I was so excited to dig into this debut by comedian Amy Silverberg because I love funny books and who better to deliver than a professional funny person! Aspiring writer Allison is living in LA, grieving the death of her older brother, and beginning a relationship with a very famous radio DJ who is quickly getting to be past his prime (and happens to be her father's idol).

Allison is lost in her life, her career, and in her grief. She holds a few different jobs, juggles her difficult parents, and falls into this odd relationship with ease, but she never quite comes together as a character as a whole. I think this book suffers from something I see in a lot of contemporary fiction, where the side characters are well developed, funny, likeable and unique, but our main character or narrator is a blank slate. I couldn't picture Allison in my head, found her very dull, and the way she is written feels like she's just in the ether, floating around and only has things happen to her, instead of her making big decisions about her own life.

This is an impressive debut, I just wish I could have connected with our MC more, instead of feeling bogged down by the classic sad girl character with deep thoughts that are only kept on the inside - and just a blank slate on the outside.

BOOK REVIEW

If you love when a book feels like someone’s telling you a secret over coffee, this one’s for you.

Allison’s journey—navigating loss, complicated family dynamics, and a surprising romance with an older man—is honest and deeply human. And just when you think it’s all about him, in walks Maddie (his daughter), shaking things up with an unexpected connection. It’s sharp, funny, messy, and so full of heart.

Young woman struggling and making horrible decisions while she tries to figure out her life - I will never get tired of this incredibly relatable premise. This one stands out as one of the funniest I've read in the genre.

I always enjoy slice-of-life stories, books where you truly get to know a character and what the ups and downs of their day-to-day are like. First Time, Long Time definitely fits that description! Meet Allison, who moved to Los Angeles for a fresh start, but is feeling more lost than ever. She’s feeling uninspired in her job as an English teacher and dreams of becoming a writer; she’s also dealing with her grief from the sudden loss of her brother and navigating complicated relationships with her parents. When she unexpectedly meets famous radio DJ Reid Steinman, the two quickly develop a connection, but before long, Allison starts to fall for Reid’s daughter, Emma, too. On her messy, complicated journey of identity, love, and loss, can Allison figure out what she truly wants?

Again, I just loved how character-focused this story was! I really enjoyed Allison’s internal dialogue, as well as the quick, snappy banter she had with others. Silverberg’s writing style was witty and fun to follow, and her characters were so interesting to read about, flaws and all. I also liked how the story was made up of lots of shorter chapters, which kept me hooked to see what would happen next!

One thing I will say is that sometimes the pacing of the book felt a little off, which I think is largely due to its original format being a short story. A large part of the story’s action, things that are described in the plot description, mostly doesn’t happen until well into the book. This also caused the ending to feel a little bit rushed, in my opinion.

Otherwise, I liked First Time, Long Time a lot! I would recommend it, particularly for fans of character-driven litfic. Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC.

Have you ever been stuck in a “purgatory” like stage of your life? Well, so has Allison. She thought her dreams of making it as a writer would materialize when she moved to LA. Things didn’t turnout that well. Allison now drifts from day to day with no real destination.

Distraction arrives when she meets Reid Steinman. The two begin a romance that spins becomes more complicated when Allison also develops a relationship with Reid’s daughter.

I enjoyed many parts of this book and also flipped through many parts. This was an interesting story filled with an eclectic mix of characters. It was an entertaining book overall and I just didn’t connect with the story. It’s still worth a go, though.

I enjoyed the concept of the book and the characters. Amy has a fun voice and I enjoyed her style.
I do really enjoy more of a rom-com vibe, only doing 3 stars because I feel like some parts sort of dragged on and just didn’t seem to fit.

I'm ready to accept defeat. I do not care about these characters, and I haaaate the random time breaks that don't really add anything to the story. Putting this one down.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed the concept of this book. The characters were everything that I was wanting and enjoyed in this universe. Amy Silverberg has a strong writing style and was able to create characters that worked with the storyline and thought it was good in the genre.

Happy Pride Month -I absolutely adored this contemp fic lit. this book is haunting, and messy. the topics of grief, identity and what happens when you support everyone else. The conversations this book will allow to open and discuss are so immensly important. I look forward to the hype surrounding this one when it is released. the pace was in the middle of fast and medium -which just truthfully feels like it makes since. I wouldnt say there are content warnings regarding these books outside the -grief mention.

Allison moved to LA as an aspiring writer trying to find her way while also dealing with family drama. Then Allison runs into a radio DJ who changes her life .

A debut with a fresh & funny voice! The author's style is all her own - though I will say if you like books by Marcy Dermansky, you will like this - a little quirky in the best way.

The book is narrated by Allison, a 28-year-old living in LA, scraping together a living by teaching writing at a junior college, running book clubs for rich women, and trying to do her own writing, all while grieving the death of her brother a couple of years ago. She meets Reid, a man close in age to her father, who is a famous "shock jock", inspired by Howard Stern. They develop a romantic relationship - and like Stern, he is sweet and shy at home while raunchy only on the radio.

Other characters have a strong presence in the book - Reid's daughter, Allison's parents - and all have distinct voices too. The author knows how to write excellent dialogue to build distinct characters.

Really enjoyed this one, an advance from the publisher via NetGalley. I was fascinated to read in the Author's Note that this was originally a 30-page short story - would be interesting to read that too to see the origins - I could see this working in a short format.

An interesting literary fiction. I think this will be loved by those who liked novels like Luster or A Good Happy Girl.

A stunning debut.

Books like this are addicting to me, not in their plot or pace, but the visual “ASMR” slice of life storytelling: raw, humorous, unexpected, visceral.

This was so deliciously reminiscent of Lily King’s Lovers and Writers, and also made me think of Margot’s Got Money Troubles.

