Enjoyable without being riveting, Consider the Consequences is a time capsule for modern readers. It is sometimes adorable, sometimes far too serious- I liked it but I did not feel connected to any plot points or characters. A good idea- an acceptable literary offering.

I loved choose-your-own-adventure books as a kid—I had nearly all of them! So I was surprised (and delighted) to learn that this book is actually the one that started it all. I thought it was incredibly clever to apply a reader-driven, branching plot structure to something as universal as dating and marriage.

I read the Kindle version, which made navigation a bit tricky, but I can imagine how much more enjoyable and interactive this would be in a physical copy. The book does feel a bit dated—the tone is more matter-of-fact than emotionally engaging—but I kept reminding myself that it was originally published in the 1930s, which added historical charm.

The story centers around Helen and her two love interests, Jed and Saunders. It was fun exploring the different paths and seeing how choices shaped Helen’s future. I’d love to see a more modern version of this concept—it would absolutely be a hit with today’s readers.

Thank you to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

This book is absolutely delightful.

The first of the "choose your own adventure" type of books, it enlightened the possible life paths of three people: a woman and two men -though the woman has by far the biggest share- in 1930s USA. It is an interesting and charming read, not only because of the possibility, but because in the possibilities given and the results portrayed it gives a very clear picture of the potential paths that people one hundred years ago perceived, and how they thought of it, for good or ill. Helen, the woman, has potential careers that are not discounted, can become a wife of several men, stay at home or leave, and there is in general more choice than what we would think.

I found it a very interesting read, and strongly suggest it to anybody interested in the time period.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for this digital review copy.

This may be the earliest 'choose your own adventure' styled book, so I really wanted to read it and see the beginnings of that literary subgenre. Unfortunately, the overall mood of "Consider the Consequences" was not what I expected. No matter what route you read through (whether it's Helen, Jed, or Saunders), the book's tone is too serious and the same story beats happen every time a new route happens. Every 'bad' decision seems to lead to love affairs, unhappy marriages, bad parental relationships, etc. Had the authors focused on just one character, the book would have been much better.
NOTE: the advanced review copy I read has serious formatting issues, where routes weren't labeled properly (or at all sometimes), and it took a lot of extra work to figure out which paragraph was the correct next step.

This couldn't have been more fun! This was the perfect solution to romance book where the heroine ends up with "the wrong guy". It was so fun to get to play through all different endings! I would highly recommend this to anyone!

This was interesting and fun to read through the different scenarios 📚 thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this copy

I absolutely adored Consider the Consequences. I loved that this book could have both the traditional happy ever after endings along with darker endings (including suicide). I can't wait until the next time I have a gathering with my friends because I will force them all to choose their own adventure using this book. I had so much more fun reading Consider the Consequences than I expected. I highly recommend it!

I'm a big fan of choose-your-own-adventure books so I was excited to try this one out. I am thankful for the maps at the beginning of each chapter as it's not very clear that it's the end if you didn't have that. I started reading the next chapter thinking you were to keep going until it said the end. It was still a cute and fun time, considering it was originally written in the 30s, and I could see reading a book like this, or similar style, would be fun to do around the pool or laid-back time with friends (or by yourself too!).

The reader makes choices to determine the fates of three protagonists in three separate narratives: Helen, Jed and Saunders. The narratives are connected, with overlapping characters.

This has my nomination of book of the year. It kept me entertained and engaged. Will recommend to others.

Supposedly the first ever choose-your-own-adventure book, dating from the 1930s, this is not so much about choosing adventures as it is choosing opportunities. There are three separate sections in it, giving you the opportunity to play the game of life for three people from the same small New England town. Will it be elopement, career, education, affair, divorce, fidelity, remarriage, self-sacrifice, dishonesty, a change of location, a child… etc, etc, etc.

At the end of each possible path, you’re given a moral to the story. This makes it feel more like a didactic work for young people than a game. Mildly amusing if you’re looking for something very much of its time or if you’re interested in seeing the development of a form of fiction that would come into its own many decades later.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for this digital review copy. Note that there was absolutely no formatting or internal links to allow you to actually jump to different parts of the book, so I just had to read it straight through and more or less remember how the paths were shaping up. I can only hope that’s fixed in the final digital version.