I absolutely loved this brilliant debut novel! First Time, Long Time tells the story of Alison, an aspiring writer who recently moved to Los Angeles. Alison finds herself in a love triangle with an older man who is a raunchy famed radio personality and his younger daughter, a stand-up comedian.

First Time, Long Time is filled with wry humor and keen observations that feel like a breath of fresh air. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a messy FMC and happy-sad stories. I can’t wait to see what Amy Silverberg writes next!

I ultimately didn’t finish this book. No fault of the authors writing or plot, this trope simply didn’t end up being up my alley.

Tropes: Age Gap Romance · Love Triangle · Literary Fiction · Grief/loss · Found Family-ish
POV: First-person

First Time, Long Time is definitely not your typical romance or contemporary fiction read, it’s introspective, a little chaotic, and feels a lot like a late-night phone call with a friend who's unpacking their entire life story all at once. Think: lots of feelings, not a lot of plot.

The writing is sharp and often beautiful, with observations that feel raw and real, with moments that feel like listening to a friend unpack their life in real time. It reads almost like a memoir, blending grief, complicated family dynamics, and identity with dry humor and melancholy. The pacing was uneven for me, meandering at the start and then rushing at the end. I also had a hard time connecting with the main character. Her internal monologue felt repetitive, and while I’m all for messy, flawed women in fiction, her emotional detachment and constant father references made it tough to stay invested.

I listened to the audiobook version, which is narrated by the author. On one hand, it adds that extra personal touch. On the other... the delivery didn’t totally work for me. It was a bit one-note and had some awkward pauses that pulled me out of the story.

In the end, I didn’t finish the book. I gave it a real shot, but it just wasn’t my vibe. That said, I can absolutely see others loving it, especially fans of stream-of-consciousness storytelling, literary fiction, and emotional journeys over plot twists.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My feelings were mixed on First Time, Long Time. Toward the middle I was thoroughly confused and a bit underwhelmed. The book picked up pace, and the dynamics became more interesting with the relationships building. I don’t love a large age gap, so that wasn’t appealing to me. For some reason I pictured the MMC as Jay Leno which was a bit off putting.

I liked the ending even though I felt like it wrapped up quickly compared to the slow beginning. I’d recommend this book for people who like character-heavy books without a focused plot or resolution.

First Time, Long Time follows 28-year-old Allison as she navigates life, holding multiple jobs to sustain herself in LA and trying to get back into the swing of things after the death of her brother. She ends up meeting and dating a Radio host whom she listened to a lot growing up because her father and brother loved him. I enjoyed the fact this narrated by the author. That is where my enjoyment of this book ends, honestly. I went into this book with an open mind, expecting to enjoy it because the premise seemed interesting; however, I found it extremely difficult to get through, listening to the boring thoughts in Allison's mind. I understand that while Allison is tackling every day, she is still in the grieving process; however, so much of the goings-on in the book feel like filler and have no purpose for furthering the plot. I wish that this book was for me, but I'm sure it is for someone else. Thank you for the opportunity to listen to it.

This book had amazing voice and I loved the backstory and understanding of how the character was as they were. It hit in the genre of book club fic for the millennials looking for the cutting thoughts that year both ourselves and others down.

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ARC.

I listened to this as an audiobook, and by far my favourite thing about this book was the narration. It read like a non-fiction memoir of sorts (so much so, that I had to keep checking to see if it was fiction or non-fiction), and this really brought me into the story. While it did make it a bit confusing at times, it really came together by the end. and it seemed like a familiar friend retelling parts of their life. This brought a warm and relatable and human feeling to the book.

I wanted to read this book because of the comparison to Melissa Broder. I really enjoyed Milk Fed and was looking for another queer messy millennial voice/ story (as always). I think that this certainly was a story about a complicated woman, but I found most of the characters hard to connect with and the plot/ story to be a bit boring at times. The back half started to get interesting with a weird love triangle, and I also LOVE stories about grief, but neither gave me the resolution or the full force I was looking for in them, and fell a bit flat.

Overall, an enjoyable read, but left me wanting a bit more.

