This review was originally posted on Andi's ABCs 
 When I first heard about Firsts in early June 2015 I thought it sounded like a book that could have potential and something that would interest me. What I didn't expect was a smart book about teens, sex, love and friendship and what they all mean separately and as a whole. And let me tell you, this first time author nailed it. 
 Firsts is a story about Mercedes, a high school senior that is going places. She is smart and funny and sarcastic. But Mercedes as a secret; she has an open door policy for the virgins of Milton High. She allows them to have their first time with her so their girlfriends can have the first time Mercedes never got to have. To her her system is fool proof...until it isn't. All of a sudden Mercedes' world that she so carefully crafted started to crumble and people she didn't realize were so important to her have the potential to get hurt in the cross fire. 
 It's hard to really put into words what was so great about this book. There was a lot happening in Mercy's life between her absent parents, her past, her secret with the virgins, her self-loathing and her trying to keep people that loved her at an arm's length. To the naked eye Mercy seemed like someone that had it all together. Smart, funny, and helpful. But she didn't. Not really. She was basically lost. So completely lost and messed up by the past that she used sex to make herself feel like she was in charge of her life. But she never was. She was haunted by things that had happened to her and terrified to be vulnerable to people that were available. Honestly I just wanted to hug her and tell her she didn't have to do it that way. 
 The other thing that I loved about this book is that Mercedes had AMAZING people around her (her parents aside). Zach, Angela and her new friend Faye couldn't have been any different from each other. Zach was the sweet boy that liked Mercy for Mercy, Angela the religious girl that saw the good in people, and Faye the blunt in your face kind that made Mercy look in the mirror a time or two. Each of these people were needed in Mercy's life in a way she never could have imagined until it is possible she could lose one or all of them. They were the voice in her head even if she didn't even know it. 
 I could go on and on and tell you why you should read this story and everything it does in terms of discussing sex and how sexual activity and cheating is treated differently in boys and girls. I could tell you about all the things that happen in this book. But instead I'm just going to leave it here and just tell you to read it. It isn't a perfect story. There are a couple of things I wish were dealt with in the end, but I think it is an important story and one that should be read.