[7.2/10] I like the conceit and character throughline of this one a lot. The notion of Raven feeling like a misfit with the rest of the group, and escaping into books is a relatable one for a lot of weird kids. That’s the type of person Raven often stands in for on Teen Titans, so exploring this sort of escape is a good tack to follow.
I particularly appreciate the “getting lost in the story of a Y.A. hero” element, which is true to a lot of adolescent escapism. The episode works better as metaphor than as an actual tale of an evil plot. But Raven feeling spurned by the rest of the world and feeling comforted by this magical boy who seems to understand and accept her works as an emotional throughline.
So does the sense of betrayal when her book buddy turns out to be simply using her to escape from his literary prison. His line about “I got what I needed; now I’m done with you” cuts deep, and gives you righteous anger on Raven’s behalf. It’s satisfying, then, when she defeats him using a curse to put him back in the same book.
At the same tie, I like the complexity of some of this stuff. Raven initially blanches when she learns that Malchior has been teaching her dark magic. But his retort that people call powerful things they don’t understand “dark” and “creepy” like they’ve done to Raven is a sadly true-to-life bit of manipulation, with enough plausibility as an argument to work, even if it’s to ill purposes.
There's also a nice dose of sweetness at the end, with GBeasy Boy reassuring Raven that even if they think she’s a little gothic, it doesn’t mean she has to stay holed up in her room. Their hug at the end is quite sweet.
Overall, I like the idea here better than the execution, but it’s still a good episode.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-07-25T19:19:43Z
[7.2/10] I like the conceit and character throughline of this one a lot. The notion of Raven feeling like a misfit with the rest of the group, and escaping into books is a relatable one for a lot of weird kids. That’s the type of person Raven often stands in for on Teen Titans, so exploring this sort of escape is a good tack to follow.
I particularly appreciate the “getting lost in the story of a Y.A. hero” element, which is true to a lot of adolescent escapism. The episode works better as metaphor than as an actual tale of an evil plot. But Raven feeling spurned by the rest of the world and feeling comforted by this magical boy who seems to understand and accept her works as an emotional throughline.
So does the sense of betrayal when her book buddy turns out to be simply using her to escape from his literary prison. His line about “I got what I needed; now I’m done with you” cuts deep, and gives you righteous anger on Raven’s behalf. It’s satisfying, then, when she defeats him using a curse to put him back in the same book.
At the same tie, I like the complexity of some of this stuff. Raven initially blanches when she learns that Malchior has been teaching her dark magic. But his retort that people call powerful things they don’t understand “dark” and “creepy” like they’ve done to Raven is a sadly true-to-life bit of manipulation, with enough plausibility as an argument to work, even if it’s to ill purposes.
There's also a nice dose of sweetness at the end, with GBeasy Boy reassuring Raven that even if they think she’s a little gothic, it doesn’t mean she has to stay holed up in her room. Their hug at the end is quite sweet.
Overall, I like the idea here better than the execution, but it’s still a good episode.