Bookappisodes
by L. Boddez and L. Fernandes
Published online at Bookappisodes.com
I've been doing a new feature called My Indie Inbox in which I take all the indie book review requests that come into my inbox and see if the authors want to be part of a reader vote-off.
The most recent winner of My Indie Inbox wasn't a book, but an online serial story in which readers can vote each week on key plot points.
So I went online and caught up on the first season of Bookappisodes. Montecito is an NA-ish story about a young college student whose whole life changed when her mom married a rich guy. Now she's living in a mansion in Montecito, California with a new stepsister.
It's hard to review Montecito like a book, because it's not exactly like one. It feels like part NA, part soap opera, part crowdsourced story. There are secrets, blackmail, villains and more. Each week a new episode is released, a piece of the story that ends with a yes/no question for readers to vote on. If you join the site (free) you're able to vote and comment on that installment. Then the following week, you find out what turn the story takes.
I think Bookappisodes has a fun, interactive concept. By signing up for the site, you receive an email each week notifying you that a new episode is up and ready to read. The only downside to me -- and this could be a result of the fact that the writers have to crank out the episodes in short time -- is that the writing is pretty basic and heavily plot driven.
A new season of Montecito is starting up tomorrow, September 13, so if you're interested in trying it out, head over to the website and take a look!
Interesting concept. I'd like to check it out :) Hopefully, I'll find the time for it too!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if Bookappisodes is for me. I can't stand serials because they are like tiny excerpts randomly handed to you over time. I need a whole story to read from start to finish or I forget what I was reading my the time the next snippet comes out. I love the idea of this though. I may have to try a little bit harder to get into serials.
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