Review | Second First Impressions

Title: Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne

Date Published: April 13th, 2021

Dates Read: April 21-23, 2021

Current Goodreads Rating: 3.85/5

Sally Thorne has done it again! The second I finished The Hating Game way back in January I immediately scoured my local library for every piece of literature she has ever written. It was a little disappointing that, at the time, she had only written one other book (99 Percent Mine), but I saw she had another book in the works and made sure my name was at the top of the list for when it became available.

And now it's here and it's INCREDIBLE. I swear, Thorne hopped straight into my brain with the different retirement home scenes. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Ok, what happens? Ruthie is a woman of routine. She practically runs the Providence Luxury Retirement Villa even though she's technically only the front desk assistant manager, she maintains the property though there definitely should be a landscaping or maintenance team, and she protects the golden shelled tortoises that are apparently endangered everywhere in the world but at Providence. Things have been pretty routine since she first joined the Villa team six years ago, but now they're under new management.

This isn't a golden shelled tortoise, but isn't it cute anyways?

Teddy Prescott, son of the head of the new management, joins the Villa team as a way to save up for his new business venture - a tattoo parlor two hours away - and to show his father and older sister, Rose, that he can buckle down and achieve something even if it is something as simple as staying at a job longer than a few weeks. Instead of helping around the grounds or working with Ruthie in the front office, he becomes the assistant to the Villa's two most eccentric old women. Ruthie pushes Teddy to work hard to achieve his dreams and Teddy shows Ruthie that there is indeed a world outside of the retirement facilities and they learn that maybe they need each other.

Ok, what do I think? I am in love with this book. Ruthie's interactions with the residences at Providence are so insanely similar to my own interactions working at two different retirement communities when I was younger. I felt Ruthie's exasperation and also her strange affection for the weirder residents. It was also strangely comforting that apparently all retirement communities - even the fictional ones - overwork and underpay their service team as Ruthie comments several times throughout the whole book.

However, despite identifying with Ruthie's often unfair job conditions her character was the one that I honestly cared about the least. She is obsessed with doing her job to the point where she has panic attacks whenever she is off campus (because she lives there as well which is an option I definitely didn't have at either retirement community I worked at, thankfully) and she is still dealing with the trauma of somehow being responsible for a bunch of church funds to be stolen? Her panic and backstory didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but I took it in stride and focused on the other characters.

First up, Mel was fantastic. Melanie is the exact opposite of Ruthie and easily the best part of the book. She is the first person to encourage Ruthie to get out of her shell (I didn't mean to make a pun, but here we are) and to go out and meet new people. She creates The Sasaki Method which is all about remaking yourself into your best self and then meeting someone to spend the rest of your life with. It's cute, there are some really funny moments from Mel and her Method, and, honestly, I thought her step-by-step instructions were pretty solid.

Most of the residents at Providence fade into the background as one collective character. Occasionally Thorne will throw out a name or two of residents who appreciate Ruthie, but also...not really appreciate her. If you have ever worked in customer service you'll know what I mean. You've been a big help serving me food, but also I'm going to only tip you 10 cents because screw you. You know? But then there is Aggie and Reneta who send me back to my own experience working with the elderly. They're crass, don't give a shit, and run through male "assistants" like crazy.

I just...can't with this man.

Finally, there's Teddy. Maybe its because I was in the midst of my Harry Styles obsession (look we all have different coping mechanisms and mine just happens to be unhealthily obsessing over male celebrities. I didn't ask for judgement), but when Teddy was first introduced with his long hair and tattooed arms I immediately thought of 2015 Harry. So...yeah...I was hooked. I've read some reviews that complain about how much of a man-child Teddy is throughout the book and I can somewhat see where they're coming from, but I disagree with those reviewers who say he doesn't grow as a character. Teddy is a pretty self-confident person in every aspect of his life except for his professional. His sisters are more successful than he is in their business and he's dropped off at this retirement villa to prove to them, his father, and himself that he can stick with something long enough to achieve his dreams. Everything else about him - his look, his personality, his masculinity - doesn't even matter to him. He's very comfortable in his skin and I think that's why I really liked Teddy. What can I say? Women just write really attractive men.

I will admit that I do agree with some of the issues other reviewers have had: Ruthie does get a bit depressing sometimes (I mean I am also a 20-something turning 80, but I don't remind people every few minutes) and the resolution comes at you fast, but overall I really enjoyed this book. From The Hating Game to 99 Percent Mine to Second First Impressions Sally Thorne has proven that she can write a wide variety of love stories and I will devour each and every one of them.

Long Story Short:

• Basically if you write a story that takes place in a retirement community I will enjoy it,

• Women write good male characters. Men should really be taking notes,

• Second First Impressions is not The Hating Game, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a chance.

My Rating: 5/5