by Amanda W. (link)
Genre cest, drama/angst, romance
Pairings Zac/OFC, Zaylor
Length 44 chapters
Status Completed (with unfinished sequel)
There are a lot of tropes that have become strongly associated with Zaylor stories, at least in my mind, and Breaking Free covers most of them. From the two brothers who are secretly in love with each other to the female best friends (or more), this story has it all. Unfortunately, all of those tropes aren’t quite enough to keep me interested.
I had assumed the primary drama of the story would revolve around the brothers being afraid to admit their feelings to each other, feelings that their female best friends know about and have discussed, but Zac and Taylor come clean with each other quite early on. On the one hand, I’m glad; I don’t find stories that revolve around pointless secrets and miscommunications very interesting. On the other hand, it leaves a good three quarters of the story for other drama.
The rest of that drama largely revolves around insecurity and fear of their relationship being discovered–nothing outside the usual tropes, really. There are hints of depression and even self injury that don’t get very far before being abandoned. When she picked the story back up after a long break, Amanda brought back Zac’s friend Andy, making her a surrogate for the brothers… and the object of more drama, since Zac’s old feelings for her haven’t gone away.
Although Amanda’s writing has improved and the chapters are lengthier, the drama feels artificial and is resolved too quickly… or is it? Breaking Free has an unfinished sequel that promises to continue the drama with Andy. Were it complete, it could be a huge improvement over how this story began, but I can’t say I have much desire to read it.
Review by Bethany (website)