Complicated Choices by Risa Nyman – Review by Julie Johnson

Complicated Choices by Risa Nyman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5 stars

Imagine having the weight of the world on your shoulders your senior year of high school. Responsibilities include keeping grades up, picking the right college, cleaning house, taking care of your baby brother, and taking care of your mother. That’s Claire’s situtation and she wasn’t given a lot of choices as she entered into what should have been the best year of her life.

Claire’s parents divorced a few years back and her mom went on a business trip earlier in the year. A few weeks after she returned home, she found out she was pregnant. She refused to tell Claire who the dad was and even left that spot empty on Harry’s birth certificate. Everything changed when she got pregnant and Claire had to start picking up the pieces.

Claire’s friends come to her aid but they have limited resources, especially when Uncle Pat starts to stick his nose into everything. Claire will stop at nothing to keep her little brother and mom together with her. Her senior year is nothing like she expected but she is also learning valuable lessons along the way.

This book was a challenging read for me. Maybe it’s because I had to grow up fast and have “adult” responsibilites at a young age. Claire’s story really resonated with me though. I found myself becoming angry at all the people around her who were letting her deal with all of this alone when some of them could have stepped up and helped her. Claire became so much stronger through this experience and learned to love, forgive, and plan a future that she wanted, not what others expected of her.

View all my reviews