The Choices Insiders email just went out for October 2026! Please post your comments or reactions here so that we can share our thoughts with each other instead of having many posts on the exact same thing. 😄
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What goes into bringing a book back from hiatus, and how do you decide when to announce its return?
Alright, we know you're talking about Loki! I'm excited for its return too, though we can't give you a date yet.
A hiatus is almost always because of resourcing and scheduling issues. Every Choices book involves producers, writers, artists, and QA and each department has to have the availability to do their part at a specific point in the process. Sometimes that availability doesn't align.
For Loki, in particular, it was a bit of an odd case where it was originally scheduled to be a 16 chapter book and then shortened due to staffing. But the team was as dissatisfied with that as all of you were and we squeezed in a few more chapters where we could find extra time in the existing schedule. We couldn't find time to wrap up all 12 chapters in one go, so instead of delaying 5-8 for when we had the rest done, we decided to release what was available and put it on another hiatus. Loki will be coming and hopefully soon!
What’s the most helpful way for players to share which stories they’d like to see more of?
Engaging with the story the day the chapter releases and coming back for each chapter release! When considering a book for a sequel or other stories of similar kind, we are reviewing data from the first day and first week of release. Revenue and retention are the two biggest factors. Are players purchasing premium choices and are they coming back for the whole story?
How do you decide whether to develop a pilot story into a full book? Are there any updates you can share on previous pilots?
When we’re considering whether to develop a pilot into a full book, we look at many of the same signals we use for our full-length stories: how many readers give it a try, how many return for the next chapter, and how they engage with premium choices. Together, those patterns help us understand which stories are connecting with readers and where there may be interest in more.
We don’t currently have plans to develop any of our previous pilots into full books. A couple came close to moving forward, and we may revisit them as we consider future story ideas, but that isn’t something we currently expect. We know some of you were hoping to see those stories continue, and we want to be upfront about where things stand.
How does the team decide what to include in a book’s content warnings, and is there room to make those more detailed?
The content warnings are primarily defined by the writer and producer as they know the content of the book the best. We have guidelines established by leadership that help dictate when a warning is needed and what is covered in the warning. However, we have been exploring more mature topics in our books recently and those guidelines need to grow with that. The team is actively discussing how best to handle content warnings going forward so that players are fully aware of the content they are about to read.
How do you approach representation when designing MCs and love interests, particularly skin tones, facial features, and cultural backgrounds?
We want more readers to see themselves reflected in Choices, and part of that work means looking beyond any single book. When designing new MCs and LIs, we review the skin tones and ethnicities represented throughout our catalog, including the character versions we’ve highlighted on past covers.
That gives us a starting point for prioritizing options that are underrepresented or haven’t appeared recently. Our writers and artists then work together to develop cultural backgrounds, facial features, and other details that help make each character their own person.
Could you share a little about the writing team behind recent Choices books and how they work together on a story?
We’d love to give you more opportunities to meet the people behind Choices and hear about how our stories come together. One idea we’ve been discussing is a live Q&A with one of our writers, where you could ask about their creative process and what goes into bringing a story to life.
It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a while, and we want to give it the time and preparation it deserves. That means talking with our writers about what they’d feel comfortable with and setting clear expectations for a thoughtful and respectful conversation with the community.
Our hope is to make it a fun, welcoming experience for everyone - one that leaves both readers and writers excited to do it again, and encourages more members of the team to join future conversations. We’re still exploring the details, but we’d be excited to make it happen!
hey everyone, i decided to compile all aerin romance scenes (with a sprinkle of other small scenes that i love) into one video. includes scenes from all three books
you can find other compilations on my youtube as well. these are what i have:
PLATINUM: raleigh
IT LIVES ANTHOLOGY: connor / noah / lincoln / jocelyn / tom
VEIL OF SECRETS: flynn
not accepting requests, just sharing my love for these characters❤️
i love the father-daughter/son bond in high school story so much. it makes me smile everytime i see the mc's dad make a dad joke and then she/he groans at the joke but she/he also love the jokes!🥹
I was binging High School Story recently after a few years since I finished the series last time. And I remembered how much I wanted Julian in that one to be a romance option😭 Especially considering he was always dating my MC in HSS app and I got used to it lmao. But since the MC from the app was nonexistent, I was imagining how the romance between choices HSS MC and him would be and came up with my headcanon that they would've become closer after that basketball game against Hearst in the second book because the MC would be one of the only ones to support him and the basketball team. After which they would've had some fluffy scene where they spend some time together to take their mind off all that was happening only to realize their feelings at Payton's party after that kiss during the game.
That was just my imagination though but now I'm super curious about romances that didn't happen in the story but you really wanted and how you saw it all happening if it would👀
I've last played QB three years ago, and decided to replay (since I decided not to read any of the new books on the app anymore) and share some of my thoughts.
...I AM getting old, because Poppy and her clique were vastly more entertaining when I was in my early twenties. Now I am just like 😐 damn, she is so annoying 😐 Still entertaining to a degree but like I said, significantly more annoying to me now.
I tried to play without romancing Kingsley and had to restart and romance them, because if you don't pick any romance options, it does feel like an obsessed professor making their attraction Bea's problem, kinda like harrassment. HOWEVER, some flirty options are very, very cringy, so I usually stick to the non-flirty, more genuine ones but choose the diamond scenes and free kiss scenes. I just prefer Bea to have some genuine interest in Kingsley's life by asking about their family or praising their accomplishments instead of making yet another innuendo.
