by Brittney (link)
Genre het, romance, drama
Pairings Isaac/OFC, Zac/OFC
Length 45 chapters
Status Completed
A few years ago, I binge read nearly all of Brittney’s stories, but Distorted Blessings either got skipped or didn’t leave much of an impression. Having read (or re-read) it now, I can see why it might not have stuck in my memory, although even at her weakest, Brittney is far from a bad writer.
There are plenty of stories that revolve around a girl being sent to live with the Hansons for one reason or another. Brittney adds in a little bit of a twist to that cliche plot; although Julie has just found out that she’s pregnant, she hasn’t told her parents and it has nothing to do with their plans to leave the country for a while. That’s refreshing, but the story’s obvious pro-life bent doesn’t sit well with me. Although no one condemns Julie for considering an abortion, no one within the story seems to think it’s a viable option. I understand that an author’s bias will show through on certain issues such as this, but that doesn’t make it any more pleasant for a pro-choice person such as myself to read.
That said, the story isn’t all that hard for me to swallow. Zac and Julie’s relationship ends up being sweeter than expected, given that they started as sort of enemies. There’s a little bit of typical teen drama, gossip and jealousy as well, and it only sometimes seems exaggerated. Of course being a teenage mother couldn’t possibly be easy for Julie, but all the gossip seems a little unrealistic based on my own high school experience. Granted, I wasn’t a teenage mother and I often feel that fictional portrayals of high school rely too heavily on stereotypes.
In spite of my issues with the plot, I have to admit Brittney’s writing grows stronger over the course of the story, with the chapters becoming lengthier. Some early chapters of Distorted Blessings rely a bit too heavily on flashbacks, which can be annoying. But she balances a large cast well. While this may not be my favorite of Brittney’s stories, it definitely shows a lot of potential that I think she realized in her later works.
Review by Bethany (website)