This tale is a romp through the challenges of self-discovery when you think you have already discovered who you are but boy did you get it wrong. This is a book that will bring joy, smiles and a liberal (but not a passion-killing) dose of despair.

We meet our protagonist, Danny Scudd, who believes he is living his dream in London media job, boyfriend and has the rudest of awakenings causing his world to implode before exploding into a new life.

It is fair to say that this book can be read on a number of levels from the surface level to the uncomfortable mirror that can be held to anyone’s life.

Read this book – you’ll enjoy it.

I enjoyed reading this book because it's well written and I did relate to some aspects of the characters. It's also very funny; I actually laughed out loud at several points.

It's probably me, but I just don't think I understood what the book was trying to say. Essentially I'm left wondering what is the moral of this story. There's certainly a commentary in here on internalised homophobia and there's some interesting personal development of the main character as well as his relationship with his friends. However what I really disliked was that the main thrust of the commentary about queer life and relationships is that they're all just about the sex and that queer people are unable to relate to each other because of the internalised homophobia that they are experiencing. And to me it didn't seem that that commentary was updated or changed by the end of the novel. Maybe that's some people's experience of living life as a queer person, but it's not been mine and the book seemed to generalise about all queer relationships and I basically reject that narrative for myself. There were no lasting, positive romantic relationships between queer people represented and so I struggled to accept that this is how the queer community should be representing itself to itself and/or people outside of the community.

I'm rambling, I know, but the point is that I picked up this book expecting to see myself, or at least significant aspects of my own experience, in it's pages. What I found was a story that seemed to say 'This is THE queer experience', but I didn't see myself in it. Even if it had said 'This is A queer experience' I would have felt happier. Again, I would stress that this is just what I 'felt' while reading it and another persons view would most likely be very different from mine.

However I did love the writing and I would certainly read any future books by the author.

Glorious. One of my favourite reads of the year. Heartrending, hilarious and all too accurate. Henry Fry is a name to watch - I'll be eagerly waiting his next book, and I'll be rereading this one long before then!

I… struggled with this book to the point of a DNF at around 20%.

This is just my personal opinion, and I do not want to appear to discredit the author’s talent as a writer or the validity of this story. It just was not for me.

I get that people act in certain ways, and I often find these manners uncomfortable to be around in real life… and reading them as characters I’m supposed to connect with is even worse.

I didn’t like the characters. I know at 20% I’ve barely got to know them, but the point here is that I unquestionably did not want to. And that feeling spanned across the entire cast.

The main character’s narrative responses annoyed me into closing the app and leaving the book for a while. Trying to read this book put me into a reading slump because of how uncomfortable these experiences were.

Maybe if I pushed myself through more of it, I’d get to a point if enjoying it. But I really did not enjoy reading it.

I’m sure it would be a fast favourite for other people and I’ve read so many positive reviews that I don’t want to discount. This book simply wasn’t my thing.

First Time for Everything focuses on Danny Scud, a 27-year-old gay man who’s spent his whole life doing everything he can to blend into the background to avoid drawing unwanted attention.

After a messy breakup, being evicted from his house, and moving into his best friend's artsy home, which he shares with other LGBTQ+ creatives, Danny has an entire life upheaval. He starts going to therapy and begins to dive into his past, unpicking all the emotions that come from his youth, and how that affects his relationships and how he views himself today.

He’s morphed into what he thinks is the most ‘palatable’ version of himself, and the novel is an honest, raw depiction of what happens when you push down these important elements that make you you. It’s about hitting rock bottom and getting back up, and finding out who’s there to give you their hand to help you to your feet.

While it focuses on heavier topics, First Time for Everything is still witty, fresh, and filled with as many jokes as it does important lines about the struggles Danny and his LGBTQ+ friends face. It’s about the joy of self-acceptance and the buzz of community, and about how accepting help, asking for support, and setting boundaries are paramount to living a healthier life.

Overall, First Time for Everything tells the tale of a man becoming who he is, while irrevocably changing and maturing for the better. It's a story about identity, the dynamism of friendship, and the confusing, messy whirlwind that is your late-20s. It’s funny, heartwarming, and a great debut from Henry Fry.

This is the perfect book for Pride Month. It’s a brilliant debut from the talented Henry Fry. I hadn’t known what to expect from this book, but I was blown away with its honesty, its tender moments, and its side splitting laugh out loud moments. Book lead Danny Scudd is the perfect embodiment of all our insecurities, especially from the perspective of a young gay man and all its pitfalls.
This is definitely a book for the Rupaul’s Drag Race generation and is packed with familiar references, focused most definitely through a British lens. But it’s also a subtly poignant book on what it means to be gay, or more aptly what it means to be gay for you. It’s about finding yourself and not conforming to any stereotypes society labels you with. It’s a story that unpacks issues of mental health with a positive message that sometimes you have to ask for help.
This is a joyous book that you need in your life four out of five stars.

First Time for Everything is a beautifully British coming of age tale; it’s witty in places and although is quite heavy on the dialogue it worked really well, and I loved the pop culture references. Very enjoyable read.

What can I say about this book? As a member of the queer community, pride in my identity is always something I have battled with. I think all of us have. First Time for Everything delves into queer relationships new and old, friendships between those in the community and the how our queerness interacts our mental health.

Daniel, as a protagonist, demonstrates the journey of self-acceptance while dealing with the breakdown of a relationship and the change in dynamics of his friendship with long-time best friend Jacob. The way he sees his mental health is something that hit me personally, initially treating it as something superficial until things get deep and begins growing in the forming cracks of his life.

