Reviews of I Loved You First

Alexandria and Seth have been friends since they were kids and now they're off to their first year of college together. It should be a happy time for both of them but there's a problem - Seth is gay and trying to stay in the closest, and Alex is hopelessly in love with him. I Loved You First is the story of how Alex deals with that.

I don't understand unrequited love at all, probably because I never experienced it. If I liked a guy growing up and he didn't like me back, I got over it and moved on pretty quick. What I especially don't understand is Alex's unrequited love for Seth. She thought that he was awesome, but why couldn't friendship be enough for her? It's not like he was going to have a serious relationship with another woman. That bothered me about this novella, but I admit that maybe I just don't understand because I haven't been there.

What was even more annoying was Seth himself. I can't tell you why without going into some spoilers about the ending, but he was whiny in general.

I will give the author this - I Loved You First was an extremely well written self-published novella. The characters were all developed equally, the plot flowed evenly, and there were no spelling or grammar errors. It wasn't a fast paced page-turner, but I kept clicking those pages to find out what would happen next, would Alex ever get over it?

The author's representation of college has been called stereotypical, but I thought it was pretty accurate (aside from the dormrooms.) Trying to find new friends at college can be hard; there is always that desire to get off campus; and college frat parties are obnoxious sometimes, especially when the brothers are so dense. It happens!

The afterword by the author caught me off guard. I thought she had done a great job in the novella showing that people need to have tolerance and understanding and her afterword came off as superfluous and, unfortunately, preachy. If you read the book, skip the afterword.

his seemed like an interesting concept for a book. It was definitely something I hadn't seen before. Basically Seth and Alex (Alexandria) have been best buds since first grade. Alex loves Seth but Seth is gay and only loves Alex as a friend, maybe little sister.
In the beginning of this book I didn't like either character, I found them both whiny and total drama queens. Alex is so wrapped up in being friends with Seth that it's he everything. Seth is so wrapped up in his facade and poor me routine to notice anything else. I really didn't like him as a character, and didn't feel he redeemed himself either. Perhaps I'm not being sympathetic enough but they way he treated Alex some one who was by his side defending him, it just pissed me off. Alex on the other hand grew on me as the story progressed, when I saw she was actually starting to grow and mature as the book went on I came to like her a lot more.
I enjoyed the sections with the secondary characters as well, they offered some much needed smiles in the book breaking the tension. I was actually routing for Dink, hoping him and Alex could get a happy for now ending. But the ending I did get was satisfying and didn't leave you hanging which added points.
I felt the story was decent yet I'm not sure it's for everybody. I feel it's a good story about a young women coming into her own. Yet felt other parts weren't as well done as they could have been. Over all I guess I'd have to say judge for yourself, as I think the perception of this book will change with the people who read it.
Disclaimer: I received this book from the author.