Let’s Talk Bookish: Swapping Lives With a Fictional Character

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme that was originally created and hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books starting in August 2019, and was then cohosted with Dani @ Literary Lion from May 2020 to March 2022. Book Nook Bits has hosted since April 2022.

Oh, this is a tricky one, isn’t it? I feel like there’s a lot of worlds out there I’d love to live in, but then…they’re usually quite dangerous, aren’t they? Of course, this doesn’t apply to (all) romances, but even then I wonder if I’d fully swap lives with them – I feel like if I had the opportunity, it would be a little wasted to just, live a slightly different life in the same world. Hmm.

Let’s Talk Bookish July 26th:
Swapping Lives With a Fictional Character
(Ashleigh @ The Story Review)

  Prompts: Imagine you’ve been given the ability to swap lives with any fictional book character for a week, but during that week, the character will also be living your life and making decisions for you. Who would you swap with, and why? Who would you not want to swap with?

The thing that makes this tricky is also knowing the character will live my life, in return – who would I trust to at least keep things ticking along and not explode my life before I return? There’s also the factor of, well, yes, I would like to experience Regency balls and society for a week, but could I actually handle that? And I can just imagine my poor partner trying to explain to some Regency woman about the internet and phones and modern life and yes, we-live-together-but-are-not-married-that’s-normal-now.

I also don’t want to go somewhere where there’s too much danger – I’m not looking to get killed during that week! Maybe Viv in Bookshops & Bonedust, but specifically during a quiet week in Murk, while Viv is still recovering and before things really escalate in the otherwise sleepy town! I don’t think I’d do too good a job of going up against a necromancer, but working in a bookshop in a fantasy second world? Sign me up! And I would trust Viv not to make a total mess of my own life – though could I have advance warning so I can book some annual leave, please? I wouldn’t want to put Viv through that!

I’d also feel pretty confident in swapping lives with Bea Fitzgerald’s version of Persephone in Girl, Goddess, Queen. She’d do a good job, I think, and I’d probably come back to an organised life and a promotion. I also fully trust this version of Hades to keep me totally safe, too. And I’d get to explore the Underworld – win, win!

I’d would definitely not want to swap with Gloria in The Supreme Lie – I am not a good liar at all, and I’d probably have her uncovered and killed within days! And pretty much any character in any horror novel – I love reading them, but experiencing them? Not so much! Maybe I could be convinced to swap with someone in a Urban Fantasy or Paranormal Romance, but only if there’s a vampire/werewolf/some other strong being waiting on the other side who could protect me.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Who would you pick to swap lives with, and who would be at the bottom of your list?