Book Review: The First Time: Finding Myself and Looking for Love on Reality TV | Colton Underwood

This is book #8/20 (#13 overall) that I read this year. It was published on March 31, 2020 and counts toward my 20 for 2020 challenge. I don’t think this book has anything that can be considered to be a spoiler, so my review below is spoiler-free (as long as you watched Colton Underwood’s season of The Bachelor).

I thought this book was fine. I don’t think there was much new information in the book, but I still thought it was entertaining to read.

I have been interested in reading this book since it came out. As a big Bachelor/Bachelorette fan, I’m always interested in these Bachelor tell all books/memoirs. I needed something to listen to during a road trip I took, so decided to listen to the audiobook version of this. I don’t prefer to listen to audiobooks usually, but I do like listening to biographies or memoirs since these are usually read by the authors.

The writing in this book is very simple, which is to be expected. I think more of the problem for me is that the narrative felt very distant. Colton doesn’t really get very deep into his emotional thoughts or development. I wouldn’t say that we get much more of a look into his inner workings, or why he is who he is as a person, and we also don’t really get much more information about The Bachelor in general, or more behind the scenes information about Colton’s season. We don’t really get to know much more about the girls that were on Colton’s season, or why Colton made the decisions he did. We do get little tidbits of extra information, but not enough to make it feel worthwhile to read the entire book. Colton does give some insight into why he made certain decisions, but he flat out says that he made those decisions because he knew it would make him look good, or he knew production would be happy with those decisions which would ultimately lead them to picking him as the next lead. For example, his relationship with Tia was all just so he could learn more about how to be a successful contestant on the show. It didn’t sound like he liked Becca that much; he just wanted to stay as long as he possibly could to give him a better chance at being the lead the next season. This all came off very manipulative to me, and I didn’t enjoy reading about it.

I also just didn’t like the way he talked about some of the girls. Some of my favorites on his season were Hannah B., Tayshia, Kirpa and Elise and it’s clear that he feels some kind of way about them. I really just didn’t like how he would talk about using certain girls as a pawn into creating his season in a certain kind of way. It didn’t sound like he was there for love, it sounded like he was just another producer producing a successful, dramatic TV show. He obviously is pro Cassie/Caelynn in terms of the drama that went on during the season, but his bias is so obvious when talking about Hannah B., Kirpa and Tayshia in some moments. And he seems annoyed later that these girls got involved with the Cassie/Caelynn drama (yet isn’t mad at Cassie and Caelynn who were also involved in the drama). He sounds really annoyed with girls like Tayshia, Katie, Sydney, and especially Elise, saying that they were too clingy and they would just complain that they weren’t getting attention. Obviously they’re going to be upset that they’re not getting enough attention. This happens every season, and it’s a hard situation to be in. The whole point of the show is that it’s twenty-five girls competing for one man’s heart. Be more compassionate to these girls that obviously like you and want to spend time with you. I don’t understand why he was so offended that these girls wanted to spend time with him. And he was especially mean towards Elise. She would do things to really try and get his attention, like give the producers a note to give to him, and Colton just ignored it in the end. Why would you be so mean like that, and not even read the note? It’s just so mean and petty, and the whole point of this show is to fight to get your time with the lead so you can grow a connection. I think it is just so obvious that he was (and is) so completely focused on Cassie that he wouldn’t even give the other girls a chance, and the other girls probably could feel that distance. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that so many girls left on their own during his season.

Colton has had a very interesting life, but something about the way his story is retold in this book makes it sound extremely dull and boring. Colton is probably a fine guy, but my opinion of him definitely lowered after reading this book based on how he spoke about some of the girls on the show, and just how overall manipulative he sounded while explaining some of his decision making. Overall I think the book was fine. Bachelor fans will probably have a decent time reading this book. The writing was simple, and there wasn’t much new information. It was mostly just a recap of his seasons. I’d give this book a 2/5 stars. Have you read this book? I’d love to hear your thoughts down below.