Today I'm excited to be on the Paper Lantern Lit blog tour for Monica B. Wagner's FROSH: FIRST BLUSH! I've been working on reading more NA lately because, with the college setting especially, it's closer to my own personal experience right now. So I was definitely looking forward to reading this one, and it didn't let me down!
Before I get ahead of myself, though, here's more about the book:
Frosh #1.
Published: October 20th, 2015.
Published by: The Studio by Paper Lantern Lit.
Source: Received an eARC of the novel for review for the tour. Thanks, PLL!
Goodreads Synopsis:
During welcome week at Hillson University, the FROSH will hit the fan.
Type-A aspiring journalist Ellie plans to take freshman year by storm. But hell-bent on breaking a huge on-campus scandal, she risks becoming one herself—and getting the mysterious, heart-melting QB in serious trouble.
Grant, star quarterback and charismatic chick-magnet, is hiding a life-altering secret. The last thing he needs is an overeager (absolutely adorable) journalist asking questions. He’s got a reputation to protect.
High-society legacy student Devon is ready to catch the football hottie of her dreams. If the tabloids feature her with the “it” boy on her arm, her tainted past will be buried—or so she thinks.
Charlie, pre-med, is done being the sweet and funny geek that girls like Devon ignore. But if he tries to impress her with a new edgy, spontaneous attitude, will his heart end up in the emergency room?
FROSH intertwines the stories of Ellie, Grant, Devon, and Charlie in Mónica B. Wagner’s sexy NA debut series, about falling in love and falling apart.
My Review:
FROSH: First Blush, the first book in a new series, follows four college students, three of whom are in their first year and just beginning to learn what college life is like. It has its dramatic moments and its sweet ones, and is overall an enjoyable foray into the world of NA.
The four main characters are an interesting bunch, and mostly felt quite realistic. Each had their ups and downs - what college student doesn't? - and each had things about them that I admired, and other things that I wasn't so crazy about (except for Charlie... I think I just really liked nerdy, adorable Charlie). But take Devon, for example. I loved her confidence and her sex-positivity, but I didn't love the way she rejected the idea of female friends and put down other girls without actually knowing them. Of course, everyone's flaws make them human, but that one did kind of put me off a little more than with Ellie and Grant's characters and their flaws.
One thing that I find can be quite tough with multi-POV books is making each voice distinct. Sometimes even authors juggling only two POVs can struggle with this, but Wagner managed to distinguish all four voices enough for me that I never had to flip back and check on whose chapter I was reading. I really have to commend her on that, because that's not an easy task, It helped, of course, with just reading and enjoying the story, but it also made it easier for me to get invested because it enhanced the characters' realness.
I also have to say that while the storyline wasn't constantly pull-me-in exciting, there was enough going on between the four of them that I was kept interested every time I picked the book up, and I became engaged in all that was going on in their lives. I don't want to give much away, because it all really unfolds quite nicely - and I like the way each of them is connected to the others as it does. Plus, Wagner ends on quite the cliffhanger that definitely has me curious to come back for the next installment - there's a lot at stake, and previous evidence shows that it might not play out so well for the characters at first. So while I didn't absolutely love it, there was certainly enough there to get me interested in the characters (and yeah, I'm probably invested in Charlie), and enough plot happening that I need to know what happens next!
Enter the giveaway for a chance at a copy of FROSH:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
About the Author:
Mónica was born in a Peruvian city by
a snow-capped volcano. Growing up, books were her constant companions
as she traveled with her family to places like India (where she
became a vegetarian), Thailand (where she *almost* met Leonardo di
Caprio), France (where she pretended to learn French), and countless
other places that inspired her to write. Now, Mónica lives in Chile
with her husband, three boys, eleven hens, and stray dog. Keep up
with Monica and follow her on Twitter @Monica_BW or visit her
website: http://monibw.blogspot.com.
