Review Detail

'The Path We Take' by Kylie Key shows how the choices we make and the things we think we want are not necessarily what make us happy in the end. Dominique is crushing hard on a boy in her school, and when things seem to be going her way with him, her whole world seems right. Until it doesn't. She learns pretty quickly that anticipation and general longing are not necessarily equal to the end outcome.

When her whole life turns around after an accident that puts her gymnastics career in jeopardy, her older brother tries to find a way to bring renewed joy to her life. A doctor at the hospital, he sets her up with one of his burn victims, a young man slightly older than Domi whose story makes hers seem not so terrible in comparison. Meeting Malachi, who sometimes is called by his nickname, Spider, brings a new perspective to her situation, making her wonder if everything she is upset about is truly worth it.

Malachi is kind and sensitive, and Domi begins to fall for him. As her interest in him grows, she worries about how he isn't the kind of person whom her parents or her friends would expect her to be with, casting a pall on their relationship. Even though she loves talking to him, she doesn't know that their relationship can truly go anywhere, and she's afraid to express her true feelings to anyone – sometimes even Malachi himself.

With some issues that muddy up the predictability of the story, Kylie Key has crafted a warm, lingering look into the trouble that pain – of all sorts – can cause, and how sometimes you find your path where you least expect it.