When reading a book, do you ever say to yourself, “I would never do what such-and-such character just did!” or “why on earth did they do that?” or “oh, if I were in that situation, I’d do it completely differently!”

In case you couldn’t tell, this was a rhetorical question, because I think I can safely assume that the answer for everyone is yes.

Yes, we’ve all imagined ourselves in the place of characters in the story. We’ve all pictured ourselves in their shoes, and we’ve all considered those ‘what if’ questions about how our presence might change the events of the book. If you ask me, these endless possibilities are a large part of what makes reading so fun.

But what if it were the other way around? What if instead of it being our normal, mundane lives influencing the story, we allowed the events of the story to affect our normal, mundane lives?

Thus is born the premise of Classic Alice, a fictional YouTube webseries chronicling the life of Alice Rackham (played by Kate Hackett) as a documentary film project for her friend (?) Andrew (played by Tony Noto). Alice is a college student and aspiring writer who—after receiving a bad grade on a writing assignment—makes a vow to live her life according to classic literature.

Yes, readers, classic literature—and I’m not talking Jane Austen romance here, where everything turns out mostly okay in the end. Thus far, the protagonist of Classic Alice has chosen a diverse, even eclectic range of stories, starting with Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment and most recently covering A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Other literature that has made an appearance in the series includes Pygmalion, The Butterfly, Rip Van Winkle, Macbeth and more. In fact, the only real commonality in Alice’s story choices is that they all contain some pretty bleak plot points—criminal activity, betrayal, corruption and…let’s see…what was that last one again?

Oh yeah. Death.

I’m looking at you, Shakespeare.

In short, none of these books are what you would really want to base your life around—yet that is exactly what Alice does. Voluntarily.

Cue the dramatic irony.

While the conflicts that Alice faces pale in comparison to what actually happens in the literary works, there are nevertheless plenty of twists—not to mention humor!—that will leave you wanting more from this series. The different plotlines are woven seamlessly together, and the characters are all excellently portrayed. I guarantee that you’ll love the banter between Alice and Andrew, and I’ll eat my hat if you don’t absolutely adore Alice’s best friend and roommate, Cara (played by Elise Cantu). You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll sigh, you’ll gasp, you’ll run the whole gambit of emotions…and then you’ll move on to episode 2. This series is such fun that it’s almost enough to make me want to take Alice’s vow myself.

Almost.

If you’ve been enjoying Classic Alice from the beginning or you’ve just started watching and think it’s pretty cool, be sure to check out their IndieGogo campaign to extend the series. It ends March 6th and they are only half way to their goal! If you can’t afford to donate, just take the time to share it!