James Rallison

Representation: Side Black and Asian characters
Trigger warnings: Explosions
Score: Six points out of ten.

This was a new arrival at one of the two libraries I regularly visit, and I wanted to read this, so I picked it up and read it swiftly. When I finished it, I had mixed thoughts. On the one hand, this was an enjoyable-to-read anthology of five stories; on the other, it was tedious to read, and the book was so far removed from the original YouTube channel I knew. The first part starts with the main character, James Rallison, or James for short, and he wanted a vertical waterslide out of all things, so he signs a contract with another person. That didn't go to plan. The other characters are new to me, since I haven't watched the show, so it wasn't that clear in terms of who they are. The second part is about a loudspeaker (Yes. Really.) forbidding James to do a rant so instead he convinces everyone to wear headphones so they can listen to them instead. Of course, the ending is unexpected, as I saw with the next three stories. To summarise, the third part is about birthdays, the fourth about a living bacteria and the final one is about James' impending death. After all that, it was supposed to be funny. I didn't laugh.… (mehr)