Henry Fry's perception of intersectionality between queerness, mental health and building an identity as a 20-something is must read!

This is a sweet and funny book that really took me by surprise. I read about the first third of it with mounting disappointment. Oh author (oh publishers), I was thinking, you promised me so much and now you're not really giving it to me. And I wondered: as the writer is quite young, is he actually making a mashup of Adrian Mole, Warren from This Life, and Brandon from Attachments (got my 80s, 90s and 00s refs in there) - as some kind of early Almodóvar movie - without realising it?

However, as things start to drastically unravel for the narrator Danny, and the novel comes to the boil around two thirds of the way through (this simmering is very deftly maintained at close-to-fever-pitch right to the end) Fry starts to do some pretty clever stuff. And so once I felt in safe hands there, I just couldn't put it down and stayed up till 2am to finish it.

I think he really does give us a new twist on the introspective coming of age genre, in a twenty-something, Secret Life of Us, shared-house environment. It's packed with complex, loveable (and hateable) characters, loads of good lines, and just the right amount of feelgoods. Thanks to Orion and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

Overall I found this very relatable, engaging, and a easy enough read for over the weekend,
The writing is pretty simplistic and there’s a lot of dialogue, but it works because it’s snappy and on point with references and pop culture.
I thought the development and overall depiction of an abusive relationship was done quite well-it felt realistic and honest and intimately done in a way that understood what an abusive relationship really is. All of the characters were shaped well enough but could’ve been better, they had enough life and flaws and also felt like anyone you could meet.
Danny was a flawed but relatable central character who you just wanted to be okay and thriving in his life-personal and otherwise.
However I do feel that at times I wish it had gone into depth more for everything else outside Danny and the abusive relationship.
I do feel, as I’ve said above, that the characters were all relatable and natural and realistic, but they definitely didn’t have enough depth that I could properly imagine then in my head.
I didn’t really connect as much to the book as I thought I would, despite it being enjoyable and funny and poignant,
I do think the humour was on point and also I liked the way the relationship and moving forward from that progresses-that was done nicely. I just wish it had more depth because the writing was, as I’ve said, pretty simplistic despite great, honest dialogue and I feel because the writing was pretty simplistic in prose that I just didn’t connect to anyone because there wasn’t enough weight and depth to most of its

Danny Scud has spent his life making himself small and unremarkable as a survival mechanism, but in the process he’s learned to put up with unhealthy relationship dynamics and a toxic work culture. His very first trip to a sexual health clinic - at the age of twenty-seven - sends him spiralling, and his carefully constructed lack of personality starts to unravel.

This story is beautiful and heart-wrenching and affirming and very, very British. I just wanted to scoop Danny into a hug. The characters are all flawed and human. The friendships portrayed are messy and complicated and lovely, the romantic/sexual relationships are fraught but treated compassionately by the author.

Danny’s character development in particular was difficult to read but realistic and relatable - as he tries to get to the root of his panic attacks by unpicking his trauma and internalised homophobia, it makes him snappish, unpleasant and at times full-blown manic. He becomes deeply angry, and he struggles to deal with it. I think this is an incredibly important story about what happens when people are forced to suppress their identity for the sake of survival, and the harm it cause them as well as the people around them.

The reason I’ve given it 4 stars not 5 is because of a scene where Jacob (an ablebodied person) parks in a disabled space and limps theatrically - when called on it justifies it with “I could have a hidden disability.” As I’ve said before, all the characters are flawed, and do/say things that are rooted in biases and bigotry (many of them addressed/dealt with in some way). But this hit too close to home, as someone with an invisible disability, especially because it’s just brushed under the carpet. Because accused of faking is a very real and dangerous possibility for disabled people, and this made me uncomfortable.

𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑦 𝑆𝑐𝑢𝑑𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡. 𝐻𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑦𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑇𝑜𝑏𝑏𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑥 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑆𝑇𝐼. 𝑁𝑜𝑤 𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝐽𝑎𝑐𝑜𝑏.

𝐷𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡! 𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘. 𝐻𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑎 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑠, 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠?

𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛-ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑, 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑑, ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘. 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐻𝑒𝑛𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑦.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing House for the arc.

First Time For Everything explores the journey of Danny, who after finding out his boyfriend is cheating on him and getting evicted from his flat and moving in with his best friend and meeting their group of queer friends, begins the journey towards freeing himself from his internalised homophobia. The premise of this book sounded really good, but unfortunately I didn’t get on with this book. I disliked how many of the women were described as looking “piggy” and there was also a scene I found hard to read, especially as a disabled person, where Jason (able bodied) parks in a disabled parking space, then pretends to limp and says that they could have had a invisible disability. I found this harmful because people who actually do have invisible disabilities face so much prejudice and get told they’re faking it.

Absolutely loved this coming-of-age tale of a young gay man set in a London squat/commune full of iconic postmodern creatures who seem like aliens to straight-laced Daniel. After an unforgettable introduction at the STI clinic and getting the boot from his bougie straight flatmates, Daniel moves in with his fabulous friend Jacob (Big Edie to his Little Edie). When Jacob suggests he gets help for his anxiety and panic attacks, he starts trying to figure out who he really is, with the help of a therapist, Nina. I loved the depiction of the app/media company Daniel works at (the titles of the articles 'Five Big Red Bank Holiday Fruits to Give You The Horn' etc were perfect). I liked that when Daniel started unpicking all the anger and trauma of his closeted youth, it actually made him unpleasant and manic for a third of the book. This was hard to read but realistic. I was delighted to see my own former editor Bobby Nayyar in the acknowledgements, and this definitely benefits from his sensitive editing. YAS GAWD! XOXO Gossip Gay