Labeth Midori

“Ah, Liam O’Brien is so fun as Lloyd.”

“Oh, Travis Willingham is here too.”

“What?! Laura Bailey’s in this as Rakshata?!”

“Are there any other Critical Role cast members in this show?!”

Checks & finds Sam Reigel is Clovis.

Telemarketing - Telemachus

Miscellaneous - Menelaus

Now, I’d been looking forward to Shadow Reaper since it was first announced & I was really excited to get to go to the book launch especially since I’d missed the launch for Wandering Wild (btw loved that book).

But, as I listened to the interview, I started to have doubts. This gnawing feeling in my gut that I was going to be disappointed in this book. (Perhaps if I’d actually kept up the author’s social media posts about the book, I would’ve thought known better.) And a big WTF moment at the launch happened when I learnt the author had been told to cut a supporting female character because editors said there were “too many strong female characters in the story already.” Again, WTF! Also, this character was replaced by a male character who hated the female lead for stupid reasons (hating someone who has done nothing to you just because their parents messed up in the past is idiotic).

I was hoping for something like The Medoran Chronicles, the series that got me into Noni’s work and whisked me into a fantastical world with characters I loved. That is not what I got.

Viri the lead was just a “meh” character. She would do stupid things because it would make the plot dramatic. Though I can’t blame all her poor decisions on her. Half the time bad things happen because other characters go “oh you won’t believe us” or “we don’t have time explain it”.

Reese, no sorry Reeve (the love interest) does this so much it’s not even funny. And if me mixing up his name didn’t give it away, this guy just felt like a reskinned Rhysand, complete with the same physical description.

The supporting characters were a mixed bag, some I didn’t really care about, others I wanted to see more of instead of the main characters. Wynter (Viri’s best friend) was one such character. She’s secretly studying alchemy, a forbidden form of magic that she has to keep secret from her mother & only her best friends know the truth. I wanted to see way more of what she was up to over Viri or Reeve.

And I need to gripe about Jessalyn, a character who’s meant to be nearly 14 but written & treated by other characters like she’s 10 or younger. Her character didn’t even need to be 14, so why not just make her 10?

The magic didn’t feel that complicated but it felt like the book was trying to over complicate things with over explanations.

The romance was not engaging. I would often skim read those sections. And I hate saying that because I love a fun romantic subplot, but this one was not fun.

The only interesting thing about this book was the plot twists, but that’s all I was reading it for. When I read, I want to be thinking “Ooh, I can’t wait to see what happens next” not “Ok, what’s the next plot twist.”

• Duologies - Nearly everything is a goddamn duology & they always feel like 1 book that’s been split in two. So the first book never feels like it ends. It just stops.

• You can’t be the main character unless you have a tragic backstory.

• The male love interest having “golden skin, black hair, an uncommon eye colour, & so many muscles”.

• Also the male love interest being a bad boy who’s actually good but he won’t say he is until the plot says it’s the most dramatic.

• Side characters hating the main character for asinine reasons because we need to have someone who’s not the villain hate them.

• Enemies-to-lovers romance - I used to like it, but it’s everywhere at the moment so it has to be really special for me to actually care.

Me: I can’t believe this movie came out in the 80s

The 80s synth music kicks in

I was re-watching Batman Begins the other day & in all their interactions (barring the last one at burned down Wayne Manor) none of it read as romantic to me. There was love between the characters, but it felt more like the love of two friends who’ve known each other forever.

And in my opinion, the romance sours their relationship. This is largely because it’s an unrequited romance where Rachel can’t love Bruce for who he is (which if you ask me doesn’t sound like real love) & Bruce holds onto this false hope that he & Rachel can be together when he’s no longer Batman.

Imagine if there was none of this romantic drama & they were just close friends. Rachel would still be very important to Bruce because she’s the one friend he has who isn’t an older mentor & knows the real him, rather than the facade he puts on for everyone else. And you’d avoid the stupid love triangle between Bruce, Rachel & Harvey.

Villains barging in when Bruce is trying to have an emotional moment with his love interest.

• Veronica’s actress having amazing comedic timing & some hysterical facial expressions

• Heather C towering over Veronica

• JD mouthing “What the f***?” after the “My Dead Gay Son” number

Scene from my Radiojoy fic Locked Out of Heaven.