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The First True Thing
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In the two weeks since her drunken bike accident, Marcelle has been forced to look deeply at her own life. She’s clean and sober now, attending a tough-love version of after-school rehab, and barely hanging out with her user friends. Then one night she gets a mysterious text from her best friend, Hannah, asking Marcelle to cover for her.
It’s a small, simple lie. But Marcel ...more
It’s a small, simple lie. But Marcel ...more
ebook, 256 pages
Published
April 30th 2019
by HarperTeen
(first published April 23rd 2019)
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Start your review of The First True Thing

Oct 09, 2020
Khristina Chess
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
ya-pretty-good
The First True Thing is both a mystery and a book about a teen working through the hard parts of recovery.
The mystery is that Marcelle’s friend Hannah is missing, and Marcelle was the last person to hear from her. What happened? What should she do? And if she tells the truth, the whole truth, what does that mean for her friends?
Working through this dilemma is part of her recovery because lying, hiding, hanging out with people who aren't good for her are all behaviors associated with her drinkin ...more
The mystery is that Marcelle’s friend Hannah is missing, and Marcelle was the last person to hear from her. What happened? What should she do? And if she tells the truth, the whole truth, what does that mean for her friends?
Working through this dilemma is part of her recovery because lying, hiding, hanging out with people who aren't good for her are all behaviors associated with her drinkin ...more

Giving THE FIRST TRUE THING a particular number of stars is difficult because 90% of the important components of a good story are present, characters, plot, writing, storytelling. The other 10%, the treatment program is the stuff of melodrama, which, in my opinion, doesn’t belong in a YA book about substance abuse recovery.
The entire time I was reading THE FIRST TRUE THING, the mandated group treatment, purported to be one of the best in the country, was more LORD OF THE FLIES than licensed trea ...more
The entire time I was reading THE FIRST TRUE THING, the mandated group treatment, purported to be one of the best in the country, was more LORD OF THE FLIES than licensed trea ...more

Extending my deepest gratitude to Edelweiss and HarperTeen for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. However, this does not affect any opinions or feedback stated concerning the book whatsoever.
TW: Profanity, Alcohol and Drug Dependency, Mentions of Child Sexual Abuse
If I were to rate this book, I would give it exactly 3.25 stars. At first, I was having trouble connecting with the characters in the story because my adolescent experiences were a lot different than theirs. This boo ...more
TW: Profanity, Alcohol and Drug Dependency, Mentions of Child Sexual Abuse
If I were to rate this book, I would give it exactly 3.25 stars. At first, I was having trouble connecting with the characters in the story because my adolescent experiences were a lot different than theirs. This boo ...more

Warnings: sexual assault, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, drug overdose, fatmisia, animal death (off-page), suicide attempt
Rep: addiction rep
The story of The First True Thing, at its core, is about a girl who has to overcome peer pressure to do the right thing. Marcelle is in recovery after an accident when she got drunk and nearly died; now she is the last person who her friend Hannah had texted before disappearing. Marcelle, while still only a couple of week sober, and in a therapy program that str ...more
Rep: addiction rep
The story of The First True Thing, at its core, is about a girl who has to overcome peer pressure to do the right thing. Marcelle is in recovery after an accident when she got drunk and nearly died; now she is the last person who her friend Hannah had texted before disappearing. Marcelle, while still only a couple of week sober, and in a therapy program that str ...more

To be fair, the two stars is being generous. I saw this book prior to its publication and I thought the premise sounded promising. Then, when I realized it was featured on one of the MANY YA book lists (I think it might have been "20 compelling YA books we couldn't look away from"-or at least something along those lines), I figured I'd give it a shot.
That was a mistake.
This book was NOT worth my time. It is not a compelling mystery nor is it an interesting or enlightening look at substance abuse ...more
That was a mistake.
This book was NOT worth my time. It is not a compelling mystery nor is it an interesting or enlightening look at substance abuse ...more

*warning RANT REVIEW*
This was one of my highly anticipated reads of the year, so you can imagine my disappointment.
This book made me ANGRY.
I was ANGRY at the so called “parents” who the author had the nerve to give them that title.
I was ANGRY at the representation of addiction in this novel. Mind you, I haven’t had an addiction, but I know that this wasn’t the right way to go.
I was ANGRY at the so called “physiatrist” who was the rudest, most not understanding human being. I think he even ca ...more
This was one of my highly anticipated reads of the year, so you can imagine my disappointment.
This book made me ANGRY.
I was ANGRY at the so called “parents” who the author had the nerve to give them that title.
I was ANGRY at the representation of addiction in this novel. Mind you, I haven’t had an addiction, but I know that this wasn’t the right way to go.
I was ANGRY at the so called “physiatrist” who was the rudest, most not understanding human being. I think he even ca ...more

There are plenty of content warnings for this one, but I’d like to specifically mention a CW for fatphobia. I wasn’t expecting it, and there are incidents a solid 4-6 times (at one point I had to start skimming to the end). This is also one of the most concerning depictions of health professionals I’ve ever seen, and I really hope teens reading this understand that there are actually decent rehabilitation centers and don’t get scared off from seeking help because of this book. The problems with
...more

Not only is this a book about a teen coming to terms with the consequences of alcohol and drug abuse, it is a novel with a less than forthcoming narrator. This makes for an intriguing read. The reader doesn't quite know what to believe - as Marcelle slowly reveals the truths about her past.
...more

An excellent YA book that deals honestly with difficult issues and makes the reader feel the immediacy of Marcelle's many pressures and need to make tough choices. It deals frankly with the pain of substance abuse, peer pressure, and finding one's own voice. As a parent, it brought home to me how much high school students, while still needing love and guidance from their parents, are really in their own world. Adding drugs, alcohol, and other criminal behavior to an already fraught time in any t
...more

