The story of Peter Pan is one I’m more than familiar with, having seen the mythos and the character appear in many different forms (Disney’s Peter Pan, Hook, Once Upon a Time….) The blurb of this book was extremely intriguing, especially since the focus was more on the so-called villain of the story of Peter Pan: Captain James Hook, the fearsome pirate captain and Pan’s nemesis. Or, in this case, a man who found himself washed up on the shores of Neverland and was forced into playing a deadly game with an immortal child…or whatever Pan actually is.
I haven’t read the prequel to this book, but I found this to be easy to follow even so. It was so interesting to see the different characters reacting to the time they’d spent in Neverland. I was very intrigued seeing Wendy and her relationship with her daughter. It was really strained and it was really good to see that there conflicts between them that needed to be dealt with. It was also great to see the outside conflicts with Jane training to be a doctor and how she’s had to deal with that, considering this book is set in a time where women were seen as less than men.
The glimpses I had of Neverland were intriguing, especially when it came to James’ interactions with Pan and the role he was forced to play for the amusement of something that is clearly not just an immortal child…though I would have liked some more detail about what exactly Peter Pan was. I also wasn’t enirely sure what had happened to Pan, other than his shadow being sewn back on. It didn’t seem like it had killed him, but whatever he was seemed to be completely removed from any type of reality.
I did find the concept of Neverland existing in so many different times all at once to be really interesting, although it did get confusing at times. And the idea of the characters existing at once in the real world and their ‘shadows’ in Neverland was a pretty intriguing one as well. I really liked seeing the flashbacks between James and Samuel, even though the beginning of the book made it clear that Samuel was no longer in the picture. It lent the flashbacks between James and Samuel a more bittersweet feeling, knowing how things would inevitably turn out.
I liked that this book was just as much, if not more, about the family relationships as it was about Neverland and that shared history. Pan’s beast manifesting itself in their world was a really good way of having more tension in the book itself.
I really liked that, despite his best efforts, James couldn’t get past the shadow of Captain Hook. Even despite his best attempts to remain civilised, it was obvious that Hook was lurking not even that far below the surface, even before it was made clear that James let his darker side out during his time living with the man he loved. That made me incredibly sad, as even if that violent part of him had been there before he was trapped in Neverland, Pan clearly did something to bring that side of him to the surface, making it impossible for James to live a normal life, or even be happy, with Samuel.
The flashback scenes with Timothy and seeing what happened with him were heartbreaking, but I couldn’t really blame Wendy for the actions she took. And just like everything else that happened in Neverland, the past clearly had a lot of negative effects on the characters in the present.
All in all, this book was really good to read and I enjoyed being able to see Captain Hook as, while not exactly a hero, definitely more than just a villain. I would really like to read Wendy Darling at some point in the future and see more of just what Peter Pan actually was.
So. Last year, I watched the prequel to this movie and I was immediately intrigued by the storyline and the characters. I remember looking for more information on the characters and storyline after having watched the movie, so when I saw the sequel was out this week, I made a last minute decision to go and see it at the cinema on Wednesday.
What was really good was that there was something of a recap before the movie actually began. That really helped to get me back into the mindset of the world of the movie…and also helped because, when the movie actually started, it picked up right in the middle of a fight scene; one where the main characters were in pretty serious trouble and it looked like at least one of them was dead.
One of the main things I liked about this movie was that, even though the main characters are strong and powerful, they can still get hurt. And they still need recovery time. So the battle with the two demons actually felt like there were truly high stakes.
I have to say, the character of Zenitsu is one that really intrigues me. I find the idea of a character being a formiddable fighter when he’s unconscious, but not while awake, to be a really intriguing one! Since Zenitsu has no memory of the actions he takes while unconscious, and he’s much more serious compared to how he is awake, it almost seems like he has a split personality. I’m particularly interested to see if those two sides of Zenitsu ever get reconciled in future episodes.
Inosuke was the strangest character to me in the previous movie, though he made a lot more sense to me when I realised he did in fact have a human head! I loved his confidence and his strength, although there were certainly times during the movie I found myself wondering why he wasn’t actually dead.
