Review: 3 1/2 stars rounded to 4!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 12, 2014
I reviewed this at The Bookish BabeI have been really struggling to find the words that would adequately describe how I feel after reading Choices by Sydney Lane. I liked it, a lot, but there were a few things that I stopped and thought maybe weren't perfect while I was reading it...and unfortunately I can't ignore that, either. Final rating: 3 1/2 StarsChoices is a new adult title of the 'will she get with this cute boy or that one'...and I was pleasantly surprised by the other elements that it involved. Quincy and her best friend move to Knoxville to go to the University of Tennessee, and you find out quick that Quincy is running from her good girl reputation due to reasons that were the very interesting part (aka, spoiler alert if I tell you). She sees the sexy boys on campus in class, and happens (not accidentally) to see them again at a frat party. We have lots of angst and frustration on who should she pick, who's heart should she break...and I was frustrated with her...but didn't want her to settle either. Love triangle-centric story that I actually enjoyed!The parts I got hung up on were a little bit of the sentence structure to the writing...I felt like there was a lot of explaining and telling going on when the scenes could have held up on their own (they were really good!) I hate saying stuff like that, because it is sometimes more subjective how much that bothers you...but there ya go. The other was how warm (not even hot) and (ice) cold Brody was for a while. There interactions in the beginning make it hard for me to believe that he was a contender for her love until certain scenes finally led me there...because of how small their exchanges were. Later, I believed it...but I was scratching my heard for a few percent there.The story meant a lot, putting that aside, because there elements that I got vibes that are deeply personal for the author. With the dedication, and notes after, you can pick up on this...and that story arc was touching, sad, and so hard to understand if you haven't been around people like that. This means, this story has the pre-requisite psychiatric component that seems to find me all of the time! Gah, lol. I don't even search for it, and it finds me!