The First

The First...of a Series I will Surely Continue!

What a great story. I went into this book with low expectations, as there are not many reviews, and I'm so glad I gave this one a try. This book is quick to action and delivers a heroine that is not afraid to use her superpowers from moment one. There is death and morality, . There are underlying stories that will come to surface. There is kindness and boy are there superpowers used the way we all secretly dream of using them. I was expecting a heroine that would be afraid to use her powers and only get one or two scenes where they were truly used. However, I consistently received my superpower fix and loved our heroine was not afraid to deliver an elevated level of violence to those that clearly deserved it, while still managing to keep a superman-esque level of morality.

This one is worth more than one credit.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Loved the story and the reader

Where does The First rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

About mid-way. I've listened to perhaps 50-60 on Audible and other sources.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sophia - yeah, most powerful but I liked her most because she didn't want to rule the world or anything, just kept trying to help people.

What does Carla Mercer-Meyer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Great inflections and voice modulations to really make the characters sound different, despite coming from the same reader.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Flashbacks of her husbands murder and to when her jail friend committed her crime (TOTALLY JUSTIFIED).

Any additional comments?

Editing flaws really stood out. Carla's voice would, perhaps 7 times in the book, end a paragraph or chapter and INSTANTLY begin a new one. Kind of threw off the balance of a smoothly told story - not blaming Ms. Mercer-Meyer.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Very good listen! Real good twist!

easy listen not too much military or science jargen but well written can't wait for the sequel's

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

it's alright

Just to start, I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to the series progressing. I did quickly realize though that this was not expertly written, so don't read with incredibly high hopes for execution. But definitely was some light breezy fun.

There was good flow and pacing to the story, though the author does get bogged down in over explanation and repeatings. Most of the characters are cookie cutter with the main character being somewhat mary sue like. Most of the dialogue was terrible, sounding as though it were written for 90's television.

I often felt this story was a vent for the author's personal grievances and irritations with the real world. Many moments in this story involved characters or even the author themself pontificating on an injustice or problem and having those around them realize the error of their ways. There were other moments which felt unnecessarily tacked on or inserted just for some cathartic release of frustration by the author.

All that criticism aside, this is a pretty interesting superhero coming to power story. It was engaging enough and had enough interesting twists to keep me interested. I am curious as to where the story will go next.

12 of 15 people found this review helpful

Good reading, action drama

The First was a really good read and very well performed. From the first chapter, the reader gets drawn into a world where an everyday citizen is wrongly convicted and sentenced to die for a horrible crime she did not commit. After her first resurrection the action never stops as she uncovers an enormous government conspiracy and launches a war to expose it. I look forward to the next in the series!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

trucking through the woods in Alabama

aside from the reader's occasional mispronunciation or misplaced emphasis on some words this was a pretty entertaining book.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great superhero book fresh and fun

Loved the more "real" take and descriptions on super heros and life fun!!!! Detailed. Fast pasted. Read well. You won't regret the buy if you are a super hero fan of any kind. Finally people become super powered and they know about comics and heros like superman or the flash. A+

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Mediocre writing but fun story.

This writer clearly needs some work. Almost everything is awkward; tenses change in mid-sentence, viewpoints flicker into focus for no reason, descriptions and action sequences are filled with needless distractions like "he totally lost it" and "he locked and loaded," etc. Author just needs some editorial help and some discipline. More show, less tell.

All this aside, the story was entertaining and fun. I'm happy to support the author and the project.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Decent, Though Flawed First Book

I enjoy good tales about superheroes. This one had a decent story, generally well told, except for a few large and serious flaws.

The characterizations were generally good for the good guys, but cardboard cutouts for the bad guys. I particularly liked the protagonist. She was everything I like in a hero. Her evolution from terrified victim to reluctant hero is worth reading.

Unfortunately, there were significant flaws. The first I've already mentioned: the villains had no redeeming values. They were cardboard cutouts with no morals.

The second flaw is the writing itself. While the story was generally well told, the writing itself was problematic, although most of it could have been fixed by a decent editor. Grammar and word choice were often jarring, especially when incorrect, though similar sounding words were used. Incorrect jargon was also problematic, because it, too, jars one out of the story. (e.g., as a minor example, one never says "oh-five-hundred-a-m").

The final problem was one of physics. Yes, superheroes usually violate known laws of physics in stories by their very existence. But that doesn't mean the author should go overboard. The hero became too powerful. Like Superman, she could do things that go beyond super human and into the realm of the gods.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Review of The First

Where does The First rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

On a scale 1-10 about a 6

Would you recommend The First to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes. The tone of it was relaxed. The wording used by the characters had the right ethnic tones which I related to.

Did Carla Mercer-Meyer do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Yes.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Most definitely. There were some parts that dragged on too long like the part where she shows that her memory is perfect.

Any additional comments?

The speed at the beginning of the book was fast but once you got the rhythm it was fine.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful