A Look at Stones

By Rebecca H.

            I had been an avid YouTube surfer for years, subscribed to several famous ones. I watch their videos religiously. One of my favorites is Onision; a vlogger and comedian. When I'd heard the news that he'd self-published a novel, Stones to Abbigale, I spent ten dollars on the book on Amazon. Unfortunately, I'll never get those ten dollars back. Onision, born as Gregory Jackson, wrote the book in the perspective of James. The story is about a better version of Gregory and was based off of actual events in his life, such as losing a best friend, finding his first love, and having a mother with several boyfriends.

            Stones to Abbigale is the kind of story you would find by going online and searching for a fanfiction. I love Onision with all my heart and I give him a lot of credit for writing a novel, though I wish he hadn't. If Gregory had put more time and thought into it, maybe it would be good. Reading the first paragraph, I wondered if Gregory had read through it a few times before actually going onto the second one. He tells his readers how he would wake up on his own, his alarm clock not working correctly and sitting there with no purpose, then immediately jumps to how he met Abbigale that day. We later find out that James and Abbigale had been in the same art class the entire year.

            The format of this book is confusing as well. The paragraphs are split into sections, not indentations.  There is no way to tell text from dialogue or anything, which would throw off a reader. Gregory should have paid more attention to how he set up the book.

            In the acknowledgements, it says that his wife, Lainey, had edited the book for him rather than an actual editor. Being a YouTuber with thousands of subscribers, Gregory is paid for what he does. He surely would've had the money to have someone edit his work, even if he did want to self-publish it.

            There was little to no character development within the entirety of the book. James had remained the same throughout the entire story, as did every other character. Abbigale did come to James in her time of need and allowed herself to fall in love with him, which would be some kind of development. Everything about the process was cliché, though, and could have been written so much better.

            All in all, this book is not worth the few days it would take to read it. I realized, after reading, format does matter, as does character development. If you were to read it, it is available to purchase on Amazon.com.

Stones to Abbigale, by Onision, self-published, 2014, 115 pages