My Favorite Live-Read Reactions to A Villain's Hope

I hosted a cozy weekend reading retreat, where several of my alpha readers got to live-read a draft of A Villain's Hope aloud. We laughed, we cried, we awwed, we kicked our feet, and I got to note down some of my favorite reactions:

"Oh, it's heating up. Oh—oh!" [Wolf whistles and uncontrollable giggles]

"Your honor, I LOVE HIM!"

"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh! Mages?! Are there more mages?!"

"Does she die, like, badly? Tell me she dies badly. I'll climb in there and kill her myself if I have to."

[Openly weeping] "You cannot do this to me. You simply cannot. Sara, you're a right bastard!"

Once the beta readers got hold of the book, the comments were even more fun. Here's a few of my favorite beta comments with no context at all:

"I love them SO FUCKING MUUUUCCHHHHHHH"

"Is it possible to be in a poly relationship with fictional characters? Because these two..."

"INCOHERENT SCREECHINGGGGGGG"

"Rip my fucking HEART OUT whydoncha"

"Geez, Beau's gods really do love the SHIT outta him"

"not me taking breaks while you DEMOLISH my heart"

"more of this call out in real life leadership please"

"You're good at drunk dialogue lol"

"It's giving ADHD"

"I loved the first book so much, but this second one moves faster, is scarier and more stressful, has epic magic and world-building, makes you fall even more in love with the people..."