The Choices She Made by Felicia Ferguson

The Choices She Made by Felicia Ferguson
Series: A standalone
Publisher: End Game Press (October 18, 2022)

REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS

The Choices She Made is a dual-timeline, coming-of-age/women’s-fiction novel. In 1997, a teenager named Madeline is assaulted and becomes pregnant. The rest of the book follows the results of the choices she makes, some good, some bad.

Ferguson handles the rape scene brilliantly. The story opens in the immediate aftermath of the assault, so the reader isn’t subjected to the violence at all. It’s clear, however, in the midst of Madeline’s erratic observations coupled with Ferguson’s short sentences what has happened:

Blurred browns, yellows, and grays gelled into familiar shapes. Stall door. Clean straw. Water trough. She took a quick breath of the dry, musty air that surrounded her, trying to will her mind to connect all the pieces. A cow’s loud call rang out from the adjacent stall, drawing her back to the here and now. Startled, Madeline clenched her rough denim shorts, the hems frayed by the slice of scissors.
–FELICIA FERGUSON, THE CHOICES SHE MADE

In the later timeline, in 2011, Madeline is a mother of a daughter who doesn’t know who her father is.

The book takes place mostly in small-town Texas. Since I live in a small ranching community in Texas, I’ll boldly claim to be an expert on the setting.🙂 Ferguson nails it!

Ferguson isn’t afraid to write about difficult topics. There is the assault, of course, but there are also PTSD, abortion, classism, and how “helpful” Christians treat single pregnant women, especially teenagers. (Look at that list! The Choices She Made would make an excellent book for a book club discussion group.)

Besides Madeline, other main characters include Madeline’s sweet, hardworking, widowed father, her boyfriend, and her twelve-year-old daughter. My favorite character is the boyfriend, Bobby. What he goes through early in the book broke my heart, and then even more adversity comes his way. He is tentative and hopeful in his final scenes, and it made me cry.

I admired the way Ferguson wove Bible passages and prayers into the story. They are germane to their scenes. A preacher is preaching, for example. An English teacher is lecturing on the book of Job. The Christian messaging never felt forced.

The Choices She Made is almost a five-star read for me. I took off half a star because of the number of times that a character squared his or her shoulders; the phrase called attention to itself after the first few times. I also took off half a star because of the therapy-filled scenes. They were a little too much for my tastes, but other readers may not be bothered at all by them.

Overall, I enjoyed this brave, compelling story. The Choices She Made earns four strong fish from me!

composite image of four drawn fish from the British Museum on unsplash

I read The Choices She Made through Kindle Unlimited.

68 thoughts on “The Choices She Made by Felicia Ferguson”

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  3. Excellent review, Priscilla. I’m especially interested in how the author handled these difficult but important topics. It takes a delicate touch without offending the readers who could benefit from these topics from a Christian worldview.

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      1. You’re welcome, Priscilla. With more Christian thrillers and fantasies, I sense the need for this deft touch to not only entertain skillfully, but inform of important topics and inspire change. Thanks for highlighting those books that strike the delicate balance.

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    1. Hi Susan! Thanks for the kind words about my review. it was a tough subject, but it’s handled so well that I never felt like I was cringing. Thanks so much for your comment.🩷

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    1. Hi Staci! Yes, it was a powerful story with SO many things to consider. I kind of joked about it being good for a book club discussion, but it actually is the book for our ACFW Book Club this month! Thanks for commenting.🩷

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  6. Excellent review, Priscilla. I agree with Grant’s comments above. It is very difficult finding the right balance between entertaining and taking a Christian stance. And there is so much around us that needs to be confronted. Lots of topics for future books.

    Great review!

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    1. You are so right, Steve. We are surrounded by events and circumstances in today’s world that would make excellent stories for those authors brave enough to address the topics. Thanks for commenting!🙂

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  10. What a difficult and emotional subject to address, especially in a work of Christian fiction. It sounds like the author handled the situation well with a read that left a lasting impression on you. A thoughtful review, Priscilla.

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  12. This would be a difficult subject to write about but sounds like the author did a great job. I’m intrigued by your review, Priscilla. As you can imagine, the small town Texas setting is right down my alley!

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  15. Wonderful review, Priscilla. From what you’ve explained, Ferguson managed the difficult topics well. Given my background (working with college students), the choices/challenges in this book sound very familiar. 💙

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  16. I like that Ferguson wove Bible passages and prayers into the story and the Christian message didn’t seem forced. It sounds like a good read. Great review, Priscilla.

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  17. Sounds like the perfect story to highlight a hotly debated subject. Your review indicates the author touched on several points I feel needed to be addressed. One is so called Christians who mistreat anyone, especially an unwed, pregnant teen and or rape victim. Gets my hackles up.

    Another interesting review, Priscilla.

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    1. I wish this wonderful cast was a bunch of real people (except for the bad guy!), and I wish the high school for pregnant teens was real. Then again, the story is so good that there were times I was reading when the characters did feel real! Thanks for your comment, Pat! 🙂

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  19. Hi Priscilla!

    Hi Priscilla!

    What a brilliant review. Judging by the name, it sounds like there are some valuable lessons to be learned and that the author is not afraid to tackle some subjects boldly. I like the honesty at the end as well.
    Thank you for a wonderful review; it was a pleasure to read!

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  20. You’re right, Priscilla – sounds like this would be a perfect book club selection, especially in today’s climate. I’m glad the rape scene happens off page. I recently read a book where the description didn’t even hint at rape. I overlooked the first instance, but then it continued. That was a quick DNF for me.

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    1. Hi Robbie!🙂 There are so many aspects to this book, how the conservative Christians treated Madeline, how other conservative Christians treated her (which were genuine Christians and which were nominal Christians?), how the secular world treated her. We’re actually going to discuss the book at the end of the month in my online book club. I’m looking forward to it. Have a super rest of your weekend!

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  22. This sounds like a book that didn’t try to sugarcoat Madeline’s struggles, and I liked the way you describe the very real varieties of community stressors. Bobby sounds like a compelling character. Thanks for the insightful review, Priscilla. 🙂

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  23. I like that the author has made it so that the intense scene is in the aftermath so it doesn’t have to retraumatise people who have been through a similar experience to get the point across. And it sounds like it does a brilliant job of tackling some of the unhelpful and helpful approaches Christians take to single pregnant women — which is definitely worth talking about!

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    1. Yes, I’m sure readers who have been through something similar appreciated the author’s hinting at the violence without describing it in detail. Lots to talk about in this book. Thanks for commenting, Olivia-Savannah.🩷

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  24. This sounds like an emotional read, Priscilla – thank you for your superb review that gave a strong sense of how this book tackles a slew of very difficult subjects. I like the title, which also harks back to the old-fashioned, damning phrase, “She made her bed, now she’s got to lie in it.” It was often trotted out about young single mothers, whether they’d willingly participated in the act that got them pregnant or not… I don’t ever recall hearing it used about young men who’d been experimenting with sex before marriage, however.

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    1. I was thinking if an author gave her critique partner only a couple of chapters at a time, with weeks in between, then the critique partner wouldn’t notice the squared shoulders. in any case, it’s still an awesome story that I will remember for a long time. Thanks for your comment, Crystal!🩷

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  29. Thank you, Priscilla, for the lovely review you left on Amazon of my short digital chapbook, “Lunar Gazing Haiku.” I appreciate it very much. I’ll be posting it on my blog on Monday, June 24th. Thanks again!

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