This debut just wasn't for me. It follows a young half Jewish bisexual woman grappling with grief and depression following the tragic death of her brother. Told in a rambling, stream of consciousness style of narrative, she starts a relationship with an older radio dj and then later falls for his daughter. I just didn't really connect with the protagonist but maybe it was the fast talking narrator that contributed to those feelings too? Perhaps one that's better read in print?? For whatever reason it was just an okay read imo and one that I almost DNF'd many times. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

3 1/2 stars rounded up to 4

I really enjoyed listening to this book and found it mostly very entertaining. There are just a couple things I didn't like about it. One was the ending (ugh hated it) and two was the fact that we don't get much reflection of guilt from Allison about the fact she's hooking up with her much older boyfriend's daughter. While she's a little bit stand-offish and not an overly affectionate person, she also doesn't seem like the kind of person who would do something like this without it being a major internal dilemma and I feel like we didn't get much of that. She just kind of went with the flow.

That said, I love that the author read the book and I love that it is told in a kind of stream of consciousness way. I found it super easy to listen to and I really enjoyed the dynamics of Allison with her divorced parents (her mother refers to her father as The Problem). I'm really glad I listened to this one, but it's definitely not a perfect book and I really wish the ending was different!

I wish I could give a review of the contents of this novel, but there was something about this narrator that put me to sleep. Every Single. Time. I tried to read this book. I listen to the whole book and couldn't tell you a thing about it. An insomniac could be lulled to sleep by this one.

Pub date: July 22, 2025

I wasn’t sure about this book at first, but I grew a fondness for Allison, a late 20-something just figuring out her stuff in LA. She’s kind of a mess and not particularly “likeable” but I did relate to her in a way and felt like I’ve known women like her before. It reminded me of HBO’s GIRLS in a way, absurd but yet pokes fun at the everyday things. I enjoyed the radio personality angle and the introspection into performance and personality and identity. I laughed, and a few of her metaphors stuck out to me around relationships and complicated families. I enjoyed the parts where she talked about writing and books. Although I realize this is definitely fiction, it was clear a lot of it came from a place of experience and it read as very genuine. It almost felt like we were her therapist sitting through a session while she told this kooky set of circumstances she had gotten herself into (a pickle, as she puts it). She encapsulated what it’s like to live in Reno/LA and she was able to articulate nuances re: family dynamics, success/fame, relationships, “growing up”.

Amy narrates the audiobook and her performance matched the book. (Some may not like her cadence or voice but hey, that’s the book, babe). Overall, this book may not be for everyone (dry humor, character driven) but I enjoyed it!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for early access to audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio | Grand Central Publishing for this ARC Copy! 3.5 Stars

I am a huge fan of books with unlikable characters. The more insufferable the better. I love rooting for the bad girl and am a firm believer that we should always support women's rights and wrongs. That being said, I am going to say that I have finally found an FMC that I genuinely don't like at all, honestly that is impressive. The FMC in this book absolutely drove me crazy, and I really did not like her for the first 60% of the book but it wasn't enough to give up, so I kept pushing through and I am not disappointed that I did. I think I came to realize that a lot of the things that I didn't like about the FMC were things I saw in myself. We grew up in very similar ways, and once I got to know the character more, I started to relate to her more and more, which was not exactly a pleasant experience. but somehow, I still enjoyed it so there's that... 🙈

Allison is an adjunct writing professor, moonlighting as a book-group facilitator for wealthy women and dealing with her brother's death and her parents' complicated post-divorce lives when she starts dating a much-older radio personality that she remembers listening to as a child with her dad. Their relationship becomes complicated when she falls for his daughter. The comparisons to Emma Cline aren't far off, but First Time, Long Time feels sweeter and more tender is how it deals with grief and loss, and the author's experience as a comedian is evident both in the humor and in the way she writes about the sadness inside funny people. I will recommend to fans of Emma Cline's The Guest, Interesting Facts about Space by Emily Austin and Sky Daddy by Kate Folk. Thank you to Hachette Audio, Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for a digital review copy.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This book was funny and smart and I live in LA so I love any book that takes place here. This was my 1st book by Amy Silverberg, but this won't be my last.