It was good to have the opportunity to see more of the history of the demons. It was really good to see Gyutatro’s history as a human. Everything he went through made his character seem much more sympathetic and I could fully understand his decision to become a demon. I couldn’t really empathise with Daki to the same extent, although I did find myself tearing up when they were arguing and Tanjiro intervened.
One really powerful moment in the movie did strike me towards the beginning, where Tanjiro seems to experience a memory with Nezuko during the initial fight. Nezuko tells Tanjiro she wishes he’d understand how she feels, which almost seemed to relate to the present Nezuko, transferred to a demon. I would have liked to see more explored with that possibility.
The movie did end on something of a cliffhanger, although part of the storyline did get resolved. There were some really good moments of humour in this movie, along with the action and the more intense, emotional scenes. There was a really nice balance in this movie and the main characters were really easy to care about. This was definitely a movie I’d enjoy seeing again in the future…and I hope that there will be more movies released in the cinema, hopefully much sooner than another year’s wait.
If you like Japanese anime, I definitely think this is one to check out. It probably helps to have some knowledge of the series beforehand, but I found both movies pretty easy to follow without having had any prior knowledge.
So, most people who know me know that I enjoy going to conventions as much as I enjoy watching horror movies and drinking Pepsi Max. And Starfury Lux, a convention for the television series Lucifer, was my first convention of 2023. And it was a very mixed bag of good and bad experiences.
The first thing that happened was that I booked for the Travelodge that said it was at Birming Airport. I got my travel sorted and got to Birming Airport, then I took out my phone to check the location of the Travelodge, which…turned out to be at least a 40 minute walk. And my sense of direction is pretty awful at the best of times, so I quickly realised I wasn’t going to get to the Travelodge, as I’d only had a couple of hours’ sleep. And when I reached the hotel where the convention was being held, the Travelodge was an hour’s walk away. Fortunately, a friend was staying in the hotel where the convention was being held at and was able to add me onto her room, so it made things much less stressful for me.
I only had two photos booked over this weekend, but both were really great experiences. The photo above is with DB Woodside, who plays Amenadiel. I’d booked a photo with him back when Lux 2 was first going to occur, which was, I believe, pre-Covid…and then it got postponed again last year to this year. It actually ended up being right after my last day at my previous job and then I had a week before my new job started, which worked out really well time-wise.
This photo with Aimee Garcia, who plays Ella in the show, was the one I was most looking forward to. Upon her first appearance in the show, Ella very quickly became my favourite character. This was the first photo I booked back when Lux 2 was first confirmed and I was so happy that she was still able to come when it got postponed to this year!
The photos were good experiences, but I did unfortunately temporarily lose my phone in the photo op room. This would have been an anxiety-inducing event before my medical emergency last year, but having been diagnosed with diabetes and now having my Freestyle libre sensor in my arm, my phone is quite literally a lifeline that tells me if my blood sugar is too high or low. Fortunately, staff and fellow attendees (including my friend) were really helpful and one of the main staff members was setting up her laptop for Google to find my phone (except I had to input a security code that Google sent…to my phone). Fortunately, my phone was found underneath the table where the bags were left before the photos.
There were two different autograph sessions each day, Saturday and Sunday, with the idea being that attendees got half of their autographs on one day and half on the other. The only person whose autograph I didn’t get was Tom Ellis’. When I was in the autograph room, his was the biggest line. I was quite fortunate, as my badge number allowed me to enter the autograph room quite early on.
Scarlett Estevez, who plays Trixie in the series, was a really great person to meet! Because of her age, her autograph wasn’t included in either the gold or regular tickets, as she wouldn’t be able to sign as much as the older actors, with more experience at conventions. Thanks to one of my other friends, though, I had an early birthday gift in the form of money for her autograph.
I mentioned earlier that Aimee Garcia was the one I was most looking forward to meeting, as Ella is my favourite character from the series. I did tell Aimee this and that I was so happy to meet her! She told me she wouldn’t tell any of the others that Ella’s my favourite.
I did also get my convention booklet signed, the photos you can see below:
I did unfortunately have a bit of a traumatic experience on the Sunday of the event, as I managed to get stuck in one of the lifts at the hotel. It wasn’t for all that long, but it was an incredibly scary experience while it was going on.
