The People We Choose by Katelyn Detweiler Book Review

This book was not even on my radar until I went through a list of recent authors I read and added some of the authors’ other books to my TBR. I loved Katelyn Detweiler’s Immaculate so thought I’d add this book to the TBR and the library had a copy.

This week’s title is The People We Choose by Katelyn Detweiler

Calliope Silversmith is content with her quiet life in a small town, her two best friends, and her close-knit family—until her curiosity about her sperm donor intensifies as her eighteenth birthday approaches. When a new boy, Max, moves in nearby, Calliope unexpectedly falls for him, straining her old friendships. But everything changes when she discovers Max’s father is her biological donor, forcing her to rethink what family means and how love, loss, and connection can shape it.

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really don’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. Immaculate was much better in my opinion while this was a bit of cringe, a bit of laughs, and some confusion. Side note, this takes place in the same town as Immaculate, which I didn’t know!

Spoiler-free Review

I really loved Calliope’s moms in this book, which is probably the main reason I gave it three starts instead of two. Each of them were so supportive and had well-developed personalities that felt like women you would know in real life. They had open doors and open hearts to everyone in their lives and emulated what a safe space looks like.

Calliope is also a very strong character, though I do think the falling in love part was too fast, especially because she reiterates multiple times that she doesn’t want to date until college. Having her fall for Max in such a short period of time and start dating him just as quickly seemed like it went against her character.

Ginger, Calliope’s best friend, was the best character and I enjoyed how she equally supported Calliope and called her out for any hypocritical behavior. She stuck by Calliope through everything, even when Calliope basically ditched her for Max. I would’ve loved to find out more information about her family life since it’s alluded to that she didn’t have the best home situation, but never elaborated on.

If you like books that talk about the different kinds of love, you might like this one, but it’s definitely not a title I’d recommend to everyone.

For a spoiler review, keep on reading!

Spoilers! Be warned!

.

.

.

.

Okay, I warned you!

When I read the description of this book, in my head I thought that Max’s dad wasn’t his biological dad. Maybe it’s his step-dad or—plot twist—he didn’t know his dad wasn’t his biological father. Either way, I truly did not expect Max and Calliope to be actual siblings. I thought for sure that once Max and Calliope kissed multiple times and even said “I love you” that the book wouldn’t dare to make them siblings. Well. I was wrong. Once it was confirmed that the guy Calliope loved and made out with several times was her freaking brother, this book was an ick factor for me.

I also did not enjoy Noah’s evasiveness with Calliope after she told him she wasn’t interested in anything romantic between them. It felt like a slap in the face to their lifelong friendship that he would act like a typical hurt boy and avoid her, even on her birthday. I think the author tried to make him everything Max isn’t, but Noah came across as just someone Calliope shouldn’t be friends with.

Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend this book to most readers. It’s realistic in the fact that this type of situation could happen and there’s been cases of siblings growing up and getting married to each other without knowing their true parentage, but I didn’t feel like this was the book for me.