Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne Book Review

“He continues like I didn’t say anything, ‘I wish you could get a second first impression of me, but I can’t work out how to do it.’

‘You thought I was elderly, and I’m scared your first impression was right. That’s why I’m trying so hard to be twenty-five years old. Tell me why you go to see a therapist. Is it because of your family?'”

(pg. 250)

About

Author: Sally Thorne

Genre: New Adult Contemporary

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Synopsis

Ruthie Midona will work in Providence’s front office, and be at the Parloni’s beck and call, forever. That’s sort of her life plan. If Ruthie can run the place in her almost-retired bosses’ absence, with no hijinks/hiccups, she has a shot at becoming the new manager. She might also be able to defend her safe little world from Prescott Development, the new buyer of the prime site. Maybe after all that, she can find a cute guy to date. All she needs to do is stay serious—and that’s what she does best. 

Until, one day, someone dazzling blows into town. 

Teddy Prescott devotes his life to sleeping, tattooing, and avoiding seriousness. When Teddy needs a place to crash, he makes a deal with his developer dad. Teddy can stay in one of Providence’s on-site maintenance cottages—right next door to an unimpressed Ruthie—but only if he works there and starts to grow up. 

Ruthie knows how this sweetly selfish rich boy can earn his keep—and be out of her hair in under a week. After all, there is a position vacant…

Review

Spoilers Contained Below

To the turtles,

I have heard nothing but fabulous things about Sally Thorne, and have been meaning to pick up one of her books for a while now. So when I saw Second First Impressions at Target, I was like, Let’s Go! I bought the book and I started to read. I really wanted to love Second First Impressions, but honestly it wasn’t for me. That absolutely doesn’t mean I don’t think Sally Thorne is a fabulous writer or that I don’t respect her work, just that this book wasn’t for me and that’s okay. I just want to be honest. I reallllly wanted to like it, but it didn’t hit home with me. Second First Impressions is not my last Sally Thorne book because I would absolutely positively read The Hating Game and 99 Percent Mine because I heard those are great stories, and hey, maybe one of those will be for me. But this is a nice reminder that not liking one book by an author doesn’t mean you should write off the author completely from your list.

So, let’s get into it.

I didn’t really like Ruthie. I understood Ruthie because gosh knows I’ve been called a grandma before and told I dress like one 😆—but I mean, Grandma Fashion is making a comeback, just you wait 😉. Even though I could understand Ruthie’s insecurities by being teased for being older, I didn’t feel a connection with her that made me like her. There was something about her that didn’t click with me . . . I don’t know. She gave me very homely and reserved vibes, which there is nothing wrong with that. I mean, I liked her routine with her baths, her cheese board moment, and her teddy bear. Speaking of routines, part of me felt like Ruthie had OCD tendencies. I have OCD tendencies and I know what that feels like to constantly check doors if they’re locked to feel safe. It’s something I still struggle with, but Ruthie’s was linked to a bad experience in the past, understandably so. With OCD tendencies, having a routine feels comfortable and safe. I also understood why she was very hesitant to leave Providence Retirement Villa, but I kept cheering her on that she should put herself out there and not be afraid to see what the world has to offer. I liked how at the end she did leave the retirement villa and how she actually chased her dream job. I loved that for her. I felt like her life really began at the end of the book when she finally took her life into her own hands.

The thing with Teddy was that I didn’t really feel the romance. It felt like Ruthie just liked the first guy she liked who was remotely hot and took an interest in her. I mean, she only started to notice Kent from the thrift store after he cut his hair and started to look good. Sooooo that said something to me about how she just liked Teddy because he was cute. Also, Ruthie hardly went out so liking the first guy who was charming wasn’t surprising. Their relationship felt very instalove and I would have liked it to feel more organic and honest.

I also didn’t like Teddy. I don’t know if it was me, but his personality seemed wishy washy. One moment he was being a charming, sarcastic bad boy; the next he would be goofy and silly, almost like a man child; and then he would act all honest and noble. It just didn’t make sense to who he was, so I couldn’t connect with him because I couldn’t figure him out. When we met him, he gave off these bad boy, sarcastic vibes. Then we had moments when he was acting weird by hanging around her house like a leech and saying these weird things, and then at the end he went and cut his hair and polished up for Ruthie. I’m sorry, a person shouldn’t change who they are for someone else to like them??? Also, I liked the hair cutting part, but it also attested to how Ruthie probably only liked him for his looks. I get it, he had nice hair, but I wanted to know his personality to his core.