However, despite the issues, I did have a really good time at the convention. I got to see some friends and Starfury has always been my favourite company for conventions. The organiser is open and transparent with attendees and cares just as much about them having a good time as taking care of the guests. Go for weekend conventions like Starfury, rather than the signing events where all you’re doing is running from one guest to another, with no time to rest and sit.
I’m going to preface this review by saying, in spite of what may follow, I did in fact enjoy this movie. It is pretty much a requirement to have watched the majority of the Marvel movies (at least the Avengers and the previous two Ant-Man movies). The storyline can stand on its own, but there’ll be a lot of confusion if you haven’t seen the other movies.
So, this movie wasn’t what I was expecting at all. It was incredibly interesting to see more of the quantum realm, but it didn’t feel like there was a true threat to the world that Scott and co. were from. And honestly, a lot of the bad things that happened could have been dealt with if there’d been proper communication and information shared.
I did feel there was a lot of ‘one-trick pony’ in this movie. Hank, Janet, Scott, Hope and Cassie all have the same abilities, to access Pym particles and grow and shrink themselves. While it was good to see more of the quantum realm, I felt it was really unnecessary to have all five of them enter it. A more interesting storyline would have been to have at least one of them left on the outside, frantically trying to make communication with the rest of the family.
It was really good to see more of Cassie in this movie. While there were issues with the change of the actress playing the character, I did think Kathryn Newton did a good job portraying the character. I did, however, feel that there was very little of the conflict expanded upon between Cassie and Scott. It felt like the movie started off with all of these great ideas for personal conflicts…but those were all dropped in favour of pushing the story along.
One of my brothers mentioned that Hank had been relegated to ‘crazy old man’ (might not have been the exact words he used, but you get the idea) and I have to say that I agree. This is the man who created the Pym particles and the technology behind Ant-Man! He was the original Ant-Man! He should have had more to do than just be the old guy who talks to and loves his ants.
I was initially really interested to see a different version of Kang to the one I saw in Loki and I thought the movie would be showing another villain who didn’t truly believe he was a villain. However, much like the conflicts that went nowhere, the intricacies in Kang’s character were sadly lacking.
I did really like the characters of Jentorra and Quaz. There was quite an amusing exchange between Quaz and Scott, where Scott’s faced with a mind reader who asks him not to think about certain things…and, of course, trying not to think about something just makes you think about it even more. And I had to agree with Cassie when she talked about how cool Jentorra was.
I felt this movie was far more light-hearted than it should have been and it made it hard to take everything seriously. The previous two Ant-Man movies found the right balance between humour and seriousness, helped along by having the character of Luis who was a pretty awesome way of telling other characters (and the audience) needed information in a fun and interactive way. His lack was felt keenly throughout this movie. After all, could you imagine how interesting things would have been if Luis had ended up in the quantum realm instead of one of the others?
On the whole, there were some fun moments in this movie, but the stakes really didn’t feel that high and I was disappointed not to see more in the way of personal conflicts. Again, in agreement with my aforementioned brother, I just don’t think Ant-Man is enough to carry a movie on his own.
If you go and see this movie, there are two end credits scenes that do set up for future storylines. At the moment, though, for me, this movie only acts as a bridge to what will happen next. I truly hope the next Marvel movie will take itself a bit more seriously…and that future!Kang does not just feel like the villain of the week each time he appears.
The idea of a killer doll isn’t actually something that’s a new concept. Even before Chucky and Annabelle came along, dolls have been used in horror stories. There’s a reason why the friends I used to have over for sleepovers got a little bit freaked out by the china dolls I had in the living room.
So, all that to say that the idea of M3gan isn’t a unique one. I did find the movie interesting to watch, but it was rather predictable. The jump scares were ones I saw coming a mile off, so I didn’t really get scared by them. And the killer doll trope is, as I said earlier, one that’s been used a lot.
One thing I did feel that M3gan did well was to show the reliance of people on technology. From the first scene of Cady in the car with her parents, who’d given her the iPad to keep her distracted, through to the whole idea of M3gan being almost a replacement parent, it was a concept that had its roots in our current world…and something that could quite easily become a future. Not to say that everyone would go that route, but given a lot of people do rely on screens to keep their children entertained? I could see a similar, non-murderous version of M3gan being used by plenty of parents.
