The Choice

Reminiscent of the 1998 film Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow, The Choice gives us the story of Joanna, a library worker who goes out to a bar with her best friend Laura one night and is sexually assaulted by a man. Both women leave, and as Joanna is on her way home she feels as if someone is creeping up on her. She thinks it is the man who was at the bar, Sadiq. As the man comes closer, Joanna ends up reacting by pushing him away, and unfortunately pushes him down a flight of stairs. The man is face down in a puddle. What does Jo do? This story gives us the two different paths she could have taken: call 999 or run.

The storyline was so intriguing that I found myself entranced by the first few chapters which was where pretty much all of the action was. One-third of the way in and I found myself skimming because the characters were just not interesting at all. Jo, the library worker, her husband, Reuben, the do-gooder, her estranged brother Wilf, and her best friend Laura were just all such dull characters. The Choice is an easy-to-read book that might get your brain wondering about past decisions, however, it was not a very thrilling read at all.