Strong Hearts Are Mandatory: Straight to Video

by Teelia Pelletier

In further adventures within the borders of Media, Video has found herself hunted by the ones she trusted most. Running on limited time, Video has to find the answers that will bring her enemies to justice for good, teaming up with the some of the most powerful influences of Media's subjects to succeed.

Growing up with the idea that sorcery is sinister, Video works against the last remaining mage after the overthrow of magic. However, when the whole land is against her, she's left confused on who to count on. Who will use her actions against her, knowing the real story of Media's recent past, and who will show what's real when it comes to the truth behind magic?

Video takes Film, one of the most distinguished monitors and surveillance directors as her travel companion to get her answers. The two travel far and beyond the Capital of Media to gain the knowledge they need to stop the ones who are against the land and work together with Video's family to take down the final mage once and for all.

Kindle Edition

Published April 3, 2018

Reviews

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Straight To Video Book Review Video

TRANSCRIPT

PLOT

Overall, the plot started off exciting but slowly slipped into being unfocused and confusing. The beginning with the trial was thrilling, especially with how the Jester disguised himself as the judge in order to rig the outcome. It was extremely tense when he sentenced Video to death and she had to escape the courtroom to go on the run! I also liked how her injuries kept catching up with her over the course of the story which caused Video frustration at having to rest.

When it came to clearing Video’s name however, that was where the plot became jumbled. Film told her that he was going to look through the archives at another location to try and find proof. After Film was gone however, Video didn’t help on her own case. It was not until the Jester told her about a golden opportunity that Video finally went on a mission.

However, after succeeding in the task, Video sat around at home again for a majority of the book, only going out on two more side-quests. Having no clear way to get Video’s name restored, along with her spending chunks of the story inside her house, honestly made the book drag.

To me, it would’ve made more sense for Video to get a mission to focus on, such as sneaking around Clowder City to find the archives even after Film told her not to. Then, after the footage was destroyed thanks to the mage, Video would discover that Radio was alive and have to endure brutal trials in the labyrinth as the climax. That way, the tension and stakes would’ve kept building throughout the story along with a clear progression of events for the reader to follow.

All issues aside, the ending fight between the Jester and Signal was vicious! It was fun to watch the battle especially as Signal had defeated mages before. There was also a major twist involving the Jester that was fantastic and made me want to learn even more about his character!

WRITING

For the writing, not a whole lot changed. The descriptions were a bit better in terms of incorporating the five senses, but my gripes from the first book still remained the same.

WORLD-BUILDING

In terms of world-building, there were definitely some interesting details! I liked how it was revealed that all the characters had different names at birth but had been renamed after technology when they came of age.

Furthermore, revival for mages via magic was discussed. This made me wonder even more how those with technology had won when the mages could essentially be brought back to life. Finally, it was nice to see more of the monitor work through Film and more details about courier work through Video.

CHARACTERS

VIDEO

In this book, Video was the main focus. I must admit, I did grow to like her more than Radio over the course of the book, especially since Video had more agency throughout the story. I also found it fun that Video had a grumpy and serious personality and how that colored her interactions with other characters. Personally, I did headcannon Video as being asexual as well since to me it just seemed to fit!

That said, I do wish that Video had a clearer character arc in this book. Although she did regret killing Radio, Video’s apology to the noble was half-hearted and did partially blame Radio.

To me, it would’ve made more sense for Video’s arc in this book to be learning to negotiate instead of attacking first and asking questions later. This would be especially fitting since her killing Radio instead of hearing the noble out was what got Video into that mess in the first place.

All that aside, I won’t complain too much since this is only the second book in a six book series. Video could very well only be at the beginning stages of her full arc.

FILM

Despite being a high-ranking monitor, Film was incredibly sweet! I adored his interactions with Video and how much Film was trying to help. Video being constantly being annoyed with Film for him just existing was somehow funny to me and kept me entertained!

I did wish that more of Film’s motive for risking his job to help Video was explained, though. Film’s reasons, besides admiring Video’s loyalty to Media, were never really fully uncovered which did make me suspicious of him for a while. That said, I’m sure more of his logic will be presented in future books.

STEREO

Oh boy, let’s talk about Stereo and why I found him quite controversial later in the novel. His relationship and subsequent rivalry with Video started out fine. Both of them wanted to kill each other despite having grown up together which made for an interesting bit of family drama! I do wish the relationship they had beforehand was explored more but it was still fun! Not to mention that Teelia herself has confirmed that Stereo is pansexual which is a nice bit of representation.

However, my problem with Stereo came after both he and the mage burned a city to the ground. Though Video did confront her brother about it, along with asking why he hated her, the issue felt brushed aside too quickly. After Video and Stereo figured out a misunderstanding, the incident wasn't brought up much again. The most Stereo received as a consequence was his family being mad at him but accepting him back.

Personally, this got under my skin. From the population size in the city, I’m pretty sure at least a couple cats would’ve died in the fire. Even if there were no casualties however, many citizens lost everything they owned and were rendered homeless. Stereo not being rejected by his parents for such a crime (and one that he committed willingly) because “he was family” left a bitter taste in my mouth.

RADIO

This time, Radio was my least favorite of the original trio. Her being alive and learning about the Jester’s backstory was nice, but Radio didn’t do much in the book agency-wise. She sat around and seemed more like a prop the characters had to drag around in order to get the upper hand.

