Freeze (The Jewel Project #4)

Fun facts

I'm going to give you a fair warning since you're here and probably want to continue the series (why else read four books, right?). This book is a bit of a breaking point. Why is that? Because book 5 takes place three years from now.

Yes, you read right. There is going to be a three year time skip. Which will mean a passage from YA adventure to NA adventure which opens up a whole different can of worms / issues.

So given that, here is a bit of a recap regarding the evolution of the plot and characters until now. Some of the things you may have noticed/I have mentioned before, some may be new.

Here we go.

🔸️I don't know how many of you have noticed this, but there's an evolution in the way Sam speaks. In TY, he wouldn't even be using damn (darn instead) and his worse swear word was crap baskets 😂 As the series progresses, his mouth grows dirtier. This is a little trick I've learned as an adult. The bigger the stress, the more you tend to cuss just to release some of the tension.

🔸️The above sort of applies to Jerry, too, even if he has just graduated from darn to damn and hasn't even considered the f word. Jerry shows another thing I've learned. The more the stress, the more you tend to start ignoring things that don't affect you directly and cut toxic people out of your life.

🔸️Tom's jealousy. I cannot stress enough how out of control it is and how unhealthy. So far, he's lucky Angie didn't give him much reason to threat. At least he has those ridiculous standards for himself as well.

🔸️Tom and Jimmy still have trouble fitting into the family. They're only truly comfortable around their brothers. Every new relative puts them off a bit because they still feel disappointed with their parents. As you've probably deduced by now, Maxi and Fredier chose the on-the-go approach and treat them the same as the others without making a big deal out of it. They should have. Jimmy at least hasn't connected to his parents at all.

🔸️Speaking of Maxi and Freider, their level of denial had reached crazy levels until it fell there at the end. They both simply refused to think about the whole Snitch Gravel situation and treated everything as a fluke. Of course, Snitch Gravel was right and they're secretly scared out of their minds. They're also very unfit to own up to what they've caused.

🔸️Ah, Snitch Gravel... He kinda lost it there at the end. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but his slips are increasing with time. First having the free conversation with Tom which he then fixed by torture. Then being weak in front of Kay which led to a mere death threat. Now this thing with Sam. It was his frustration showing that he couldn't figure his own shit out. He's supposed to want to kill them but he likes talking to them and... This was just one of his kill them moods coming out. He's actually afraid he's botching his revenge because of feelings.

🔸️There has been a steady evolution of the effects of the serum. From weird strength and healing to blacking out and letting something else take over. It became obvious it works pretty much the same for Jimmy except one little difference. It's much easier for him to control, but it numbs some of his feelings. In terms of what the serum was created to do, Jimmy is the success story. Kyle is pretty much an anomaly in every way.

🔸️This is the place Jessie finally abandons herself to her new life and leaves behind the old. He was a little scared this wouldn't last which was why she'd been a little withdrawn from Jimmy. The strength of her feelings for him and how fast everything happened scared her. But she did accept her platonic love for everyone else, especially Kyle, much easier.

🔸️I'm going to raise the issue of Christine and admit that I like her in this book. She proves she can be hardass. Minus points for her for being able to and not doing it. This being said, I have a lot in store for her.

🔸️Tina. Yes, I know most didn't know her well until now, but this was always her. Silent and judgemental, always the ignored one, living too much inside her own head. She's not a bad guy. She's a girl who has suffered a lot and comes with a whole lot of baggage. Unfortunately, Jerry is an innocent little flower and couldn't handle that.

🔸️Billy. He's that friend who always has a smile on their face and not a care in the world but is nothing but darkness inside. I think some of that came out in this book. Deep inside, Billy has feelings of abandonment and inadequacy. Shortly, Jimmy was a dick to him. His story is still left untold.

🔸️ William and Ron will make a comeback. I haven't forgotten about them and they do each play their roles in the plot.

🔸️Isn't it convenient how the agency is always just a few minutes late? 😑 Poor Herrison has a lot of pieces to pick up.

Fun facts:

🔹️The plot points in this draft haven't changed much from the previous one. The most important addition was switching up Steve for Billy. Why? Because you probably can't even remember who Steve is. That's why 😂

🔹️No, wait, I'm lying. The biggest change is Tina and Jerry breaking up. In the original draft, they didn't. In the original draft all the fighting was over Jessie and Kyle was not involved. Tina wound up being nicer and everything was okay. Needless to say, in the previous version Tina and Jerry were endgame.

🔹️The first draft of this had 250k words. I think I cut it down to about 170k (not sure since the last parts are only on wattpad), but the 250k included book 4.5 as well. I think 4.5 will be a bit bigger this time around if we're to transition smoothly into book 5.

🔹️I'm officially out of pre written material. We're winging it together from here on out.

🔹️I'm oddly proud of the name Mizrelle 😅

🔹️The whole frozen lake scene with Kyle and Kay came to me in a dream.

🔹️ The climax to this was the biggest, most complex action sequence I've ever written so I really hope it worked.

🔹️ I love for trippy dreams so of course Sam's mean SO much.

Thanks for reading. If you see this updating again, it is probably because I'm putting book 4.5 up (unless I decide to make a separate book).

Cheers!