Matthew Gobea
asked
Ben Philippe:
I ab-soo-loot-ley LOVED this book! I can honestly relate to Norris as being a witty, "comical" person. And the friends he met along the way, Liam (my favorite), Maddie (also my favorite) and Aarti (whichhhh im kinda mixed with her). But at the ending, it was left off a cliffhanger. I was just wondering if you were planning on making a sequel to this friggin' awesome YA book? Seriously though, I think you should!
Ben Philippe
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[Haha, poor Aarti! A lot of people feel the same way to this day, Matthew. It's entirely my bad, as she was the most challenging character to fully capture through Norris' POV alone...
If I can offer a random Goodreads defense of Aarti... A lot of the Norrises of the world (clever, intelligent, defensive, unsure of how to present themselves to the world) end up coming off like Aartis to outside observers who do not have access to their inner lives.
If you feel constantly judged and required to put on an act, it blurs into your personality a bit. So, Aarti leans into the mystique of being inaccessible, mercurial, and unknowable, a tease, a flirt, and, ultimately, in control -- which is what we all want over our lives.
I can imagine that Aarti spent a lot of time alone, unsure of what to do with herself before stepping into that school every morning -- which armor to put on. Eh, I should have written her better.
But yeah, Liam is still my favorite! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (hide spoiler)]
If I can offer a random Goodreads defense of Aarti... A lot of the Norrises of the world (clever, intelligent, defensive, unsure of how to present themselves to the world) end up coming off like Aartis to outside observers who do not have access to their inner lives.
If you feel constantly judged and required to put on an act, it blurs into your personality a bit. So, Aarti leans into the mystique of being inaccessible, mercurial, and unknowable, a tease, a flirt, and, ultimately, in control -- which is what we all want over our lives.
I can imagine that Aarti spent a lot of time alone, unsure of what to do with herself before stepping into that school every morning -- which armor to put on. Eh, I should have written her better.
But yeah, Liam is still my favorite! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (hide spoiler)]
More Answered Questions
Nate Maxwell
asked
Ben Philippe:
is there any progress on possibly a sequel to the first book of The Field Guide to the North American Teenager, cause the first one was amazing. I like the idea of doing one about Maddie and have Nor as a supporting character and go from where it left off that would be a great story in my eyes?
Adonai Harris
asked
Ben Philippe:
This question contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[
Also, I really loved how you created your characters, Norris, Maddie, Liam, and Felix all had to be my favorite characters, and that all had such depth to them I felt like they were real, and I love how the events occur, and just everything! But if you were to make a sequel, please do it in my lifetime because I am literally praying you create another masterpiece, thank you. But what was you’re favorite part?
(hide spoiler)]
Hannah
asked
Ben Philippe:
Hello! So I just finished Charming as a Verb and promptly went on a Googling rampage about you, which took me to your website and bunch of other stuff. Every time I came across something new, I felt more and more silly and theatrical, (laughing at all the hilarious things on your website, etc) which is just what happened while I was reading your novel. And I HAVE to ask: Where do you get your wonderful humor?
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