Another thing that I felt this movie handled well was the trauma of Cady losing her parents. Of course, that was as much down to the skills of the actress playing the character as the writing itself, but either way, it was one of the strongest parts of the movie. Later on, there were some parts that seemed really disjointed and almost wooden, but I think that was more due to the writing. And I was really glad to see that Cady had a therapist, although it really felt that Gemma wasn’t worried about her niece’s therapy at all.
That leads me to the worst character of the movie, in my opinion: Gemma. (Though, to be honest, David missed out on that title by a very small margin). I honestly couldn’t understand why Gemma wanted to take in Cady at all. She was completely neglectful and knowingly put her niece into dangerous situations with a careless attitude that made me lose any empathy for the character at all. I liked M3gan more than Gemma. Yes, M3gan killed people, but she was clearly following her primary objective, which was to protect Cady. Really, all of the bad events that happened in this movie could primarily be laid at Gemma’s feet.
Overall, this movie was at least entertaining to watch, but it added very little that was new to the genre. And there was no real bond to speak of between Gemma and Cady, which was a huge disappointment. It was at least interesting to see the makings of the robot and there were some good elements of foreshadowing. I did also really like the visuals of M3gan herself. I just didn’t think the good parts were enough to carry the movie.
So, Blink was the first book I read by Ted Dekker. And I loved it. It was one of my favourites and one that I re-read multiple times. When I realised it had been re-released, with changes made, I was immediately interested in reading it. And thanks to one of my brothers, who got it for me for Christmas, I was able to read it.
What would you do if you could see something a moment before it happens? That’s the dilemma university student Seth Border faces when he sees a bird fly into a window…a few seconds before the same thing occurs in reality. A surfer with an IQ that’s higher than Einstein’s, Seth doesn’t really feel like he fits in. He sees things in a different way to those of his fellow students and even his professors. It becomes a point of contention between him and one professor, who he can’t resist needling and engaging in a battle of wills with.
As intriguing as it is to read about a genius who develops abilities that he has to figure out how to navigate, Seth isn’t in fact the main character in this book, although he does play a pivotal role. The role of main character belongs to Miriam, a princess from Saudi Arabia who’s on the run from a political marriage that she doesn’t want. Due to a series of events, she falls in with Seth, whose newfound ability seems to grow stronger when he’s in her presence. Ultimately, his gift expands to the point that he can see every potential future, every possible outcome, three hours from the present. And that ends up being as exhausting as it sounds, which is good. Seth’s ability is huge, but he has very human limitations that do lead him to make mistakes and errors in judgement. These serve to make him a more ‘human’ character.
There were a lot of changes in this book from the original and I’m not sure all of them were for the better. Miriam’s new thoughts and ideals in this new edition were at odds with her actions and behaviour. There was no clear reason for the change; they weren’t worked seamlessly into her motivations and I was left wondering why this version of Miriam was running away when she was actively coming across as being happy and contented with a lot of her life. Seth remained the same as I remembered, though there was a missing scene in which he gets into a theological argument with a pastor that I felt would have added so much more to the book. In fact, I felt like a lot of the Christian elements of the book were removed…which was a major shame, as I feel it’s more detrimental to the feel of the original. My understanding is that this book is going to be made into a movie…and I feel like a lot of unnecessary changes were made to sell/cater to that audience. Like Miriam likening Seth to a Greek god. Repeatedly. She’d always come across as someone attracted more to the mind/personality than looks, so I can’t help thinking this is linked to the movie deal.
Sita’s drowning was as harrowing as I remembered it being; and Omar is as awful. I also liked the political aspects that many of the characters, from those native to Saudi Arabia through to those in the USA, had to deal with. There was a very moral dilemma on what value could be placed on a human life and I thought that came across very well. I also enjoyed seeing Clive and Seth interacting with each other. That was a relationship I would have liked to see more of.
I’m really disappointed that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I did the original. I know why some of the changes were made, but I think they really detracted from the story I’d so much loved in the original. The character changes shouldn’t have felt as jarring as they did. Miriam was such a strong presence in the original book and I felt she really lost some of that in this one.