I found it interesting that we were never "in person" with Allison's mom, and I think it helped solidify the story and themes about fathers and daughters, and how much of Allison's life orbited around her dad and his "problem." These characters were very unique to me, and I loved how singular their personalities appeared.

Thank you thank you thank you to Grand Central Publishing and Hachette for this ARC e-galley.

Oh honey, all mothers are guilty of something

Allison is an inspiring writer who moves to
L. A. in hopes her life will all fall into place. Shes spent the last few years drenched in the grief of her brother’s untimely and unexpected death, forcing her to deal with her unpredictable parent’s feelings on her own. Shes ready to be her own person again, no longer tied to the twister that is her families emotions. But there is something so isolating in L. A. and her brother’s life and death keep coming back to her. After a chance encounter with famed radio personnel Reid Steinman, Allison becomes enticed by his spell. Quickly falling in step with each other’s lives, Allison never admits to Reid that he’s both her brother and dad’s comedic idol. Allison gets so entangled she befriends Reid’s daughter forcing her to balance her romantic feelings for Reid and a gnawing passionate desire for his daughter.

First time, long time is a gruelingly relatable tale of trying to find yourself after living your life for everyone, but your self. It’s about taking up space of your own instead of shrinking yourself to uplift those around you. The stories are pragmatic and clever leading you to empathize with the characters. I very much enjoyed this read, the flashbacks read seamlessly to me braiding the present with the past.
This is a perfect meditation on depression and how it’s passed through generations especially while untreated. We see so many slices of Allison’s life until finally she is a whole person.

I recommend this book to readers who love messy characters, familial dramas, books by Melissa broader and Anna Dorn.

Thank you Grand Central Publishing and netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found FIRST TIME, LONG TIME to be such a fun and refreshing read, and the writing felt thoughtful and genuine to me. I enjoyed groundedness and believability of the story and exploring the world through the main character Allison's eyes. Leading women's book club and teaching writing at a college, Allison's life feels murky... stuck creatively and professionally and still grieving the loss of her brother. She somehow finds herself sitting next to the radio host personality she listened to all the time as a kid with her dad. She likes who she is and how she feels around him and is able to connect to a different part of herself. I also really liked the specific observations about life that are sprinkled throughout the book. Looking forward to reading the author's future work.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Allison is feeling a bit aimless. She’s grieving the loss of her brother, she’s stopped writing, and she’s sporadically in touch with her parents. When she meets the charismatic Reid at a bar (yes, the very famous radio show host she grew up listening to), her life begins to change.

An absolute delight. The writing is lovely and thoughtful and Allison is a charming and compelling character to follow. I enjoyed her inner monologues and was fascinated by her decision making. This is a funny, tender, and hopeful exploration of loneliness, loss, and putting yourself back together and I loved it!

Highly recommended, especially to fans of literary fiction and character-driven stories.

Thank you very much to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

This book was a big no for me. There wasn't much story- a lot of things weren't explained and there was a lot of timeline bouncing for seemingly no reason. I couldn't get into it at all.

This book was just - a mess. And probably not in the way the author may have intended.

I've read my fair share of frustrating book, but this one in particular had me stretching out the crevices of my face. The pacing, specifically, is abysmal. Not only did it take approximately seventy percent for the synopsis to start kicking in, but the story was constantly interrupted with so. much. backstory. Despite Allison being so dodgy and unwilling to share her past with anyone, she internally thinks about it constantly. The primary subjects of these flashbacks are her asshole dad and brother, and these flashbacks to the times she spent with them did not earn any endearment or empathy from me. If anything, the more the story was cut off by these flashbacks, the more I yearned to unlearn literacy.

What made reading this worse were the scene breaks. The scene beaks typically are used to time passing, or changing the scene/characters to another part of the story. That is not the case in this book. Scene breaks were constant, especially to the aforementioned flashbacks. But then there were others that would break only to return to the exact same scene. It was maddening. I felt like I was being dragged around with my nails in the dirt, trying to hold on to some semblance of plot for dear life when there wasn't one. The way this choice of writing has left me baffled beyond words - I just hated it so much.

I didn't laugh once. If anything, the prose was stilted, dry, and lacked any of the wit the premise claimed it had. Me slamming my head into a wall repeatedly would be more comedic than anything inside this book.

The characters here just sucked. The whole triangle between Allison, Reid, and Emma felt so gross to read through, and the way it ended so unceremoniously made the whole debacle more pointless. (Allison was prolonging dumping Reid when she and Emma got together, but she didn't have to tell Reid anything because it turned out he and the driver were together! She and Emma did get together, but it wasn't exciting enough for Emma without her daddy in the mix. They broke up, Allison got with Chris, some random co-worker periodically mentioned throughout the story, and then she married him in the last chapter. Mind you, the last chapters where all this happened read like a Sparknotes summary. What was the point of this story at all if you're gonna end it like that?) There were, like, four major characters (Allison, Emma, Reid, and Allison's dad), and their whole personalities can be summarized as serious daddy issues or typical self-centered man. Cardboard has more depth and dimension than this cast.

All in all, I will be giving my thanks to the publisher for the chance to review this book, but I will not be reading anything of Silverberg's in the future.

The writing in this novel was engaging and ultimately pulled me through the book. I found the pacing to be all over the place. We don't really get to the synopsis of the book until about 65% of the way in and I found that from there it felt strange and rushed .The last few chapters especially seemed to cram a lot in there. I do love mess though!!! And a lost protagonist. I enjoyed those aspects.

3.5/5., rounded up. This was an enjoyable read with messy characters (in a fun way). The pacing however was a little off at times, especially near the end when it felt like there was more to explore in some of the relationships. Thank you Grand Central Publishing for the ARC.