“FIRST LOVE” BY JAMES PATTERSON AND EMILY RAYMOND: SAME OLD STORY, AND YET …

RATING GUIDE:

 

6 – Life-Affirming and Life-Changing!

5 – A keeper!   

4 – Very good

3 –  Passable

2 –  I’d rather read a telephone book

1 – An absolute bomb.  Read at your own risk!

0 – Nothing will compensate for what I lost reading this book 

There appears to be a new trendy subject when it comes to literature for young adults.  In the last couple of years, we’ve been sucked dry (literally and figuratively) by young vampires … or brought to worlds inhabited by strange creatures.  Apparently, authors want to go back to the basics.  Now, we’re reading love stories about ordinary teenagers in good old planet Earth … except that one of them is suffering from some type of sickness (usually cancer).

In the seventies, there was Erich Segal’s “Love Story”.  In the eighties, there was Barbara Conklin’s “P.S. I Love You”.  In the 21^st century, there’s John Green’s “The Fault in our Stars”.  And now, here comes “First Love,” written by James Patterson and Emily Raymond.

“First Love” is about the friendship (and the love that ultimately blossoms) between Axi, a “good girl” who has never broken the rules, and her best friend Robinson, a rebellious charmer.  On impulse, Axi invites Robinson to a cross-country road trip.  It’s a funny, exhilarating trip that soon turns into something more serious, for Robinson is sick (and probably dying) of cancer.

This kind of bittersweet young love, first love has been explored many, many times in the past, not just in books but also in movies and TV shows.  We all know, more or less, how it’s going to end.  Yet, we’re such suckers for it that we don’t mind rehashing the tale for the nth time. 

“First Love” is one such story, and if I may add, a story that seems quite similar to John Green’s “The Fault in our Stars” (you’ll easily spot the similarities).  To use a Filipino term, gasgas na gasgas na. 

And yet, there’s something about the way that Patterson and Raymond wrote this story that still makes it worth reading.  There’s something … heartfelt and touching about it.  And as we readers all know, sometimes, it’s not the originality of a story that grabs us, but the sincerity and rawness of its emotion.

“First Love” won’t be the last bittersweet love story you’ll ever come across, but it’s still a good reminder to seize the day and take a chance on love even if it’s a game you might not win.

RATING:  3