I'm still recommending it to people who are looking for a book that will make them feel something. It sticks with you when you're done too

I am not in a reading slump anymore! It did take a while, though. I had a lot of personal life stress that made it so I couldn't really focus on fictional worlds and by not reading for joy it made the personal life stress harder to manage but I'm reading a LOT now. I went from 1-4 books in a month to 1-3 in a week. I finished 13 books last month. (Several audiobooks) I definitely think the love this book has is not unwarranted, the sheer number of people who recommend it it feels like it has to be up there but it just didn't fit what I needed from it when I read it. I hope you enjoy lit when you get around to it! I might give it another whirl in a year or so so I can forget what happened and see if a different head space makes a better experience

@SammiShane oh okay. Well good luck with that and glad to see you reading. Hope someday that I can digest literature at a pace like yours but I'm enjoying the ride. 👍🏿

Enjoying the ride is what it's all about!!

Adding it to my list! Thank you!

I definitely may have picked up a copy at the store and read the acknowledgements then put the book back on the shelf. It definitely feels more like it's a fictionalized memoir more than an independent fictional story. Nothing wrong with that I just consider the writing of memoirs and fiction novels very differently

Well they’re still talking about a book though aren’t they? I don’t understand the obsession with wanting to force random KZbinrs to talk about their opinions on global world events on a public forum. If people don’t want to talk about something horrific going on in the world on their KZbin channel meant for other things then there is nothing wrong with that. Lots of people watch these videos for the content they are used to which in this case is books, not to hear more of the same stuff they can hear in the news and on dedicated KZbin channels that cover it.

I'm talking about it because I think it's important. Some things are bigger than one person's peace on their platform, especially when a lot of the people who are making videos and entertaining the masses are helping keep the general public's attention off of the terrible things their governments are funding. I genuinely don't think you should have to force someone to speak up about it or to care, I want people who watch my videos to know that I do care and have been caring this whole time. I've been supporting fundraisers, I've been going to protests, I've been reaching out to my representatives and literally begging for ANYTHING. I've been doing what little I have in my power in real life to try and force something to change. But I also have this small platform and I'm not going to pretend to be something I'm not on it because "youtubers don't have to talk about politics". It's not politics. It's people's lives. And people's lives shouldn't be political... but here we are.

Thank you for watching and commenting!

Thank you so much!! 💓 💓

I definitely felt that, but I don't think I attributed it to a time zone type of situation consciously while I was reading.

That's wild! I definitely would have thought that the order of reading them would have made a bigger impact on the individual experience of the story.

I know that there are people who are enjoying it... in my head, I know... and honestly, I'm glad that there are fans who are enjoying it, even when I can't. I think it goes along with the fact that I can't really engage with movies or TV without accidentally putting on my college-education-hat that makes it so difficult for me to just try to enjoy the show when I know that they didn't take the bare minimum steps to make sure that it was as good as it could be. I'm intrigued by the fact that they're giving more screen time to the fire nation, I've seen clips of the funeral scene for Lu Ten that really drew me in but I'm just concerned about the navigation of the other core elements of the story from a narrative perspective. I genuinely can't remember the last movie or TV show that I watched and just experienced as a viewer without having film-school-critiques at the end of it (against my will more often than not). I can't turn that off and the cartoon is doing so many things well that even when I DO have those critiques (and I have many...) it's outweighed by the attention to detail and intention behind the choices even if they aren't carried out in the most effective way.

The hard part is navigating keeping your reader in the know and not over explaining to your characters in the world.

Amazing! I desperately want so many more people to read this book! Tell me what you think about it when you're done 🙂

She did great!!! Thanks for the hookup, @havelah!

It certainly takes a LOT to get into. The reason I was drawn to it was because I like the idea of a school in a world with magic systems. And a lot of the summaries out there don't point out the whole Main-Character-is-the-fantasy-version-of-a-white-supremacist-at-the-beginning... So I definitely felt like that was an important thing to point out. I certainly have no intention of mimicking the parts of this story that are hugely off putting but those are still inspiring in a way to make sure that I'm NOT doing those things in my own book.

I think a self insert is kinda like seasoning. You don't want to use TOO much otherwise it'll be overpowering and the only thing you notice, but if you use the right amount, it makes a well rounded final product. And everyone should know at least a handful of people that they can pull influence from that don't have to be just their one personal self, there's plenty to mix together.

true that @@SammiShane

I hope you like it when you do!

So shockingly rewarding! Hit me with a gamified goal and I'm THRIVING I guess 😅

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one interested! If you pick it up you should definitely come back and let me know what you think of it

Oooh! I didn't realize there's a such thing as foam tape! Once I run out of foam board that'll be my next method for sure. Unless i can come up with something to use the foam board for before I run out of the ones I've already made

I completely agree that authors should share aspects of themselves with their characters, I actually made a video about self inserts right after this one because I was intrigued with the degree to which an author should put themselves in the characters. I think that every character in a story should have at least a little bit of the author in it because that's where your source materials come from, but I also think that your main character shouldn't just be YOU (or an idealized version of you). I also read The Otherworld and think that character has MUCH less to do with Abbie than Tessa does. Tessa has the same interests, the same education style background, and a very similar voice-- which I think is highlighted in Abbie doing the audiobook for 100dos and having a cast for The Otherworld. I would say with full confidence that Orca only has homeschooling in common with Abbie (from what she's put out on the internet about herself) and even then, a VERY different form of it. I definitely think Abbie has grown a lot in her leading character development from her first two books. I think that every main character---unless you're writing a memoir---should be NOT yourself. So while the character has some aspects of you- the writer, it should be someone else's POV. I think it creates more interesting, unique characters, and gives more opportunity for development in a way that perhaps the writer hasn't personally had the same motivations to grow in. And my opinion isn't the ~word of god for writing~, it's just where I stand as a reader/writer.

...thank you?

Definitely has the EXACT right vibes

Totally fair. I don't think that every book is for every person. There are A LOT of books I've read that are super popular that just do not give me anything to work with. I think this one has to do a lot with feeling connected to the character in some way. Like I've moved across the country a couple times now and I relate to the distance that she has from others because I feel like I run into the same problems but from a different background. If you can't relate to her and want to see her succeed then that's honestly great for you. Its a very real life centric story and some people like their fiction to be BIGGER than real life, I often prefer books with bigger plots/characters/worlds as well. If you're reading for fun you shouldn't have to work for it so sometimes you have to DNF a book.

I can't say it will work perfectly 100% of the time, but I do think shuffling can provide some unique insights into your characters/world/arc. I wouldn't mix scenes up at random but if there are some scenes that could tie together well, or juxtapose nicely, who's to say that they don't belong next to each other? It'd be an interesting exercise anyway, even if it's not the final product.

I think thats exactly how you should fix it. You have to write what you know but you don't ONLY know you right? So why not mix and shuffle your traits with others' and see what that makes in the long run.

You know, I'm not actually sure! I've never been a good artist so I never really thought about the process behind writing a comic book or a manga. I'd imagine the drafting process would be similar, structurally you would have the visual aspects written out and dialogue separate but I don't know how strict it would be, the way that screenplays are very reliant on their structure/formatting... Very interesting question!

@@SammiShane Yes, I also though the same and I want to write it and draw it actually because it is in my mind moving, I can't write a novel, soo I'd try to write it the same way and wait if you have any other thoughts!

I am a big hand-written-process person. It's really refreshing to figure out that part of the process! Like yes, I can just start writing, it just has to be on paper because there is none of the "blank document paralysis" that I get when I'm on the computer. You get the joy of the process and the tangible notebook to look back on as you continue through the process 😍