Furthermore, I don’t know how to feel about it being confirmed that she and Stereo were “more than friends” despite being very distantly related. One one hand, Video’s mother did tell Video that it was different for nobles and that the bloodline split at least several generations ago. Not to mention that Stereo had no idea that he and Radio were distant cousins. On the other hand, Radio did know about the relationship between the two families so it was super awkward.

My gripes aside, Radio did sneak around in Signal’s office which indicated a hint of agency. Radio was also mad at Video and seemed to be holding a grudge, which had promise for development later down the line. Hopefully she will have a bigger impact on the next story.

AUDIO AND SIGNAL

At first, I rather liked Audio and Signal—Video’s parents—and found them to be interesting characters. Audio was kind and the more soft-spoken of the couple. I liked that she was an herbalist and gave off plenty of “mom vibes”.

As for Signal, he was the more gruff and demanding one. I thought it was nice how he was dedicated to his work, though. Also him and Radio clashing did add some nice tension in the household.

However, they did rub me the wrong way towards the end of the novel, especially Signal. Audio, as mentioned in Radio’s section for trying to justify Stereo and Radio’s relationship, along with pleading to Video not to hurt Stereo after the fire he purposely caused. For Signal, he wouldn’t help Video—his own daughter— unless given the proper paperwork to do so. This painted him in a negative light in my eyes since he knew how dangerous mages could be considering that he was blinded by one.

Credit where credit is due however, both Audio and Radio were furious at Signal for not wanting to help his child. They both busted their tails to get the right paperwork and Audio chewed out her husband, which was quite satisfying. Plus, Signal was meant to be portrayed as not the best cat, and this was merely one of his more obvious flaws.

CURIOSITY

For the mage, who’s name the reader learned was Curiosity, he was okay but his actions were baffling in this book.

This was because Curiosity kept flip-flopping between wanting to kill Video and wanting to help her. It made the mage feel like less of a threat this time around. Although Curiosity's actions were later explained (which I’ll get into in the spoiler section) and he claimed he was trying to be better, some of his actions still didn’t line up with his overall goal.

For instance, when he was disguised as the judge, Curiosity sent guards to track Video down and the mage threatened the henchmen if they didn't finish the execution. However, if Curiosity wanted to get Video on his side in the end, and had already turned most citizens against her via the trial, why send more animals to kill Video? Also why was he planning to get revenge on Video if that wasn’t his real, overall goal?

All that said, I still enjoyed Curiosity as a character. The way he was able to manipulate others and posed as high ranking officials was terrifying! I also found the info he revealed in the prologue fascinating as it added plenty of depth to his character!

MAJOR SPOILER SECTION

First of all, I liked the twists at the end! One of the biggest ones was that besides Radio being alive, she was pregnant with both Pictures’ and Stereo’s kittens. Again, I was not sure how to feel about this situation overall but it was nice that Radio decided to step up and take care of her new family.

The second, more large reveal was that Video’s early memories had been erased by Curiosity and that the two had once been friends when Video was younger. I do wish that part with the missing memories would’ve been shown more as it felt quite emotionless when Video realized why she felt out of the loop.

However, the situation overall was rather intriguing since Curiosity explained that by hopefully making everyone in Video’s life hate her (hence the rigged trial) that Video might want to be friends with the mage again. It really showed just how manipulative and childish Curiosity was along with his utter lack of regard for anyone but himself! Plus, seeing Video also being beaten by the mage to the point of surrendering was honestly disheartening.

Finally, the biggest twist of all involved Curiosity. It turned out that not only was his primate form an imitation of his late apprentice, but Curiosity had also been the first mage Signal had defeated called Phantascope! Signal, who had fire magic, defeated Phantascope but since the mage was immortal, he could never really be destroyed. It was a great spin on things and I felt like that was fantastic!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, I give this book 3 stars. Although the main character did have more agency, the book felt directionless most of the time. However, all the twists were great and only needed to add some foreshadowing. I did enjoy how fleshed out the world and characters are becoming and can’t wait to dive into book three!

I hope Teelia will keep improving her craft and wish her the best of luck on her writing journey!

[Katterley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book as much as I did the first one! I hear the third is coming out this month and I can't wait!

Video is the POV in this novel and that makes it all the better, I love her! She works to defeat Curiosity, but comes up with a much different strategy in this novel. And where are her family? Ooh, read and find out!

[Almaz Aether · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I did like this book as a sequel to Heart Of Glass, this book made me feel kind of icky. This book dealt a lot with imprisonment and torture and to me it seemed to drag on for ages, making me squirm in my seat at times. The Jester's humorous comments did add a lot of relief though, which I was very grateful for, and the lore in this book was very fun as well! This book left me with more questions than I began with, ultimately making me more curious (ha) about the third book.

One thing I really did like is learning about the MC's family! A lot of books and series leave the reader in the dark on family because they aren't important or whatever, so it was really refreshing to see them really contribute to the story!

Overall, a good sequel with some (personally) disturbing themes!

[Zlatawrites · Rating 5 out of 5]

Straight to Video!

I love this series, and the particular book was AMAZING. TRULY. I loved the unpredictable plot twists, well-developed characters, as well as Teelia's GORGEOUS writing style! Looking forward for book 3!

(By the way, have you counted how many times Video fainted? Or how many times she got hurt? Because... I THINK, DOZENS xD)