I do want to watch the movie when it comes out, as I hope it won’t stray too far from the world and the characters that I loved so much. I can’t say that I plan to read this version of the book again in the near future, though. It definitely didn’t keep me turning the pages in an effort to find out what was going to happen next. In reality, I kept turning the pages because I wanted to reach the end as fast as possible so that I could move onto something I enjoyed more.
So, I’ve got really into the interactive experiences. I went to the Doctor Who: Time Fracture experience twice, and then to the Guardians of the Galaxy one. Only the once, but I want to go again. And this time, I went to Saint Jude.
The concept of Saint Jude was immediately intriguing. The basic premise is that the ticket holder is a Guidestar volunteer; someone who uses newly created technology to talk to people in comas. This is done with a system that translates their brain patterns into speech able to be heard through the headphones. And there is also a microphone that the Guidestar can use to speak to the patient.
The setup prior to the interactive experience worked very well. It was required to go upstairs, but the experience is also easily accessible to wheelchair users, as there is a lift. Actually, a lot about the event seemed like it would be suitable for people with sight and hearing problems. The majority of the experience requires you to speak and listen, but there’s also a way of having the text on the screen to read, along with the Guidestar actually being able to type out what they want to say. I thought that was really good.
While the majority of the experience did take place through the system, known as EchoSump, there were also some live actors involved. These people acted as helpers and guides, but they were also part of the overall storyline, so their presence felt very seamless.
At first glance, the setting of Saint Jude did have the feel of a hospital, which made sense, as the goal of the Guidestar is to help the coma patient, also known as a sleeper, under their care. For me, at least, my interactions with my sleeper took a rather sinister turn.
I’ve only been to Saint Jude the once, at least for now, but I really liked the individual feel of the experience. When I first realised there was quite a large group of people attending, I was a bit worried about how it would work. Would multiple people be trying to direct one storyline? I needn’t have worried, as every person had their own workstation to interact with their own particular speaker.
Since my sleeper was in a coma, and therefore dreaming, there was a really intriguing mix of memory and fantasy that I needed to sort through by talking and trying to guide them through what they were seeing. At various points, a memory morphed into a dream, or vice versa, and I was kind of floundering, with a confusion of, ‘What do I do next?’ I don’t think I deliberately guided the story in the path it took, but since I’ve only experienced it the one time, I can’t say how similar events would unfold if I was assigned to a different sleeper.
The experience makes use of AI technolgy, which was a little awkward at times, as like with all computers, there are some misunderstandings. For instance, for some reason, my name became Matt during the course of the conversation. Since my name is Sarah, I don’t know quite how that got picked up. There were other minor misunderstandings, too, so a few kinks that probably need to be ironed out. The voices didn’t sound computer simulated, though, which was a massive point in the experience’s favour. I’m not sure I would have been as thoroughly engaged as I was if I’d been able to hear I was speaking with actual AI. It definitely wouldn’t have helped my suspension of disbelief.
The experience was extremely engaging and I was able to be drawn into the storyline and my conversations with the sleeper. I could also really easily picture what my sleeper was seeing in their mind, due to the descriptions given. I did hit a snag where I was completely lost over what to do and came close to having to call for help. However, the system was able to provide enough prompts that I didn’t need to ‘break character’ and admit I was stuck.
All in all, I really enjoyed the experience. It was tense and engaging and I’m happy with how it turned out. I did receive a printout of my ‘personality assessment’ before I left, which I won’t share here; partly because it got really creased when I put it in my bag, but it also contains really major spoilers.
I’d like to experience Saint Jude again and see if there are different paths available for me to take, though I’m not sure I could make another trip to London for that alone. If I went again, I think it would have to be on a day I was already planning to do something in London. But I definitely think it was a worthwhile experience the first time. I would highly recommend attending this event.
Hi guys! Remember me? I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t, since it’s been…eight months since my last post? More than that, probably, if I’m honest. Sorry about that. I hope to be more active with my blog in 2023. In fact, it’s one of my New Year’s Resolutions.
2022 was a pretty tough year for me. Things were fine up until the end of March. Then I fell down two steps (literally) and broke my right leg in two places (tibia and fibula, if anyone’s interested). And, no, I wasn’t drunk.
