30 First Times: A Halegrove College BL : First in the series

by Kit Iford

286 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 25, 2026

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book, but it had a lot going on but eventually made sense for me. Aran has suffered a trauma in school & has lost his memories of the night it happened. Theo is a friend who is going to help him get it back. They get a copy of the notes made by the admins of the school but the notes are all wrong. The notes were written to make the prestigious school sound like there's nothing wrong & all is fine. Aran & Theo are going to make it right. The supporting characters in the book made Aran the "laughing stock" of the school & with the help of Theo, Aran is finding the memories of what happened to make it right for himself. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird but good

I’m torn about this one. The story idea is good, the characters are great, the fact that they’re rewriting their own history is fantastic, and they way the author treats trauma as something life altering but not necessarily life destroying is fascinating. But… the writing itself is weird, hard to get into the story itself, because we’re thrown into so much stuff at once, it’s hard to keep track of everything, parse through the details that might be important and the ones that are not, and it takes away from the story. The dialogues are written kind of oddly, but I think the story is really good, is a great idea, it’s just the execution that lacks. It’s a great story, and now that I know more about the College, I’m ready to read more, I just think that a little bit more consistency in how dialogue is written, and a beginning that is less overwhelming would hook readers faster. I almost gave up, but was glad I didn’t, because the story is worth it.

[Steph1216 · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 Aran went through something traumatic and is trying to piece together the memories of certain events. He’s known as the “Halegrave Heartbreaker” and is the talk of the school because of it. He enlists his friend, Theo, to help him remember the events where his memory isn’t clear. This book had some good moments and likable characters but there was a lot going on. There were a lot of characters and if it had been better if it focused on fewer of them.
I received a copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a frustrating read for me. Until about 25%, I had no idea what was going on or who the main characters were, or even if there were only one or two main characters. I was sure if I kept reading, it would all come together. Eventually, some pieces did come together, but not in any way that formed a clear enough picture for me. I think this book was simply not for me.