michaelapr's reviews
76 reviews

I debated about giving this book 4 stars because honestly the ending felt rushed but the journey getting there was just so good it deserves a great rating.
This book started off creepy and just continued with that vibe throughout. Even though I couldn't read this book at night that fact alone made this story perfect. I've always thought January was a seriously creepy month and clearly I'm right. I was kept intrigued throughout, wanting to know what happened which made this a fast read despite the size.
In short this book was a well written, creepy, intriguing story that I really enjoyed reading. Like I said in the beginning, I wasn't thrilled with the ending itself but it's possible no ending would be satisfying to me.

I enjoyed this book more now than I did the first time I read it. I can't tell you why really, I think I can appreciate it more now. The bits of meandering Tolkien does, our reluctant protagonist who longs for his home in dark times but also knows how to get his friends out of trouble, the riddles and the dwarves (actually I've always had a soft spot for dwarves).
I might've known how it all ended but it made me emotional all the same. Emotional mainly due to the quote I'm leaving you with but I was left feeling good too. I always feel happy after reading a good story with a happy ending.

"There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

"That's why the love I give you,
my woman, my needle woman, 
coils in your ear moistened 
by the sea winds of Chillán 
and uncoils in your eyes, 
letting sadness drift"

"And from offering no answers, 
I have a yellow heart"

"Pure faith cannot withstand 
the assaults of winter"

"Nothing is gained by flying 
to escape this globe
that trapped you at birth. 
And we need to confess our hope 
that understanding and love 
come from below, climb 
and grow inside us 
like onions, like oak trees,
like tortoises or flowers, 
like countries,
like races, 
like roads and destinations"

"You must control yourself, sir, 
friend, you must control yourself, 
they advised me one by one, 
they advised me little by little, 
they advised me over and over, 
until I'd forget myself 
and I forgot myself all the time"

"I love you, I love you, is my song 
and hear my silliness begins."

"And if love is like wine: 
you are my predilection"

"It's a fact, the desert 
is the other face of night, 
so infinite, unexplored, 
like the non-existence of the stars"

"But the truth is, I never 
slept with anybody 
but the sands of night, 
the circumstances of the desert 
or the stars in space."

"I gathered up my choices, 
renounced what wasn't mine 
and found at my feet and with my eyes 
the abundances of autumn"

"The flash taught me calm, 
not to lose lights in the sky, 
to search inside of myself 
for the galleries of Earth"

"Because I arrived at the crossroads 
from a complicated destination, 
when ticking clocks fade away 
and the sky tumbles across the sky 
until the dying day 
takes the moon for a walk"

First off there are a few triggers that needs to be acknowledged: Pedophilia, Child Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Manipulation - All are mentions not graphic scenes, thank God, but while this book is fantastic it could be triggering and gets dark fairly quickly.

Now on to this book! I listened to the audiobook, something I highly recommend because the production of this is fantastic. We go back and forth between podcast episodes where a journalist is investigating the disappearance of title character Sadie after her sister's brutal murder and Sadie's point of view of her journey for revenge, which the journalist is investigating. The audiobook is just like listening to a podcast and the framework is artfully done.
The story itself is gut wrenching and fast-paced. It was hard to put this book down, I was so invested in the outcome and these characters. Courtney Summers writes a captivating, heartbreaking, intense story that never sensationalizes the dark content nor trivializes Sadie's struggles.

Now ahead are spoilers! It should be marked but you have been warned.

The ending of this made me so MAD and upset! I was expecting an epilogue, I really was, with Sadie's point of view. I thought surely she didn't die, that she managed to survive and was going to make a life for herself after all she's been through - I really wanted that for her. But no, we never find out! And it's implied that Sadie most likely died. Which was maddening after rooting for her, for hoping the podcast would help her!! This book still gets a 5 star rating because it was a great book but oh that was a direct hit to my heart!

I know this was a reread but I didn't really remember this story from the first time I read this. I gave it 4 stars then, but after rereading it for a book discussion group the rating lost a star.
Honestly I don't know how old I was when I first read this book but I can see how it'd appeal to a teenage/early 20s version of me. But after reading relationships in books like Six of Crows and The Raven Boys the "love at first sight," quick, undeveloped love of a Nicholas Sparks novel just doesn't hit me in that sweet spot anymore.
It's not that the book was bad, in fact I rather enjoyed most of the first part, a lot of it was pretty fun and the book itself went pretty fast. It just fit in with the usual Nicholas Spark's story - so it was predictable and honestly wasn't all that exciting. As for the choice itself, it was heart wrenching in a way, just not 4 stars heart wrenching that I've had with other books.
It's always interesting to see how my tastes as a reader change over time. It's like seeing my own character development in a way lol. The Choice is one of those books that lost its luster a bit but I like to think that's because I've read so many rich, developed characters and stories over the years. It's a good starting off point for a reader, but not where a reader should stay.