Second Person Point of View – Write on the World

The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean review: A haunting gothic tale that asks who deserves forgiveness

May 2, 2026April 30, 2026 Mandy Webster

The past doesn’t stay buried in The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean—it claws its way back, dripping with grief and unfinished business. Set against the shadowy sprawl of Hong Kong’s infamous Kowloon Walled City, this Gothic-tinged novel blends folklore, memory, and vengeance into a story that lingers long after the final page. With its May 5, 2026 release, Dean once again proves she’s operating in a space all her own.

Get your copy of The Girl With a Thousand Faces from my independent online bookstore today!

At the center of the novel is Mercy Chan, a woman with no past—or at least none she can remember. Washed ashore with nothing, she builds a life for herself in Kowloon as a ghost talker, mediating between the living and the dead. It’s a fascinating premise, but what makes it work is the texture of Mercy’s world. Despite the grime, the danger, and the ever-present spirits, there’s an unexpected sense of familiarity here—a kind of eerie coziness that settles in as Mercy navigates her routines among the haunted alleyways.

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Finish Writing Your Novel Now!

What is point of view in fiction? | Revise and Refine

September 26, 2024September 16, 2024 Mandy Webster

Point of view (POV) refers to the perspective from which a story is told in fiction writing. It determines whose thoughts, feelings, and experiences are being shared with the reader. Consistent POV in fiction plays a crucial role in shaping the reader’s experience by providing clarity and enhancing immersion in the story.

In third person limited point of view, the reader only knows what the POV character knows. The reader is, in a sense, inside that character’s head and is able to see the view through the character’s eyes. In third person omniscient, the view is more like this one where the reader experiences the character — and everything else in the story — from outside of the character’s head.

On the other hand, inconsistent point of view in fiction can significantly affect the reader’s experience, often in a negative way if not handled with care. It may cause confusion for the reader or create a break in the reader’s suspension of disbelief. Inconsistent POV can also dilute the emotional impact of the story and undermine the reader’s trust in the narrative.

I’ll discuss the importance of maintaining a consistent point of view in your writing in more depth in the next few posts, but for today, let’s talk about what it is. First, there are three primary types of point of view in fiction:

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Writing Basics

Point of view basics: Second person POV in fiction

September 30, 2017October 6, 2017 Mandy Webster

me pointing at a rug on my wall — You: You are but a tapestry on the wall. But, what have you seen? What stories can you tell?

Yesterday we discussed first person point of view. Today, let’s focus on second person. This will be a short conversation as second person POV is not used much in fiction or creative non-fiction. When you do see it, it mostly occurs with characters like Deadpool who are known to occasionally break the fourth wall and speak directly to the audience.

In second person point of view, the narrator speaks to “you,” whether “you” be the reader or another character or even the protagonist. I have only seen this once in recent memory, in N.K. Jemisin’s Hugo Award-winning Broken Earth series. Continue reading “Point of view basics: Second person POV in fiction” →