I get he was a troubled son with a difficult past, and maybe he hid his emotions with multiple facades. But I don’t know!!!!! I really wanted to like him, but I was so confused about who he was. He just didn’t seem like he even knew. Maybe that was the point? I also didn’t like this whole give and take thing with his tattoo knuckles. I ‘m sorry, bro just said I take more than I give and that should be a red flag 😂. And the fact that towards the end, he wanted Ruthie to learn how to take more than give was also a red flag—excuse me, teaching her to be selfish? 😆 I’m joking, but, I get it. We all need to learn how to not let people walk all over us and demand respect when we deserve it. So it’s not selfish to take the self-respect and respect you deserve, but taking from others to the point you are depleting them isn’t healthy. It’s like the cup metaphor that you shouldn’t take from someone else’s full cup because that’s not fair to them because you eventually leave them with nothing.

Also, there were multiple scenes where I was really confused because Ruthie and Teddy would be doing one thing and then all of a sudden they would talk about the most random or unrelated thing or something that didn’t even make sense to the scene. I don’t know if it was me who read things wrong, but I don’t know I was getting kind of lost. That’s not to say it wasn’t good writing, I just was reeeeealllly confused.

I liked Renata and Aggie. I liked Aggie more because she was gentler and kinder, but Renata was a real firecracker in the best way. I thought she was kind of ostentatious at some points and demanded pretty mean requests, but she was a fun character. I liked how Sally Thorne took two older ladies and made them lively and young because most stories depict older people as people who can barely walk or who are grumpy—all these elderly stereotypes. But older people have so much life and love in them, so I liked seeing such a positive—and spunky—betrayal of older ladies. I liked how they tested Teddy for the job and had him bury the shirt, dig it up, then bury it again, and dig it up and wash it 😂. Yikes, I would not want to work for Renata. I also highly enjoyed the ending prom scene where Renata and Aggie went to the dance together, holding hands. I knew they loved each other because it was obvious how much they cared for each other as more than sisters (because they weren’t). It was just easier to live together and say they were sisters without judgement, especially since Ruthie was the pastor’s daughter. Ruthie would never judge them, but I understood Renata and Aggie’s hesitancy. It made me sad that they couldn’t go to their prom when they were younger because of the bullying or ridicule they would get back then. So it meant a lot that they lived their truth openly and had this moment to celebrate their love. I liked the whole proposal moment—I would have liked to focus more on their proposal in the moment and their emotions because I think it would have been a cute scene.

But the focus was on another good moment—Rose and Teddy. Teddy was the outcast son because the dad had an affair with Teddy’s mom, so he was sister’s with all these girls who sounded like flowers. One of them being Rose. It was harder to impress/win over Rose as a sister because she blamed Teddy, but it wasn’t Teddy who had an affair–he was just the product of it. Teddy wanted to open his own tattoo parlor to prove to Rose he could be a serious business man like she was. However, Teddy didn’t have the finances to start a tattoo parlor or pay his shares to his friend, Alastair. That’s why Teddy had to live at the retirement villa—to save up money and make money when he had nowhere else to go. Then at the end he started to save up more money for his tattoo parlor and he wanted Ruthie to leave the villa to be with him. Ruthie leaving was this huge contention for their relationship because she never left, but gosh did I want her to just choose to leave for once—to choose him! But the thing I didn’t get was why he came back after they fought because it was more on Ruthie to make the change and not him. I liked that he cleaned himself up and was willing to save the retirement villa because that showed he actually cared for something for once in his life. It was funny how everyone made a big deal about him cutting his hair 🤪. Ever since Teddy mentioned how Daisy cut his hair once a while, I was like, I bet he’s going to cut his hair at one point. I also loved how Rose and him reconciled and she called him brother finally. I liked how they were going to try to be a family together. I had to admire Ruthie’s dedication and passion for saving the retirement villa because it showed leadership qualities. I also LOVED how Renata did put Ruthie in her will and left her money to do what she wanted.

I loved how Ruthie went back to college no matter how old she was—it’s never too late to learn.

With Melanie, I still don’t understand her Sasaki method. Like, what? I understand it’s some sort of dating method created by her, but I think it didn’t make sense in the story. So, I didn’t really understand what was. going on.

Anyway, most likely I will try to read this story again, and my Second First Impression might be different 😉. But that’s not to say I don’t like Sally Thorne or that I won’t read any of her other books. This one just wasn’t for me.

What was your favorite part of the book? Least favorite part? Anything I mentioned that you want to discuss more about?  If you could get a tattoo, what kind of tattoo would you get? Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕

I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this 😊.

And as always, with love,

Rating

2.23 Full Bloom Flowers

Characters: Ruthie and Teddy were difficult for me to connect with because they felt confusing.

Writing: Sometimes easy to follow along with.

Plot: Had a nice arc that made sense.

Romance: They had their cute moments, but it felt instalove for me.