I Loved You First by Reena Jacobs is a very sweet read. By that, I mean the story is very different, something that I had not read before and I thouroughly enjoyed every page of it!
The book is a stroy of two best friends, Seth and Alexandria, who have been BFFs since first grade. Alex is deeply in love with her best friend, however, the tiny problem here is that seth is gay. Both of them keep their secrets to themselves. Alex is the only one who knows Seth's secret and Seth realises hers eventually. The whole concept of Seth being a 'closet gay' according to Alex, really makes one consider the problems faced by LGBTs. Yes, the book has a message to convey. Seth isn't open about his orientation and pretends to be like any other guy. He gets himself involved in sports and girls even, and Alex has been over shadowed by his popularity since childhood. A ton of interesting events make the book so interesting!
Without revealing much, I would just like to say that the book has a wonderful ending and the other characters add so much of shine and stand out in the presense of both Seth and Alex. This book won't take up much time, so give it a go! The book is a joyful and completely interesting read about practical, daily and genuine stuff. Cheers Reena Jacobs and thanks again for the giveaway! :) ( )

My thoughts?
Ok I loved the synop for this book, for me it’s all about the relationship that is totally unrealistic that drew me in. Beyond that I really didn’t know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised with how much beyond just that aspect of the book that totally kept me reading. This is a true must read for our generation. It’s a powerful story of love and overcoming. More importantly it’s a story of hate and angst. Hate. Hate is such a strong thing and there were parts of this book (that I will not spoil) that made my stomach turn. I actually had to stop reading at one point. It is not overly graphic, but I have a special place in my hate bucket for intolerance and there are some displays of that within the pages of this book. Intolerance is shown in so many different ways in this day in age and it's nice to read something that shows both sides of that. The side of being the bigger person and the small feeble people who openly hate.
Things I liked? Again, loved the whole plot foundation, if there is anything that hands down this book did for me was swept me away within the story. I was not always overly connected to the characters but the story and message rang much to loud to get caught up in that. As I continued through the book actually came to be connected with some of the characters that I had written off and that states a lot for the power of the writing. One thing that left be a bit open on was the end. While I feel it (and even more after reading the Afterwards) and get why it ended where it did, I still felt that maybe there is still some more left to Alex's story. But, this is also where we as readers have to remember that while every one's story continues we cannot always keep spying!
I also have to give mention to Reena's Afterwards. I'm always reading the THANKS and Afterwords sections within books (and if you don't you are missing some great insight into the author, story development and witty humor). Reena did an excellent job within the Afterwards of giving an evaluation as to where in her heart this story developed from and it really helped me to further connect to her the Author as well as the story.
Overall - again, in my opinion this is a true must read for our generation and I would recommend this quick emotion-filled read to any of my followers!

Review by Sliced Open Reviews
Received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Puppy love, first love, and unrequited love, all seem to be the central theme in I Loved You First by Reena Jacobs.

Alexandra (Alex) and Seth have been best friends since elementary school. They are now both freshmen in college. Alex's entire social life revolves around Seth and his needs. Although Seth has recently revealed to her that he is gay. She vacillates between understanding and accepting that her love will never be returned in a romantic fashion and thinking that she knows what is best for him . . . a relationship with her. She openly facilitates his "cover" as a straight guy by playing the third-wheel on dates. Alex is blind to all that is around her except Seth. It isn't until Seth's "straight" cover is blown and he openly flirts with a guy at a frat party that Alex even realizes that one of the frat brothers is interested in her.

Alex is not a likable character. Even accepting that I Loved You First is possibly a YA read, she comes across as extremely selfish and juvenile while trying to appear selfless in her devotion to Seth. When Seth becomes depressed about being unintentionally outed, Alex is more focused on her needs and thoughts than her BFF and so-called love interest. The level of immaturity of both Seth and Alex was hard to swallow at times. I Loved You First held great promise in that it discusses the difficulty some people feel and deal with while being different, whether that difference is based on ethnicity, religion or sexual preference. I wanted to like Seth because he knows he'll have to deal with the prejudices people have when confronted with homosexuality, especially in athletics. Perhaps I expected a little too much OR I'm simply out of touch with the variety of teenage personalities and behaviors, but I Loved You First didn't quite do it for me. Ms. Jacobs has provided a well-written story with fully developed characters but the level of immaturity was difficult for me to handle. Fortunately Alex and Seth do redeem themselves toward the end of the story, providing the reader with a promise of maturity and happier days ahead. ( )

Alex is used to being in the shadow of her best friend Seth. He's out-going and popular. Seth is the kind of guy all the girls fall for, including Alex. There's just one huge problem. Seth is gay. Alex knows this, but no one else does. She is about to learn how hard it is to keep someone's secret, and how hard it is when you fall for the wrong person. Can Alex learn to be her own person and step out of Seth's shadow? Also, can she learn to deal with her feeling about Seth?

This book is a very modern and different take on your typical love story. Alex falls for someone completely right for her in some ways, but it's incredibly hard because she knows Seth will never be able to return her feelings. On top of that, Alex never feels like her own person. She has a hard time separating herself from her identity as Seth's side-kick. As Alex begins to branch out and try to figure out who she is, she realizes that things between her and Seth cannot stay the same.

I found Alex to be a very interesting and complex character. I was very happy for her as she began to discover that she could in fact be a good friend and find out what she wanted in life. I was sad for her as she struggled with her feelings for Seth. The end gave me great hope for her and her future. If you are looking for a quick read that's a change from your usual love story, then look no further. This book is entertaining to read while still managing to give you some things to think about.

Book provided by author for review. ( )

Parts of this novel were entertaining, but I was expecting more. I think what affected my enjoyment of I Loved You First was that I didn't like the main character at all. I thought Alex was incredibly selfish and not a very good friend. In the end, she takes a step in the right direction, but considering all that went on throughout the novel, I don't think it was enough. Also, she is supposed to be in love with her best friend, but she never really says what she likes about him except for the fact that she thinks he's hot, which I thought to be superficial. It also bothered me that some rather serious issues were glossed over (college students being drugged, assault, suicide, etc.) and appropriate action wasn't taken.

However, despite this, there were good parts. I was able to relate to Alex a bit on her troubles adjusting to college life and trying to find new friends. I wish we could have seen more of Trinity, because she was hilarious and really interesting.

Overall, this book by Reena Jacobs is a fast read and it does have its good parts. There were times that I laughed out loud because of the characters' banter.

*I was provided a free copy by the author in exchange for an honest review. This review is entirely my own opinion.* ( )