LGBT internalize.

One of Danny’s housemates quotes a tweet that is a theme running throughout the story: “The massive task of our lives as queer people is to unpick the parts of ourselves that are truly us and the parts we’ve created to protect ourselves.” Danny Scudd is trying so hard to learn himself and the characters who are going to help him are irreverent, often hilarious, and brilliant in their observations. The characters - they were all my favorites - each adding something to Danny’s self-awareness. The conflicts, the situations, the love affairs, the losses and the strength of friendship - yeah, I really loved this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a copy.

CW: anxiety/panic attacks, homophobia, emotional abuse, mention of parental death (in past and off page)

Danny Scudd is a gay man. He had known this for a while and hasn’t hidden it. When everything turns upside down, Danny realizes how lost he is. After finding out his relationship wasn’t the relationship he thought it was and his friends asking him to move out, Danny moves in with his friend Jacob and slowly starts to discover himself.

I was thrilled to start this. I love seeing character driven stories as they drive to discover themselves. Watching Danny discover himself really left me excited and I was eagerly paying attention to see what would happen. While I loved seeing his developments there were moments that left me scratching my head.

As I briefly mentioned earlier, this is a character driven story. First Time for Everything really focused on Danny and his story. With it being so focused on him, there are times where it does feel like the story might lag and stagnant a bit in places as he’s trying to figure out where he is going or what he is doing. Please remember that while reading.

Now, as Danny is discovering himself, I’m not going to lie, he becomes pretty insufferable. He makes poor decisions all with the idea that he is finding himself, so it’s okay. That does make parts of this hard to read because I just wanted to shake him into actually thinking through things.

While Danny does have his hard parts, he also has people by his side who are true to him. These people call him out on his bullshit and really make him reflect on what he’s done and who he truly is as a person which I thought was lovely.

What I really loved here is that there are positive interactions between Danny and his therapist. Those moments were wonderful to see and I’d love to see more of those in books.

As Danny explores himself and gets help, he learns a lot about undoing the trauma responses he had that was keeping him from being his true authentic self. This is something that I feel like a lot of people will be able to relate to and allow them to really feel connected to this story.

One thing that really put me off from this book was some of the constant homophobic slurs. There was so many and it made it hard for me to focus at times.

First Time for Everything is a good debut. It has a storyline that I think a lot of people will be able to relate to. There is some humor (though overall the story has a darker vibe to it). I recommend cautious entry into this one. Really check in with yourself and make sure you are in the right place to read this one.

Danny's life seems to be on track and "just fine", until he has to visit the local clinic and finds out that his boyfriend Tobbs might not have the same idea of the type of relationship they are in. His life flips completely upside down when he and Tobbs break up and he moves in with his long-time friend Jacob. Jacob is a nonbinary, completely exotic, over-the-top attention seeker. Life hits some rough spots and Danny is forced to look within to see what and who is truly important. This book is a fun adventure through the life of a young gay man living in a crazy world, just trying to survive. I enjoyed getting to know Danny and seeing how he grew and faced his problems head-on. 4 stars. Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC.

After five years in London, Danny Scudd is still feeling awkward, shy, and uncomfortable. His boyfriend finds him clingy, his job is not the hub of journalistic integrity he dreamed of, and his best friend Jacob is, as always, larger than life. When the friends he had been renting from evicted him, he moved in with Jacob and several other people, in a house they called The Centerfold. Danny goes through many changes after being dumped by his boyfriend, his appearance and demeanor become radically different, and he manages to alienate many people along the way to finding himself.

I enjoyed the descriptions of London life, and I loved Jacob and their loyalty towards Danny, even though Danny did his best to push them away. Not being a gay 20-something, I had some trouble relating to Danny on that level, but the heartbreak and search to discover one’s authentic self is a universal theme.

For fans of Bridget Jones' Diary this novel is representation in the best way - an LGBTQ+ romance book that isn't about coming out, but rather just how life unfolds (is both refreshing and long-awaited). It is raw, and honest, and a hoot-and-a-half. Ultimately we learn nothing worth having in life is easy to get.

I guess this book was just not meant for me. The story itself was just fine, but it was so inundated with UK-speak/slang that most of the time I could not even intuit what stuff meant and I'd re-read pages several times before just having to give up and move on. I consider myself fairly intelligent, and I just felt clueless and out of my element. And speaking of out of my element, I also consider myself fairly open-minded and enlightened, and this made me think that I ought to reconsider, because I found the characters written as so over the top and purposefully made to portray the stereotypes that are attributed to them that I was uncomfortable. So, all in all, perhaps I better re-think my own personal wokeness. And when I'm looking to escape into my reading world, I don't necessarily need that lesson.

There were funny moments to this book, but all in all I found it be slower than I anticipated. It’s fiction that almost reads like a character study at times. The protagonist tackled his mental health struggles, but I couldn’t help but feel that I started this book in the middle of it because I didn’t really understand where he was coming from or appreciate how he reached that point nor his eventual progression, This was a 3 star 🌟 book for me. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy for review.

This heartwarming contemporary LGBT romance will for sure make your heart swoon and have you madly in love with the characters and their growth throughout the novel. An amazing 4/5!

As far as Danny Scudd knows, his life is absolutely fine. That is until he discovers his boyfriend, Tobbs, hasn’t been as faithful as he once believed and Danny’s world is turned upside down.
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One of the best coming of age stories I have ever read about truly identifying and accepting who you are. This novel had me laughing, crying, and thinking deeply about what it means to be an ally in today’s world. Danny’s growth throughout this novel is beautiful yet sometimes painful. His therapy sessions hit the mark and I felt all the feelings alongside Danny. The writing is phenomenal and witty with the perfect flow. There are a lot of cultural references that added to the reality of this novel and bringing personalities to life. I could go on and on - definitely read this book! |Brit|

This was a fun and sweet read that is perfect for Pride month or just any month. I loved all of Dannys friends and Danny himself. This is a beautiful, fun, story that gives you a LGBTQ+ perspective that is just so realistic and important but also just so well written.

Thanks to Ballantine and Netgalley for this copy for my honest review.

I loved this novel! Danny is a fully realized person: messy, flawed, unsure of himself, and deeply feeling. I loved watching his journey towards self-discovery, to being a better friend and citizen, to the world and to himself.

This novel was beautiful, heartbreaking, and full of so much real life that I devoured it in one sitting. Danny is a phenomenal queer character, and I love to read stories that are more than "coming out" stories, but that share real life moments for queer people of all ages. Danny's foray into the queer art scene of his best friend Jacob (and their coop style roomates) made me uncomfortable and desperate to know more. I felt like I was living Danny's life as I read this novel, and it's a for sure addition to my personal shelves!