Description

Book Synopsis

Juliet believes girls like her - girls with arthritis - don''t get their own love stories. She exists at the edges of her friends'' social lives, skipping parties to play online chess under a pseudonym with strangers around the world. There, she isn''t just ''the girl with crutches''.

Ronan is the new kid: good looking, smart, a bad boy plagued by guilt over what happened to his brother Ciaran. Chesslife is his escape.

Juliet thinks Ronan thinks someone like Ronan could never be interested in someone like her - and she wouldn''t want him to be anyway - he always acts like he''s cooler than everyone else.

Little do they know they''ve already discovered each other online, and have more in common than they think . . .



Trade Review
This is romance with substance * Irish Times *
A teenage love story that is both romantic and believable * Bookseller *
A thrilling will-they-won’t-they rollercoaster ride of a plot . . . The First Move is that story that’ll move readers while putting great big grins on their faces. * LoveReading *
Everything a YA contemporary novel should be: full of warmth, growth, and romance . . . beautifully relatable and a powerful reminder of the importance of empathy. * Paper Lanterns *

The First Move

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    £8.99

    Includes FREE delivery

    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Tue 23 Jun 2026.

    A Paperback / softback by Jenny Ireland

    Out of stock

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      Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK
      Publication Date: 13/04/2023
      ISBN13: 9780241591826, 978-0241591826
      ISBN10: 0241591821

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      Juliet believes girls like her - girls with arthritis - don''t get their own love stories. She exists at the edges of her friends'' social lives, skipping parties to play online chess under a pseudonym with strangers around the world. There, she isn''t just ''the girl with crutches''.

      Ronan is the new kid: good looking, smart, a bad boy plagued by guilt over what happened to his brother Ciaran. Chesslife is his escape.

      Juliet thinks Ronan thinks someone like Ronan could never be interested in someone like her - and she wouldn''t want him to be anyway - he always acts like he''s cooler than everyone else.

      Little do they know they''ve already discovered each other online, and have more in common than they think . . .



      Trade Review
      This is romance with substance * Irish Times *
      A teenage love story that is both romantic and believable * Bookseller *
      A thrilling will-they-won’t-they rollercoaster ride of a plot . . . The First Move is that story that’ll move readers while putting great big grins on their faces. * LoveReading *
      Everything a YA contemporary novel should be: full of warmth, growth, and romance . . . beautifully relatable and a powerful reminder of the importance of empathy. * Paper Lanterns *

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