Playing Through Every Choices Book, In Order (Part 38: High School Story 1)

Hey! Today we head to high school, and I attempt to deal with how perfect M/C's life is when my high school experience absolutely sucked!

Next time we enter winter quarter at Berry High with a nasty new principal after our old principal was caught doing the nasty!

Link to previous reviews: https://www.reddit.com/user/stresseatingdog/comments/sj3s3m/all_choices_reviews_megapost/

SPOILER WARNING, AS ALWAYS!

High School Story, Book 1

M/C: Lance Valentine

Final LI: Michael

Wish They Were A LI: Brian, Julian, Max

Favorite Chapter: Hearst High Break In

Favorite Character(s): Emma, Maria, Michael, Aiden, Sydney, M/C’s Dad, Principal Hughs

Least Favorite Character(s): N/A

Overall Rating: 10/10

Review:

High School Story was actually the first Pixelberry app I played, so I have a lot of fondness and nostalgia for it, and this series does a great job at making an original experience in the classic Choices format while still maintaining the characters/charm from the HSS app. 5 LI’s is a lot for any book, but this book handles them all really well, and gives you individual scenes with them all. Michael would literally be my dream boyfriend if I were back in high school, and he’s also one of my favorite LI’s in the whole app. All of the characters in general are all so likable. Even the antagonists like Brian, Zoe, Max, and Kara all have things about them that make me like them, and make them tolerable in the long run. You may have noticed that I put Brian, Max, and Julian down as characters I wish were LI’s, and you may be wondering…why on earth would you want that? Well, I just think Brian’s sprite is cute, and I honestly wish there was an enemies to lovers type thing with him, which would also (spoiler alert) prevent him from becoming the total freaking creep he becomes in later books. As for Max and Julian, they were romanceable in the HSS app through the Fantasy Photo Booth, and I kind of wish Pixelberry would have released single-chapter installments of a “Fantasy Photo Booth” side story for this series, where you could romance the HSS characters like Julian, Payton, Autumn, Wes, Nishan, etc. It could have worked similar to those single-chapter premium books that accompanied The Freshman (Chris: The Perfect Date, for example), and it could have been great fan-service. But no, I just have to watch my beloved Julian pine for Autumn (which, to be fair, he did in the OG app even if you were dating him). However, that’s just a personal request. All in all, I still adore this series with all my heart, and this first book is no exception! Also, I have to mention that its GOC, which puts it far above The Freshman series in my heart.

Side Note: This series is one of the very few to have no sex scenes, the "dirty thirties" being far more tame (makeout sessions at most). You know what? I'm glad. This book does have an underage M/C, as well as all of the LI's being underage too. Just thought I'd put this here as an interesting fact, and I'll mention it again when we get to the few other series that have no sex scenes.

Side Side Note: I am in no way suggesting that Brian as he is in canon is someone I’d like to be a LI. When I said I wanted him as a LI, I only meant if he underwent thorough, complete redemption. Sorry if I came across as condoning his actions!