.png)
Beyond the Sea: Room Two
- Anna Dunworth
- Mar 8
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 1
Chat by Chapter: End of Chapter 18
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 18. 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 18 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!)
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? (Round 2)
Love him! Relatable.
Hate him! Jerk
It's complicated
Not sure yet! Need more info...
Should Ally forgive Joe for his infidelity?
Yes! They both did wrong.
No! There's no excuse for cheating.
Do you think Joe killed Ally?
Yes, most likely
No, probably not
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 18
Explain your answers to any of the polls
Share your reaction to Ally's pregnancy.
How do you feel about the confrontation between Joe and Ally? Who was right?
Do you think Joe killed Ally?
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!)
This leg of the novel included two of my favorite parts: Ally discovering Joe's infidelity, and Ally learning she is pregnant.
I hate Joe for cheating, but I honestly enjoyed writing their fight. I wanted it to be relatable for anyone who has fought over affairs and tried to include the feelings and language typically heard. My husband helped me with Joe's perspective, checking the dialogue and emotions against what he remembers of being the same age.
The chapter in which Ally takes the pregnancy test speaks to the depth of the friendships often developed in adolescence and early adulthood. Stella picks up on Ally's pregnancy before she does, clouded as she is by depression and denial. Instead of confronting her, Stella gets her the test, writes her the notes, and then gives Ally the privacy to learn the truth on her own.
I also love the cinematic feel of the pregnancy reveal chapter. I enjoy imagining the book playing out like a tv show, and this particular part lent itself well to that.
I definitely did not anticipate that Ally was pregnant- I'm wondering now if that's why she gave up her career dreams. But... if there is/was a baby perhaps that's why their mutual friends cut him off so severely, to protect Ally's secret from him. Also, if she ends up having the baby why keep it from Joe? It's making me wonder if there might be more darkness lying within Joe than we have come to know so far.
That being said, I do not think Joe killed Ally but is being set up for some reason (I have a few theories in the works). My biggest mystery right now is has Ally set him up, or did someone else kill…
I did not see the pregnancy coming! It sounds like it may be the reason she didn’t go to law school. But was it Joe’s baby? And if she kept the baby who is the beneficiary of her life insurance? Not sure how a secret like that is kept from Joe for 10 years if his parents live in the same town as Ally. Makes me want to go to the next chapter!!
Wow, I did not see a pregnancy coming at all! In my previous response, I shared there had to be more behind why Ally and her friends still resent Joe beyond his one night stand, and now it makes much more sense. Finding out it was multiple instances of lying and cheating, changes the context.
At first, I couldn’t believe someone as smart and driven as Ally, would give up her education and career over a college relationship, but adding a pregnancy into the mix makes the situation far more complicated.
Well now Lisa’s, et. al. continued hatred of Joe is beginning to make more sense. Joe may have been a cad, but is he the sole reason for Ally’s aspirations going off the rails? I’m of course curious about the ultimate outcome of Ally’s pregnancy: abortion? adoption? miscarriage? keep the child?
I’m starting to think Joe is being framed, but by whom? And while I was starting to think that Ally was a tragic figure, I’m beginning to wonder . . .
The end of the section was a total shock for me. I did bot see that coming at all. What a twist for me. I can’t imagine that the baby is still in Ally’s life, I feel like there would have been more clues of her/his existance. Her child would be 9 now. Wouldn’t he/she be at the wedding if they were in Ally’s life? I struggled with how harshly Ally’s friends treated Joe, even after all these years, but now it makes more sense to me. Ally endured so much pain. I am amazed at myself and I credit the author with this but I really like both Ally and Joe at this point in the story. I really…