Making Bad Choices - Rita Stradling

Publisher: Rita Stradling

Published: January 2017

ISBN: 9781540684462

Culter Fuller came back into my life on the day my mother died, as if losing my mother wasn't bad enough.
We hated each other since childhood. Well, I hated him. He had a very different story.
When I moved to my dad's house to finish my last semester of high school, we went from bitter enemies to. . . something else. He was suddenly everywhere, occupying my space, determined to pull me into his life, filling me with thoughts I knew were wrong.
I knew that soon we would cross a line that should never be crossed.
I knew crossing that line could have very serious consequences; because Culter Fuller wasn't just any irresistible boy, Culter Fuller was my stepbrother.
But, I was always very bad at making the right choices.

My review
Well, the blurb and the caution "Recommended 16+ this is a mature YA" made me quite curious. This had to be good. And I a few ways, it was. Rita Stradling describes in an excellent way how Cassie is struggling with her feelings and emotions after burying her mother. After years of taking care of her sick mother, Cassie now moves back in with her father, her stepmother, and her two stepbrothers. 
It must definitely be hard to watch your mother struggle with cancer, chemo's and losing weight. And finally losing the battle. You can feel the grief and despair of Cassie, who had to endure this during her teens. It marks her and that's why she acts differently than most teens. So, that part was very interesting. Culter on the other hand, was a bit less interesting. Oh, definitely interesting in the 'look-at-that-handsome-Full-of-yourself-Fuller' kind of guy. But he is a much less in depth character as Cassie. 
Furthermore, the history of the love-hate relationship between Cassie and Cutler was a bit unclear to me. What happened precisely and why was Cassie still so angry about this? 
However, the story unfolds nicely, with a definite twist in the plot at the end. You don't see that one coming, so that's very nice.
The caution and the bad choices in the book are a bit overrated in my opinion. I've read books where even my ears turned deep pink, but it is not one of those. So just sit back and enjoy this one. Four out of five stars from me. With a thank you for Netgalley for providing the ARC.