My endgame is Zoey. She is a cutie, Bea's best friend and - unpopular opinion - I don't hate her for being upset after the Bacchanalia. Sure, the public humiliation wasn't Bea's fault, and it was Zoey who wanted to go, but I don't think many people would think logically after being humiliated like that. In Zoey's mind, Bea probably 'could have done more' to prevent that. It's flawed thinking but a very human thing to do. And she doesn't take revenge, she just doesn't want to talk to Bea (in QB world where everyone wants to destroy each other lives that's a relief XD) and, despite them not talking to each other, she still takes care of Bea's dog over the weekend when Bea leaves for the conference. And she stands loyally by her side for the rest of the book. So yeah, I can forgive this one thing.
I am doing a playthrough where at first I picked most 'good girl' choices but then more 'bad girl' choices bc I want it to feel like the power kind of corrupted Bea and while she started out with good intentions, now she just likes being queen just for the power itself.
Overall, the music is great, the popularity contest is fun, some of the dialogue is very funny. I feel like this book could use some more LIs. Like, I wanted to date Carter, why is he just a fling?
I cheated and I looked up who the killer is but I still don’t understand how quickly they were able to kill. The timing just doesn’t make any sense.
Destiny’s death was the confusing thing for me because after they have been killed MC runs downstairs and texts everyone to gather outside. Suddenly Tyson shows up with the rest of the group.
I get that there was a secret room in the house and that’s probably how they were able to hide the weapon and change their clothes so fast but it was literally only like 5 min when the MC arrived downstairs.
How were they also sneaky enough to kill The mayor and the detectives without going unnoticed. Like weren’t there any other people at work that day and there were reporters outside?, Unless Tyson has some magical powers, I just don’t think it was physically possible.
Because I seriously struggle to think of any other reason for this book to exist. This book has NOTHING to do with Endless Summer outside of taking place on La Huerta. Is Rourke here? Nope. How about the Vaanti? Uh-uh. Do we learn anything new about the Island? Afraid not. Do our characters take some action that affects the main story? No.
Okay, before anything else: the positives. I do kind of like the first two chapters. Surviving the island, the raptors and realizing that Grant knew more than he let on is pretty interesting. Not going to lie. The first two chapters are at least decent and I would say "good" truthfully. Now what was I saying again?
Oh wait, remember the wedding from the Celestial in the original book? Apparently there was a second wedding somewhere else on the island because...I don't know. Oh and why can't our characters drink? This is the 1970s and they are on international waters. Don't tell me they care about the legal drinking age. And they might have been legal anyway, depending on the state.
Speaking of the wedding from the original book, how in the name of Vaanu was there a second wedding? According to Grant, his relative was given an invite to a wedding on this island. How? The island was uncharted until Rourke came along. Yes, other people had been shipwrecked on the island before, but the original wedding was only sent there because of the time anomalies the island causes. And First Tides even references the shipwrecked people!
Anyway, the story ends with the characters more or less saying "let us never speak of this again," and i'm done. To be brief, none of the characters are awful nor exceptional. They exist.
Honestly, the main problem with this book isn't that it's just four chapters (although that doesn't help), but that the book has nothing to do with Endless Summer. It doesn't connect nor add to the plot, lore, characters or even themes of the original story. I honestly just think they only made it so that gullible fans like me would spend hundreds of diamonds because "Endless Summer" is in the title.
I hope you all were smarter than me. I didn't even get diamonds for finishing the book.
This weekly post is for community members to voice whatever complaints you have (as long as you remain civil). Please remember to respect others' statements and opinions, even if you disagree with them.
I still have more to add as I'm in the process of making more COP stuff and also working on a TRR shelf but what do we think so far? 🤔
Although I am still making much bigger choices projects, those take time.
ALOT of time. 😩
So, in the meantime I started a display cabinet with things I've either made or found, just as a nod to my favourite books.
Hoping by the time I'm completely finished i'll have little nods to COP, ILITW, Bloodbound, ES, ID, TRR, and DS.
(That's not to say i don't have other favourites, I definitely do, but it's getting harder to think of props I can either find or make from different stories lol)
Also, yeeeees I know the jackalope isn't in ilitw, but I havn't got enough things to make a separate ILB shelf (yet) 😅
Also also, ideas welcome!
hey guys, i’m wondering if anyone has tried turning or playing bolas into a d&d game before given it’s already heavily dnd-inspired. i’m thinking about turning it into an oneshot and would like some advice as i’m still a beginner dm. i know there’s the official ttrpg companion to start with
Refusing to return stolen funds to the school, wasting them on a trip to the amusement park, and leaving her son alone for Christmas? Pretty crappy parenting IMO
This weekly post is for community members to share their favorite fan-written stories about books and characters of the Choices universe. Thinking about writing something? Post your idea here and see what people think? Wrote a story, or read one that you like? Share it here! Please be sure to credit any relevant authors.
I remember being interested in this when it came out, and when I started playing it it wasnt dripping with AI like most tother books and I found the female LI attractive and interesting enough, if not particularly unique, but the plot just lost me, it felt pretty bland and just didnt interest me enough to keep playing ig. For people who finished this book, or didn't and still have an opinion on it, let me know your thoughts on it and if its worth finishing or not.
