Editorial Content for Dessert First

Dean Gloster’s debut young adult novel DESSERT FIRST is about a young girl coping with the realities of her brother’s fight against cancer alongside her frenzied teenage happenings. Kat Monroe --- our upbeat, hilarious main character --- struggles to stay true to herself in the midst of her brother’s illness and hesitantly finds comfort through a former best friend who has let her down in the past. While she tries to regain somewhat of the strong friendship that was there before, Kat’s younger brother Beep is getting worse and it seems that the only option left for him is a bone marrow transplant. Kat --- being the only match for his transplant --- faces the horrors of not knowing if her bone marrow will be enough to help while questioning if she will ever regain the girl that she used to be.

"I have to applaud Gloster for such a moving story....DESSERT FIRST is a novel that anyone could find strength in while reading and I personally cannot wait for more of Gloster’s work in the future."

DESSERT FIRST caught my attention the moment I read the synopsis. I have always been intrigued by the topic of cancer in fictional literature for the sole reason that I like to read about the different journeys some patients experience during their fight with the illness. Although, the thing I ended up loving the most about this book was that it wasn’t in the point of view of the cancer patient, but the person on the sidelines. We were mainly introduced to the emotional aspects cancer has on its victims and not the physical, which I enjoyed immensely.

However, I did notice that so much stuff happened in this book and sometimes the events that occurred were harder for me to keep up with. It seemed that Kat’s life was just a downward spiral from the beginning of the novel and at some parts the atmosphere was becoming very depressing. I may or may not have shed a few tears (especially when Beep talked about eating dessert first) and I’m not going to lie, I truly admire books so much more when they make my emotions fall through. It was definitely a hard book to take in with aspects of bullying and the obvious cancer storyline, but by the end I felt that Kat’s character development was astonishing.

I also felt that for her age of only 16, she was a very strong person. Kat is such a caring and selfless girl and always spent numerous nights with her brother in his hospital room. I could tell that Kat cared for her brother more than words could describe which ached my heart because her life is definitely not the easy route.

Once the book finished, I realized that it wasn’t a novel enclosing the sorrows and the downfalls of fighting an illness, but the hope and dreams with the help of family and friends that make people stronger. I have to applaud Gloster for such a moving story and I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone who is struggling through hard times but need that kick of inspiration to achieve whatever it is that brings them down. DESSERT FIRST is a novel that anyone could find strength in while reading and I personally cannot wait for more of Gloster’s work in the future.