I received a copy of THE VERY FIRST BITE by Cynthia Langston in exchange for an honest review.
The Very First Bite chronicles the life of Lanie Albers, who at the beginning of the novel, has ten weeks to prepare for her high school reunion. Her life isn’t quite what she envisioned it would be – she is twenty pounds overweight, in a dead-end job and she is stuck in a hopeless relationship. The idea of visiting old classmates and owning up to her less than stellar life has Lanie anxious. There are also a lot of loose ends that she needs to tie up, for instance, her first love Chad, whom she fears she will run into at the reunion. And Candace, her former best friend, who unexpectedly ended their friendship seven years ago. But, by examining her past, she slowly confronts her demons and has quite a few revelations about her self and the person that she wants to become.
I loved this book. Like Lanie, I too am on the brink of returning to high school for the first time since graduation and have thought about many of the same things. Sure, we are all carrying a few extra pounds and wish that we were “high school” skinny, but I too often think and wonder about the people that I left behind. What are they doing? What would they say if they saw me? I loved Lanie from the beginning and thought that Cynthia does a really great job at capturing all of her insecurities and created a very witty, yet vulnerable main character. Overall, this book is very heartfelt and honest, often times leaving the reader on the bring of laughter and tears. I really enjoyed this book and I think that if you are looking for a book like this, then you’ve met your match.
