at the end of the day, they all have strengths and weakness. styles which are flowery (i.e. have you prancing round like a ballerina and doing all kinds of funky non-effective but nice too look at moves) are usually pants
go to lots of classes for different styles and try and pick one that you feel most encouraged by. classes with lots of kids might be one to avoid, especially if they are at that age where they are experiencing strange new feelings
i do kung-fu. many different types of it. the one i do has forms, but all the flowery movements have been removed, consequently they look non-impressive but serve more of a purpose now as they are all fighting moves/teaching you how to step quickly and correctly. it also is known for teahing a good foundation to fighting (i.e. something like wing chun has fewer kicks in it)......