Anyway, after the breakage, I went to hospital, where I stayed overnight and had to have a surgery in the morning. So now, I have a metal bar in my right leg. So I guess I’ll be setting off alarms at airport security from now on? Anyway, I was in hospital from the Wednesday until the Monday, which is when I was discharged and my dad came to take me to Nottingham, so I could stay with my parents and hopefully recuperate from the breaking of my leg. I had crutches and was managing pretty well…or so I thought.
Turns out it was a very good thing I was staying with family, because five days after getting out of hospital the first time? I was back in there. After having barely any appetite and noticing a painful spot under my left arm, I rapidly went downhill on the Friday and was admitted into hospital Saturday. I woke up on Monday morning in the ICU, having been brought in with DKA and sepsis. In other words, I very nearly died. (This isn’t an exaggeration. The doctors told my parents they would resuscitate me if it was necessary). Anyway, when I woke up, I had a brand new diagnosis of type 1 diabetes and was receiving insulin.
I did get out of hospital, but it took a little while to reach a point of full recovery. I also ended up having to move house at the same time as getting used to all of these medical issues, so I’m not kidding when I say there was a lot going on. Believe me when I say I haven’t just neglected this blog…I’ve also neglected my writing as well. That is going to change.
So here are my New Year’s Resolutions:
Return to writing reviews of movies, television shows, books and games here. Also try and write an update post every month or so.
Finish the projects I actually start. To help with that, I have a group on Facebook to share actual updates on my original fiction. If you’re interested in following along with my journey, you can find the group here.
So let’s go onto the review.
Alice in Borderland
This is the first thing I watched in 2023. Well, it’s the first thing I finished watching in 2023. I watched the first episode on New Year’s Eve, prior to starting work, and then watched the rest of it after work. It’s now after 1am on 2nd January in the UK and I’ve not long finished the series.
I’d say that this series has a very similar feel to Squid Game and Hunger Games. It is violent; it’s graphically violent, but not to the level of an 18 certificate movie or series in the UK.
The basic premise of this series is that three friends in Tokyo, Japan suddenly find themselves in a Tokyo that’s entirely devoid of human life. After some confusion and searching for other people, they find themselves needing to play various violent games in order to extend their ‘visas’. Once a visa runs out, the player dies. If they fail to win or ‘clear’ the game, they die. And if they try to leave the game before it’s over, they die.
The World
The first episode spends a bit of time introducing the characters and their lives prior to entering ‘Borderland’, so when they leave a toilet stall and abruptly find themselves in a deserted, normally bustling city, it feels all the more eerie to see the stark contrast to what came before.
The world that Arisu and his friends find themselves in is both familiar and strange. In the first episode, they spend time running to familiar locations and trying to find other people. Somehow, there’s no working technology, apart from what’s used by the Game Masters. As seen in the second picture above, there is some electricity, but it’s not available to the players.
An interesting thing that’s learned through the series as it progresses is that, not only are there other players involved, but some of them have been there for only a day or so, while others have been there for months. And Tokyo has been overrun by nature. Plants are growing unchecked at various points in the city. And in season two, there’s one very beautiful scene where some huge elephants are bathing in a hot spring. And other wild animals make an appearance, such as a panther and a tiger. The rest of the world isn’t shown, only Tokyo, but it’s likely that the rest of Earth is in the same kind of condition.
The Games
As mentioned above, the players who enter the Borderland need to play games in order to survive and continue living through this new, savage world. With one exception, though, the players have the choice of whether to enter the game arena or not. But once they do enter it, they have to win the game in order to be able to leave.
There are four types of games, each correlating to a suit in a deck of cards. Clubs are games that require teamwork; spades require strength, dexterity…basically physical ability like strength and endurance; diamons are games of logic and rational thinking; and hearts are games that are more psychological in nature-they ‘play with your hearts’. The difficulty of the game is shown by the number on the card. A two of clubs would be a fairly easy game, while a ten would be very difficult. And the face cards are the worst of all.
Throughout the series, there are a number of different games that the players have to take part in. In a similar manner to Squid Game, some of the games are ones that started out as a children’s games; such as hide and seek, or tag, or even chess. Unlike Squid Game, however, there are some games that no one has to die…however, the actions of the characters are sometimes enough to ensure the deaths of some players.
