Review: The Choices We Make by Karma Brown

The Choices We Make by Karma Brown
pub 6/12/16 by Mira
Adult - Contemporary Fiction

The Choices We Make is an intense reading experience and I'm not exaggerating in the least when I say that. It's a book I'm sure will bring out extreme reactions for different people and that's ultimately what impressed me the most. It's thought-provoking and honest and makes you feel like you know these characters in real life, which is why I felt so strongly about what they were each going through.

Hannah and Kate have been best friends since the fifth grade and they have the kind of relationship that has stood the test of time and made them feel like sisters. Now they're adults, both married and still as closer as ever. Kate and her husband David are happy and have two beautiful little girls. Hannah and Ben were happy but their inability to get pregnant or decide on what the future holds has placed a strain on their relationship. Hannah (and Ben) are understandably heartbroken and this is where Kate's big, generous heart steps in. She offers to be Hannah's surrogate and is willing to use one of her own eggs to do so.

We alternate between Hannah and Kate's perspectives and your heart breaks for each of them in different ways. The more obvious is Hannah. She so desperately wants a child of her own and wants to experience pregnancy like so many other women around her. It's hard not to ache for her when she thinks this dream will never come true. At the same time, I ached for Kate. I loved her giving personality and I often thought Hannah was so incredibly lucky to have her. But at the same time, I was scared for the offer she was making. That she wasn't fully realizing the depth and complications of this decision. It seemed like everyone, especially her husband David, tried to emphasize what this meant and all Kate could think about was making Hannah happy. And when an unexpected tragedy strikes these two couples, those complications and fears are escalated in a way that was raw, honest and extremely evocative. My emotions were all over the place and heightened with every page I read. I mean.. Karma Brown's writing just does that to you and while I loved Come Away With Me, it's The Choice We Make that ensured I will read anything by this woman.

Do I recommend?

I can't say yes enough! But be prepared to laugh, cry, feel rage, heartbreak and everything in between when you read this one. My review honestly doesn't begin to do this book justice so just read it.