I am rating this 3.15 stars. I got pretty frustrated throughout this whole book, I didn’t care for the Group which Marcelle had to go to. I didn’t care for her shitty parents who can’t comprehend that people make mistakes. I didn’t like basically any of Marcelle’s “friends” besides Andy. I didn’t quite care what happened to Hannah, but of course I cared enough to finish this and find out.
Let’s start off with Marcelle who I did like as a character and felt angry for her because everyone acted lik ...more
Let’s start off with Marcelle who I did like as a character and felt angry for her because everyone acted lik ...more

Check out this and other reviews on my website, The Lamp Post!
Review:
Marcelle’s best friend, Hannah, asked Marcelle to cover for her. The next day, Hannah is missing, and Marcelle doesn’t know what to do.
Marcelle has been sober for just a couple of weeks, after drunkenly crashing her bike, ending up in the hospital, and being mandated to attend treatment at the Center. As part of her recovery process, she promised her parents she wouldn’t lie to them anymore – so now she feels like she can’t com ...more
Review:
Marcelle’s best friend, Hannah, asked Marcelle to cover for her. The next day, Hannah is missing, and Marcelle doesn’t know what to do.
Marcelle has been sober for just a couple of weeks, after drunkenly crashing her bike, ending up in the hospital, and being mandated to attend treatment at the Center. As part of her recovery process, she promised her parents she wouldn’t lie to them anymore – so now she feels like she can’t com ...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

Marcelle’s parents discovered her drinking problem when she crashed her bike and wound up in the hospital. Her doctor recommends treatment at the Center, and Marcelle becomes a member of the Peer Support Group for New Living. Group is not the kumbayah situation that Marcelle had expected, and her peers in the Group seem to think bullying is the path to sobriety. Marcelle has been sober for two weeks when she gets a text from her best friend Hannah asking Marcelle to cover for her - “Told Mom I’m ...more

Ho-ly shit.
I always love it when I find gems in any genre, especially YA, but this book did something astounding by a LOT of genre's standards: It ACTUALLY CRITICIZED 12-Step abstinence-only alcohol rehab programs.
They actually talked about the cult-like aspects of it. (I am not, myself, an alcoholic- but I know people who are/have recovered, and they've got some real 12-step horror stories, let me tell you.)
They actually address the fact that some of the people who run these programs are ideol ...more
I always love it when I find gems in any genre, especially YA, but this book did something astounding by a LOT of genre's standards: It ACTUALLY CRITICIZED 12-Step abstinence-only alcohol rehab programs.
They actually talked about the cult-like aspects of it. (I am not, myself, an alcoholic- but I know people who are/have recovered, and they've got some real 12-step horror stories, let me tell you.)
They actually address the fact that some of the people who run these programs are ideol ...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

Thank you HarperCollins for the free arc via edelweiss. I enjoyed this story but felt at times it was a little flawed. The parents treated the bike accident like it was as serious as a DUI where someone was killed. Many of us experimented in our youth and did stupid things. It didn't mean we were alcoholics and needed rehab. However, in this case Marcel did need therapy to understand why she was drinking so much to hide her feelings. The other part I struggled with was the group therapy run by k
...more

It was okay-- the kind of book that discusses the more realistic and raw elements of teen substance abuse and for this book Marcelle is an alcoholic (or alcohol use disorder) as mentioned in the back who is dealing with her impending sobriety by attending a group session under the direction of some pretty interesting counselors and meeting interesting people in the mix.
Meanwhile the inconsistency of Marcelle's recovery leads to the mystery of the disappearance of Hannah. It's a hard-fought kind ...more
Meanwhile the inconsistency of Marcelle's recovery leads to the mystery of the disappearance of Hannah. It's a hard-fought kind ...more

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
What would you do if your best friend asks you to cover for her? What would you do if covering for her - lying for her - means holding back facts that could help her be found when she goes missing? Answering these questions is difficult enough for a teenager trying to figure out the world. They’re made more difficult for Marcelle, who is struggling through her new found sobriety.
I struggled with how to rate this book because ...more
What would you do if your best friend asks you to cover for her? What would you do if covering for her - lying for her - means holding back facts that could help her be found when she goes missing? Answering these questions is difficult enough for a teenager trying to figure out the world. They’re made more difficult for Marcelle, who is struggling through her new found sobriety.
I struggled with how to rate this book because ...more

Solid book about teen addiction and the enabling of it.

The premise is compelling but the execution didn't deliver a convincing story for me.
...more

2.5 stars
This book was just okay. While it dealt with some pretty heavy content and things that should have quite an impact on the reader, it just didn’t for me. I went through the entire book in a very detached way. Reading about these kids and being curious about what happened, not not really feeling much or caring completely. This book failed to completely draw me in and I just wasn’t as connected to the story or the characters as I would have liked.
There’s not much more for me to really say. ...more
This book was just okay. While it dealt with some pretty heavy content and things that should have quite an impact on the reader, it just didn’t for me. I went through the entire book in a very detached way. Reading about these kids and being curious about what happened, not not really feeling much or caring completely. This book failed to completely draw me in and I just wasn’t as connected to the story or the characters as I would have liked.
There’s not much more for me to really say. ...more

After riding on a dangerous path through the woods while drunk, Marcelle crashed her bike under a neighbor's parked car. Her alcohol use finally catching up with her, Marcelle is forced to attend rehab sessions at the Center after being discharged from the hospital. Being labeled an alcoholic isn't the easiest, especially considering her friends are into much worse things. With her parents on high alert for missteps, it seems like Marcelle can do no right. Even her peers at the Center don't full
...more
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