Allison's family is a looming specter even as she navigates her adult life, everything takes her back to their past, every emotion inexorably tied to its past version. I really enjoyed how this book manages to be both a peek at complex messy drama, and a delicate study on bonds and grief, and how you can't grow up if you don't grow past and let go of harmful patterns.
Allison is on the cusps of figuring this all out, and following her as she starts to inhabit her own life is really special.

What a pleasure it was to get my hands on this book (metaphorically since I listened to it haha).

This was a very character centered and character dependent story and I absolutely adored it. The plot itself is reminiscent of Sally Rooney’s writing style. We feel like not much is really happening but through the conversations and character development we make huge strides in the story. It didn’t blow me away but it was really enjoyable and I highly recommend.

Allison is lonely and adrift in LA. She is an adjunct professor at a junior college working odd jobs to make ends meet. She has a strained relationship with her father, also known as "the problem," a distant relationship with her overbearing mother, and complicated memories of her brother who died unexpectedly. One night at a bar she meets Reid Steinman, a radio comedian she grew up listening to because of her father's love for him. She is quickly drawn into his life, eventually meeting his charming daughter Emma, which further entangles Allison into their family. This is a dry and witty story about finding yourself as an adult and coming to terms with complicated family dynamics.

I listened to the audiobook version of this one and at the beginning I wasn't sure how much I was going to enjoy it. It is read by the author, who has a bit of a scratchy voice and an odd cadence, but I ended up growing used to it and felt that it really fit the story she was telling. Allison is a mess of a protagonist, but that's kind of the whole point and also the sort of character I love. The narrative jumps back and forth from the present to the past as the events of the story remind her of her past and she tries to sort through the ways that they have impacted her. The synopsis sort of makes it sound like the book is going to be about this big love affair, but I was thankful that it was not. It was definitely much more of a character study of Allison, her family, and her past. I would recommend this to readers who enjoy dry humor and character driven books.

This read more like following someone’s stream of thoughts than a novel to me. At times it was really messy and it ended quite abruptly for me. But despite all of this, I found it really compelling. Something about Allison really drew me in.

I did it on audio and I fully recommend it, having it narrated by the author gave it a real intimate vibe. It is funny and insightful, in no way follows a plot the way I expected, but I can’t deny that I truly enjoyed myself. Based on vibes alone I am giving this a 4⭐️.

Thank You to NetGalley, Hachette Audio and the author Amy Silverberg for the advanced listening copy, all my opinions are my own.

3.75 out of 5 (rounded to 4)

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (3.75/5)

This book really stayed with me—I’ve found myself thinking about it long after finishing. Amy Silverberg’s prose is thoughtful and beautifully crafted. She captures grief, family dynamics, and identity with quiet intensity, giving the main character a voice that feels deeply human. As the narrator of her own audiobook, Silverberg does an outstanding job bringing all those layers to life.

The story blends flashbacks with present-day experiences, as we follow the FMC through dating, navigating her sexuality, and reflecting on the past events that shaped her. It often feels like a memoir, with a slow-burn, introspective tone that reminded me of an A24 film. It’s not plot-heavy—instead, it leans into emotional resonance and character exploration.

While I would absolutely recommend this, I don’t think the summary fully captures what the book is. It’s much more literary fiction or women’s fiction than romance, and readers should go in with that mindset.

Allison is trying to heal and adjust after her brother’s passing. She begins to question her choices, current stage in life and aspirations in an effort to find fulfillment. Her life takes an unexpected turn after she meets a favorite of her father’s, radio personality Reid Steinman. Allison finds herself drawn to Reid and despite their differences. They begin an odd yet insightful relationship until Allison meets Reid’s daughter… I love stories that subtly feel like an analysis of human behavior and relationship dynamics and this did that in such a unique way. On the shorter side yet richly layered and told in a more whimsical and witty tone. I could envision this story as a character backstory scene from The L Word. I know that that’s oddly specific but I promise it makes sense and it’s a huge compliment. 😊