Beyond the Sea: Room One

Chat by Chapter: End of Chapter 11

Welcome to the first discussion room for Beyond the Sea! We are so glad you're here.

This room is for readers at the end of Chapter 11. Not there yet? Go back! Spoilers lie ahead.

Did you read further ahead? Come chat, but keep upcoming details to yourself. Anything that comes after Chapter 11 is strictly off-limits! Enter other rooms here.

Anyone can vote in the polls, but you'll have to join the site to leave a comment. It's a quick sign-up that won't result in any emails from me (unless you also sign up for my newsletter). I wish I could leave it free and open, but the bots are just too prevalent for that to work. Thanks for joining!

Intro & Guidelines

Congrats on completing the most complicated part of the Chat by Chapter experience - scanning your QR Code. Now that you're in the room, dive in!

Scroll down for...

• Quick Polls

• Discussion Prompts

• A comment section to share your thoughts and ideas (don't forget to reply to others!)

Click here for more information on Chat by Chapter and how it works.

Guidelines

• Lurk if you must, but it's way more fun if you join in.

• Keep it respectful - Rudeness gets you booted.

• No spoilers! If you've read ahead, save those thoughts for the other rooms.

• Talk to me like we're chatting on the couch over a bottle of wine (the nonalcoholic kind, if you like). Give us your thoughts. Ask us your questions. We want it all... There are no stupid comments in a book discussion. Probably.

Quick Polls

Vote below! Explain your answers in the comments to spark discussion.

How do we feel about Joe?

• Love him! Relatable
• Hate him! Jerk
• It's complicated
• Not sure yet! Need more info

Was Joe justified in cheating?

• Yes!
• Absolutely not.

Are Joe's friends justified in their treatment of Joe in the present-day timeline?

• Yes!
• No way!
• I'm not sure yet.

Discussion Prompts

Open the expandable lists below for prompts to start the discussion. Pick one to answer in a comment. Or, add a new comment with your thoughts on the story thus far. These prompts & sentence starters are suggestions, not requirements.

Beyond the Sea: Chapter 11

• Explain your answers to any of the polls

• Were you surprised that Joe cheated on Ally? Explain.

• Do you believe Joe was justified in cheating on Ally?

• If you were Ally, would you forgive Joe for cheating if you knew about it?

• How does this chapter impact the way you feel about Joe, Ally, or their friends?

• Make a prediction: What happens next?

General Sentence Starters

• I loved this part because...

• I hated this part because...

• I would NEVER...

• This is relatable because...

• I'm predicting that...

• I'm so insert emotion here because...

• I agree with you because...

• I disagree with you because...

• I want to talk about...

• I love character  because...

• I hate character because...

Thoughts From Me (the Author!)

I knew from the beginning that Joe would cheat on Ally, even though he loves her. It was part of the original plot plan, and through the many revisions, was never in danger of being cut.

Young love is famously passionate, often providing life-altering experiences for those lucky enough to experience it. Unfortunately, it also involves young people, who are infamously impulsive and don't always know how to treat one another properly.

Joe and Ally are an embodiment of this, landing in an easy relationship from their early preteen years, as many high school sweethearts do. They grow together, their only experiences with love being those shared, learning every lesson for the first time with one another. Some, like this one, are learned the hard way. It's inevitable.

Did it make you hate Joe? Or did you empathize with him, pushed to the outskirts of Ally's life as it inevitably changed over the years? That's for you to decide.