The Characters
I’m going to start with my two favourite characters here: Kuina (on the left) and Chishiya (on the right). Their first appearance, they don’t seem that different to the rest of the characters. Chishiya is the mysterious, intelligent, charismatic guy you’re not entirely sure is good or bad or somewhere in between. Kuina proves herself to be a total badass as the series goes on and I had various moments when I was literally cheering her on. She truly had some of the most epic moments throughout the series.
Chishiya isn’t really a fighter or a warrior, but his intellect more than makes up for his more limited physical strength. As is mentioned by some of the other characters, I’d hate for him to be my enemy. And in keeping with his more mysterious personality, his past prior to entering Borderland isn’t revealed until much later into season two.
Arisu and Usagi are the two characters who you’re meant to spend the series rooting for…and I did. They might not have been my favourites, but they were definitely a close second contender. Arisu definitely went through the most character development through the whole series, going from a slacker who played video games all day to a hero willing to risk his life for everyone around him. The most interesting thing about his character is his ability to use his experience playing video games to think like the game masters and notice the pattern in games.
Usagi is a fairly typical tough woman, but she’s definitely really good at it. Her past as a mountain climber with her dad gives her a huge amount of dexterity and there are some truly amazing scenes where she’s climbing, or swinging, either away from a threat or towards one. But also, she and Arisu working together make for some truly amazing scenes, like one in season two that I had to watch three times over because the plan and its execution and follow through was just so awesome.
I probably can’t really mention my favourite characters without talking about my least favourite, or most hated, character.
Niragi is a villain with no redeeming qualities. It’s a huge shame, because the rest of the antagonists in the series had, if not redeeming qualities, at least moments that made them seem more human. A good villain is always one that doesn’t truly believe they’re evil and who has moments of humanity that show through. I think the show did try to make him less of a hugely evil guy, but unfortunately, a tragic past just doesn’t excuse his actions in the series.
The Ending
I’m not going to go into any details about the ending, but I will say that it fit extremely well with the rest of the series and it was good to see an actual end that didn’t really have a cliffhanger, even though it took until season two for that to happen. Fortunately, the two seasons in their entirety are on Netflix, at least in the UK, so there’s no reason to wait between seasons.
So. I very rarely binge-watch series now, as I struggle with paying attention throughout. But when I was looking for something to watch and saw this advertised, I was immediately intrigued. And the first episode grabbed my attention. The second onwards held my focus and just didn’t let go.
The series is violent and there’s a lot of death in it, but the characters are seriously engaging and easy to care about. I’d quite happily rewatch this series in the future…and if a new season comes out, I might even be watching the first episode on launch date.
I’ve been a fan of board games since I was a child and I do love roleplaying games, too. So seeing a board game that’s played using an app. The whole idea and the finished board game prototype looks pretty good.
The campaign is only running for six more days and is in the final stretch before prices go up. I would recommend taking a look, as the gameplay and storyline, along with the miniatures, look awesome.
(I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review).
I was immediately intrigued by the blurb of this book and when I received the copy, I immediately found it a really easy read. I really found Claire an interesting, engaging character and it was great to get an insight into her history and past with her younger sister.
There were a lot of really tense moments in this book right from the start. I felt bad for Claire when reading about her strained relationship with her mother and I have to say, the more I saw of Tina, the less I liked her. Not that she deserved what happened, but I felt very little sympathy for her throughout the flashbacks that revealed more of Tina and Claire’s relationships.
While I felt that Claire, Rob and her partner were really well-written characters, I did find it a bit hard to picture some of the secondary characters, particularly the other officers in the police precinct. I could understand why they weren’t as developed, considering everything else going on in the book, but I would have liked to see more of the other officers involved.
I had a lot of theories throughout the book about what was really going to happen, or who was really responsible for what was going on. There were a few moments where I did struggle to suspend my disbelief, but on the whole, most of the book felt quite real and gritty. It was also interesting to see the forensic psychologist and her profile of the killer, given the evidence she had to work with.
I liked the relationship between Claire and Rob. I liked that they had that history together and that they were both really competent in their own fields. And it was really great to see Claire make the decisions to share her history when it was appropriate, rather than hide her own personal history.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It was an easy, engaging read with a main character I could really root for and a relationship that made a lot of sense and really worked for the characters. I would definitely seek out the next book in this series.
Ink of Blood 