First Comes Love | Book Review

Book Title: First Comes Love
Author: Emily Giffin
Genre: Fiction
Goodreads

Growing up, Josie and Meredith Garland shared a loving, if sometimes contentious relationship. Josie was impulsive, spirited, and outgoing; Meredith hardworking, thoughtful, and reserved. When tragedy strikes their family, their different responses to the event splinter their delicate bond. 

Fifteen years later, Josie and Meredith are in their late thirties, following very different paths. Josie, a first grade teacher, is single—and this close to swearing off dating for good. What she wants more than the right guy, however, is to become a mother—a feeling that is heightened when her ex-boyfriend’s daughter ends up in her class. Determined to have the future she’s always wanted, Josie decides to take matters into her own hands. 

On the outside, Meredith is the model daughter with the perfect life. A successful attorney, she’s married to a wonderful man, and together they’re raising a beautiful four-year-old daughter. Yet lately, Meredith feels dissatisfied and restless, secretly wondering if she chose the life that was expected of her rather than the one she truly desired.

As the anniversary of their tragedy looms and painful secrets from the past begin to surface, Josie and Meredith must not only confront the issues that divide them, but also come to terms with their own choices. In their journey toward understanding and forgiveness, both sisters discover they need each other more than they knew . . . and that in the recipe for true happiness, love always comes first. 

Emotionally honest and utterly enthralling, First Comes Love is a story about family, friendship, and the courage to follow your own heart—wherever that may lead.

My Thoughts

Any of the books by Emily Giffin have been quick reads for me. She pulls you in with the story and then leaves your wanting to know where the story goes and how it ends. I started it on Monday and finished it up on Tuesday evening before I went to bed. Part of it is definitely her writing style while part of it is my need to know what happens or else I sit and make up my own endings to the story and then am disappointed when it doesn't end how I've made it in my head. 

I connected with the characters in a weird way because I could relate them to my sister and I. Josie and Meredith are polar opposites and both dealt with their brother's death in totally opposite ways. My sister and I did the same when my dad passed away so I could sympathize with their situation as sisters. Thankfully, my sister and I had a strong relationship that set us up for being supportive and encouraging of one another as we both battled that loss. Unfortunately, the sisters in this story did not seem to have that. It was as if there was a lot of sibling rivalry/hard feelings from the beginning of their friendship that kept them from having that nurturing relationship that you tend to see with siblings. 

There are several "talk-able" topics that pop up in random spots throughout the book that make you wonder what you would do in that situation or how you would feel if that was your sister making those choices. I found myself getting upset with the characters at different points in the book because of the self-absorbed nature of their relationship. But that's easy for an outside to see and analyze. 

All in all, I enjoyed this book as a quick read. It was a reminder of how different people deal with the death of people they love, and how it can ultimately affect the rest of their life in different ways based on how they choose to deal with the death. 

Fun Information:

Until someone commented on my instagram picture about this, I didn't realize that other characters from Giffin's books were a part of the story. Love the One Your With was one of my recent favorites and so reading a little update on Ellen and Andy was precious although I didn't realize that is who it was when I was reading about their part in the story. That's definitely one I would recommend, although again, I found myself mad at Ellen a lot in that story. 

Rating

I would give this book 3.5 stars because of the issues that it brings up and talks about that you don't quite expect. My annoyance with the sisters and their relationship was more for personal reasons so maybe you can relate to them more than I did. I liked that there was some controversy and although you expect one ending, you see that things aren't always what they seem. 

Do you have ay suggestions for what I should read next? I had Jojo Moyes book One Plus One checked out from the library but didn't get around to reading it just yet.