Choosing You

by Jaylee James

Collin is in high school when he is visited by a time traveler - a woman who claims to be his wife in a hypothetical future... only the timeline has been disrupted, and the two will never meet unless he makes four key choices in his life that will guide them together again.

"Choosing You" is a short story in a conversational, first-person voice, about what happens when deciding to love someone becomes a literal choice. It's 7300 words long and features a transgender protagonist.

Genres: LGBT, Short Stories

50 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 10, 2015

About the author

Demi-bisexual writer, editor, and story curator who spends way too much time on the internet. Er dogs are absolutely cuter than you.

Best known as the senior editor of Vitality Magazine, which published awesome stories featuring LGBT protagonists from 2014-2016.

(NOTE: I *rarely* check my private messages on Goodreads. If you need to get a hold of me, you're much better using email or twitter.)

Reviews

[Eben Mishkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, I should give the warning that I know Jaylee. And absolutely bought this story solely because she wrote it. It is not quite my cup of tea. So your mileage may vary significantly from mine. Having said that, I've got mixed feelings about Choosing You. The characters work well, the writing is great from a purely technical view, but I can't say I know what to make of the plot.

There's nothing wrong with the plot in this very short read. All the choices seem good. I even really appreciate all of the main character's, Collin's, resistance to a time traveler, even one seeming to have the best of intentions, interfering with his life. But, by the end of it all, I'm not sure what to make of what was laid in front of me. It didn't really feel like it was about a romance. It didn't really feel like it was about time travel. And it didn't really feel like it was about free will or predestination either. It was very much a broad slice of life that happened to have romance and time travel in it.

This story reminds me of the goals of the Vitality literary magazine, for which Jaylee James was the senior editor. Vitality was meant to be sci-fi or fantasy starring LGBTQA+ individuals without their sexual or gender identity being the source of conflict. This story, starring a trans protagonist, absolutely fulfills that goal. Excellently. And if that's what you want from it, you will get an excellent story.

What I don't feel you'll get is the promise of the title. The choices felt incidental more than purposeful. And the reasoning for the choices felt glossed over. As did the reasons for the choices in the first place. I don't need much explanation but I do need more than I got. So I've ended up feeling that this story is a page or two shorter than it needs to be to satisfy me. But that also may just be that I tend not to enjoy slices of life.

[J.L. Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I received an e-ARC of this, after trying to enter a contest to win a copy and the author kindly giving me one after realizing the contest was not open in my country)

I absolutely loved this. The time travel story could easily have been a hook for a book at least five times as long, but it works here. The characters have surprising depth for such a short story, and the dialogue keeps the story feeling light and fresh, where it could easily have veered into heavier sci-fi territory.

Overall, a terrific story with plenty of plot twists, fully realized characters, and a sweet romance!

[Jaylee]

Of course, I am astoundingly biased. ;)

[Shaun Putaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

A nice short with a transman protagonist and a time traveler. The story is an interesting take on how decisions shape our destiny. Well written and edited.

[Lia Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, sweet read. I like the twists on the theme the author chooses, including a trans protagonist!